Mayor Adams is a great advocate for environmental quality and environmental justice, but the city government he runs doesn't always live up to it.The building department has insufficient personnel to implement Groundbreaking decarbonization local law 97. The mayor was unable to allocate 1% of the city budget to the Parks Department, as he promised during his campaign. And just recently, his administration proposed reinstating rents to the city's water commission. Does all of this demonstrate Mayor Adams' lack of commitment to New York City's environmental quality? Although his intentions often appear to be good, his words often contradict the government's actions. The latest example of this is the reckless effort to charge New Yorkers higher water bills and divert those funds from the water capital budget to the city's general fund.
According to an excellent report by dana rubinstein of new york times:
“The city plans to charge the city water department more than $1.4 billion in rent over four years to lease its water and wastewater systems from the city…Conversely, the city's Department of Environmental Protection is currently forcing the water department to increase rates. The proportion of homeowners and landlords increased by 8.5% in July, according to the proposal released by the board on Friday. The proposed rate hike, if approved, would double last year's rate increase and be the highest in 14 years, but would only pay part of the rent. The remaining portion could come from a fund that typically funds capital upgrades to water and wastewater systems, potentially making cities more vulnerable to major failures. This funding gimmick has been used by New York City for decades, but was scrapped in 2017 (only briefly and partially re-emerging during the coronavirus pandemic, then disappearing again)…for many years. In response to the worsening situation, city and state authorities established a water commission. In the mid-1980s, we established a reliable source of income for our water and wastewater systems, making us self-sufficient. At the time, there was a mountain of unpaid water and sewer related debt backed by the city's general fund, and officials agreed that the water board would pay it with rent…Construction would occur as follows. The city's water and wastewater systems collect water fees and use the proceeds to insure the system, which is managed by the Department of Environmental Protection. ”
Since the old debt is no longer there, there is no need for rental fees. Essentially, the city is stealing money from the water system's capital budget and adding money to the city's annual expenses. This is a version of the good old days of New York City budgeting, when capital budgets were used to pay for routine annual expenses. It's the same as using a credit card to buy necessities, and the bills and interest payments accumulate before you find the money to pay the bills. The water system's capital budget is depleted, as the source of revenue comes from water charges to maintain the water system.as times As the story shows, we are doing this at a time when climate change is putting stress on city infrastructure, including water systems. Funding is needed to build green and gray infrastructure to store water and prevent flooding during extreme weather events. Anyone who watches the evening news knows that America is experiencing massive flooding due to increased heat and humidity in the atmosphere. In addition to the need for resiliency to climate change, some of the city's sewage treatment plants need to be renovated, and in New York City, he said, more than 100,000 privately run lead lines use lead pipes.
Additionally, there is a huge and heavy lifting ahead of us in enforcing Local Law 97 over the next several decades. The law sets a deadline for large buildings to implement energy efficiency measures, electrification and renewable energy to reduce carbon emissions. The law is very complex, as are the types of large buildings in New York City. While some building owners have sufficient resources to comply, co-ops and condominiums may have difficulty covering the costs of compliance. Building departments will need to be proactive in explaining the law and working with building owners to promote compliance. Although the Department of Buildings is increasing the staffing of its Office of Sustainability, a report on the Department of Buildings issued on March 11, 2024 by the New York City Council Fiscal Office criticizes the Department's approach to Local Law 97. Ta. City council report:
“The Office of Sustainability currently has 66 budget positions and 62 active positions, spread across five units. It administers 97 local laws, the largest of which is Energy and Compliance, with 44 budgeted positions.Other departments include the Office of the Deputy Secretary for Sustainability; / Covers the law, outreach, and building efficiency. This preliminary plan reflects a total of 84 budget positions for fiscal year 2025. However, the compliance review for more than 50,000 buildings covered by the law. Only 11 DOB employees are responsible, highlighting a potential lack of commitment to implementing the law. It would be hard to argue that we are too hasty in staffing the Office of Sustainability for implementation, given the limited resources available to engage with property owners and assist with the transition, and the thousands of complexities involved. The department's ability to evaluate reports is limited. https://council.nyc.gov/budget/wp-content/uploads/sites/54/2024/03/810-DOB.pdf
I do not share the view of environmentalists who criticized Adams' plan to give building owners more time to bring building owners into compliance with elements of Local Law 97 in the fall of 2023. Critics accused the mayor of playing into the environment's pockets. Infiltrating the real estate industry and their lobbying efforts. In my view, Local Law No. 97 will be difficult to enforce and will require a bespoke enforcement and compliance strategy to minimize the unintended negative consequences that are sure to arise from the costs of compliance. We don't want buildings to be abandoned or to stimulate rent increases that could cause homelessness. In some cases, buildings may require financial assistance from the government to comply with this law. In other cases, you are sure to find unscrupulous landlords who ignore the law. Confirmation that he still has seven executive positions filled in the Department of Buildings is no comfort. The complexity of the law and our diverse building stock will require hundreds of new staff or resources to commission our compliance assistance programs. The City Council report reveals the need for more institutional capacity, but its absence calls into question the depth of the Mayor's commitment to an environmentally sustainable New York City. Become.
The third problem is the lack of funding for city parks. He helped the mayor ensure safety in March this year. $117 million federal grant for Queensway Greenway Project. This is a great project and Mayor Adams will have a nice ribbon-cutting ceremony when it's ready to open. But the problem will come when the Park Service's pathetic operations and maintenance budget comes under additional pressure to maintain the new park. When Mayor Adams was campaigning, he promised to spend 1% of the city budget on parks. He never came close.
The pattern we see is high visibility announcements followed by less attention to management details and lower visibility. Lawmakers can take positions, make statements, and advocate for policies and programs. As Mayor Adams likes to say, his job as CEO is to „get things done.“ That can't happen if he advocates a program and then depletes its resources. And as any manager will tell you, it's easier to do nothing than get the job done.Budget hold-ups, lack of funding for parks, and understaffing in the Department of Buildings could all but guarantee these things I don't Finish it. Policies look good, but performance and follow-up are lacking. The boring details of government matter, and while there are examples of real progress, New York City’s water infrastructure, decarbonization, and parks need additional staff and funding.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Columbia Climate School, Earth Institute, or Columbia University.