Mayor de Blasio Releases One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just City

April 22, 2015

OneNYC establishes bold goals and specific targets for a strong, sustainable, resilient, and equitable city – 800,000 people out of poverty by 2025, Zero Waste, eliminating long-term displacement after future shock events, and much more

Mayor de Blasio: Environmental and Economic Sustainability Must Go Hand in Hand – and OneNYC is the Blueprint

NEW YORK—The de Blasio administration announced today the release of “One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just City,” a comprehensive plan for a sustainable and resilient city for all New Yorkers that addresses the profound social, economic, and environmental challenges ahead.

OneNYC builds on prior long-term sustainability plans for New York City, expanding on the critical targets established under previous plans, as well as on the work of the de Blasio administration over the last 16 months. Growth, sustainability, and resiliency remain at the core of OneNYC – but with the poverty rate remaining high and income inequality continuing to grow, the de Blasio administration added equity as a guiding principle throughout the plan.

OneNYC sets measurable goals for tackling these challenges in the coming years – including
a poverty reduction target of 800,000 New Yorkers over the next 10 years, zero waste to landfills by 2030, and the elimination of long-term displacement from homes and jobs after shock events by 2050 – with critical action in the short-term to put the city on the path to achieving these goals.

“Environmental and economic sustainability must go hand in hand – and OneNYC is the blueprint to ensure they do,” said Mayor de Blasio. “Today, we are laying out specific goals to make sure that as we build a stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient city, we are also creating a more equitable one. From our unprecedented goal of lifting 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty, to sweeping environmental initiatives such as Zero Waste, the cleanest air of any large city, and a dramatic reduction in emissions, this is a bold and ambitious plan – and New York City requires nothing less. OneNYC builds on the strong foundation created by the Bloomberg administration, and ensures that our city can meet the challenges we face today and in the future, while inspiring others around the world to do the same.”

Visit nyc.gov/onenyc to read the full plan.

Today, New York City faces a number of challenges, including a rapidly growing population, rising inequality, an aging infrastructure, and climate change. OneNYC lays out a series of specific targets and initiatives to prepare New York City for the future generations, including: 

• Making New York City home to 4.9 million jobs by 2040.

• Creating 240,000 new housing units by 2025, and an additional 250,000 to 300,000 by 2040.

• Enabling the average New Yorker to reach 25% more jobs – or 1.8 million jobs – within 45 minutes by public transit.

• Lifting 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty or near-poverty by 2025.

• Cutting premature mortality by 25 percent by 2040, while reducing racial/ethnic disparities.

• Reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, over 2005 levels.

• Sending zero waste to landfills and reducing waste disposal by 90 percent relative to 2005 levels, by 2030.

• Ensuring New York City has the best air quality among all large U.S. cities by 2030.

• Reducing risks of flooding in most affected communities.

• Eliminating long-term displacement from homes and jobs after future shock events by 2050.

• Reducing the city’s Social Vulnerability Index for neighborhoods across the City;

• Reducing annual economic losses from climate-related events;

• Continued investment as part of an over-$20 billion program that includes a range of physical, social, and economic resiliency measures.

The plan recognizes New York City’s role and responsibilities as a regional hub, and calls on the City’s partners to work together on shared goals for building a strong region. The plan follows months of engagement with thousands of New Yorkers across the five boroughs – including through an online survey available in seven language, dozens of community meetings, a phone survey, and meetings with hundreds of civic organizations and local and regional elected officials. In the coming months, the de Blasio administration will continue the conversation with residents, civic leaders, and elected officials to refine initiatives and encourage civic engagement. New Yorkers can also share their thoughts and priorities at nyc.gov/onenyc.

The plan – a 332-page document – is divided into four visions for a stronger, more equitable, more sustainable, and more resilient New York City, and includes over 200 new initiatives, with over 80 specific new metrics and targets.

The full report – including complete initiatives and indicators – can be viewed at nyc.gov/oneNYC.

Vision 1: Our Growing, Thriving City

New York City will continue to be the world’s most dynamic urban economy where families, businesses, and neighborhoods thrive:  

• Industry Expansion & Cultivation: New York City will have the space and assets to be a global economic leader and grow quality jobs across a diverse range of sectors.

• Workforce Development: New York City will have a workforce equipped with the skills needed to participate in the 21st century economy.

• Housing: New Yorkers will have access to affordable, high-quality housing coupled with robust infrastructure and neighborhood services.

• Thriving Neighborhoods: New York City’s neighborhoods will continue to thrive and be well-served.

• Culture: All New Yorkers will have easy access to cultural resources and activities.

• Transportation: New York City’s transportation network will be reliable, safe, sustainable, and accessible, meeting the needs of all New Yorkers and supporting the city’s growing economy.

• Infrastructure Planning and Management: New York City’s infrastructure and built environment will exemplify global economic, environmental, and social leadership.

• Broadband: Every resident and business will have access to affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband service everywhere by 2025.

Vision 2: Our Just and Equitable City

OneNYC will have an inclusive, equitable economy that offers well-paying jobs and opportunities for all New Yorkers to live with dignity and security:

• Early Childhood: Every child in New York City will be nurtured, will be protected, and will thrive.

• Integrated Government and Social Services: All New Yorkers will have access to high-quality, conveniently located, community-based City resources that promote civic engagement and enable them to thrive.

• Healthy Neighborhoods, Active Living: New Yorkers of all ages will live, work, learn, and play in neighborhoods that promote an active and healthy lifestyle.

• Healthcare Access: All New Yorkers will have access to the physical and mental healthcare services they need.

• Criminal Justice Reform: Among large U.S. cities, New York will continue to be the safest and will have the lowest incarceration, with a criminal justice system that leads the nation in fairness and efficiency.

• Vision Zero: New Yorkers will continue to embrace Vision Zero and accept no traffic fatalities on New York City Streets.

Vision 3: Our Sustainable City

OneNYC will ensure that New York City is the most sustainable big city in the world and a global leader in the fight against climate change:

• 80x50: New York City’s greenhouse gas emissions will by 80 percent lower by 2050 than in 2005.

• Zero Waste: New York City will send zero waste to landfills by 2030.

• Air Quality: New York City will have the best air quality among all large U.S. cities by 2030.

• Brownfields: New York City will clean up contaminated land to address disproportionately high exposures in low-income communities, and convert land to safe and beneficial use.

• Water Management: New York City will mitigate neighborhood flooding and offer high-quality water services.

• Parks and Natural Resources: All New Yorkers will benefit from useful, accessible, and beautiful open spaces.

Vision 4: Our Resilient City

OneNYC will ensure that our neighborhoods, economy, and public services are ready to withstand and emerge stronger from the impacts of climate change and other 21st century threats:

• Neighborhoods: Every city neighborhood will be safer by strengthening community, social, and economic resiliency.

• Buildings: The city’s buildings will be upgraded against climate impacts.

• Infrastructure: Infrastructure systems across the region will adapt to enable continued services.

• Coastal Defense: New York City’s coastal defenses will be strengthened against flood and sea level rise.

“The City Council is committed to making New York a more sustainable City for all New Yorkers,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “From passing legislation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 to encouraging low-carbon transportation options and increasing energy efficiencies, the City Council is proud of its work to strengthen New York City and I thank the de Blasio Administration for their shared efforts to preserve and protect New York City for future generations.”

“OneNYC puts New York City in the global forefront of sustainable development. The City’s new plan is bold, comprehensive, creative, and most important, achievable. It will be a model for cities around the world as all nations take up the new Sustainable Development Goals at the UN this Fall. The vision, reach, and detailed groundwork of this plan will help to ensure that NYC achieves its visions of prosperity, justice, sustainability, and resiliency in the coming generation,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, Co-Chair of the OneNYC Advisory Board and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

“As New York City contends with the challenge of combating climate change, PlanNYC has been an integral component in outlining our vision to become a truly sustainable city,” said Council Member Donovan Richards, Chair to the Committee on Environmental Protection and Co-Chair to the OneNYC Advisory Board. “OneNYC gave the city a unique opportunity to recalibrate and to set ambitious but attainable goals. From legislation to limit unnecessary nighttime illumination, advising new housing developments to be smoke free, building the infrastructure to support and charge electric vehicles and updating the air code, a number of bills will set key legislative standards citywide. Locally, Southeast Queens residents will finally see long and short term mitigation measures in their neighborhoods to address flooding along with other expected courses of action to respond to concerns in low and middle income neighborhoods. I commend the administration for developing OneNYC and securing a future for New York City that will certainly be greener than its past.”

Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities, pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation, said, “To truly build resilience a city must not only consider sustainability and disaster response, but also take in to account social and economic issues, and it needs to consider them together.  By considering social, physical and economic issues together, the city will be able to address not only the challenges it knows are coming, but those it doesn’t.  In other words, making a city stronger overall, in good times and bad, makes the city better able to withstand all types of shocks.  This holistic plan that New York has developed, interweaving social, economic, and physical resilience, puts the city on the forefront of urban planning worldwide."

“Mayor de Blasio’s One NYC Plan recognizes the link between poverty and pollution, while providing concrete steps that will make New York City one of the most environmentally sustainable cities in the nation. As Hurricane Sandy illustrated, poor people are often disproportionately impacted by pollution and the impacts of climate change,” said Judith A. Enck, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator. “The One NYC Plan’s focus on driving down greenhouse gas emissions and working toward zero waste are examples of environmental protection policies that also provide huge economic benefits.”

“OneNYC addresses the increasing risk‎ that climate change poses to the neighborhoods of New York, using the best available science to inform its approach,” said Cynthia Rosenzweig, Co-Chair of the New York City Panel on Climate Change, NASA and Columbia University. “This is essential to achieving resiliency to heat and coastal flooding throughout the City.”

“OneNYC continues the important long-term planning work that is so essential to our city’s future. The de Blasio Administration has appropriately added a regional lens to the city's long term plan,” said Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City. “This reflects that our tri-state economy is increasingly interconnected and we need a vision and infrastructure that supports a coordinated approach to economic development, transportation and resiliency.”

“We commend Mayor de Blasio for committing to integrate equity into the fiber of OneNYC,” said Eddie Bautista, Executive Director of the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. “The plan's ambitious zero waste goals and acknowledgement of the need to reassess our commercial waste system are a significant step toward a more sustainable and equitable city for all New Yorkers. The NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and our allies will be combing through the fine details of the plan in the weeks ahead to fully assess its impacts on environmental justice communities. We look forward to working with the Administration throughout the next steps of OneNYC.”

“Persistent poverty continues to keep too many New Yorkers from moving ahead economically,” said David R. Jones, President and CEO of the Community Service Society of New York. “Mayor de Blasio has staked his administration on addressing income inequality and the needs of the segments of our city who are struggling. And now he's setting a milestone and a plan for how to get there. It's an ambitious plan, with the goal of lifting one in five poor New Yorkers out of poverty by 2025. But we should be setting ambitious goals. More than 20 percent of our city lives in poverty, with 40 percent living below twice the poverty threshold. Two-thirds of New Yorkers are worried about a disappearing middle class. Raising the minimum wage and expanding higher education opportunities, such as making college more affordable, are measures New Yorkers believe can help improve the economic prospects of low-income residents.”

“This is a broad and ambitious plan to make New York a more sustainable city and a better place to live,” said Eric Goldstein, New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Perhaps most notably, this is the first time ever the City’s sustainability plan approaches these issues through an equity lens. That’s key because many urban environmental problems, including climate change, hit poor and working class New Yorkers the hardest. Critical to this plan’s success, of course, will be putting it into action. We look forward to working with the de Blasio administration to accomplish that objective.”

“THE POINT CDC is thrilled and encouraged by the release of Mayor De Blasio’s agenda for addressing environmental and economic injustice through sustainability in the OneNYC initiative. The South Bronx, like so many communities throughout New York City, have suffered the burden of inequitable policies that have resulted in disproportionate health impacts such as sky rocking asthma rates. We are in need of an agenda that tackles these issues head on through fair share and waste equity, economic democracy, and infrastructure investments, to help our communities confront inequality through creating and sustaining living wage jobs in communities where we can raise our families in without fear of displacement. We look forward to continuing to work with our families, community partners, the Mayor, friends in the City Council and all of our elected officials, to ensure this vision becomes something real for those of us that need it most,” said Kellie Terry, Executive Director, The Point.