A new online mapping tool from the New York City government allows New Yorkers to discover a multitude of environmental hazards in their neighborhoods.
The Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice released the the map on Friday. It features a citywide map that can zero in on specific blocks and neighborhoods and marks green space, lead water pipes, bike lanes and flooding risks. It also shows waste facilities, hazardous material sites and hot spots for traffic noise and air pollution.
Similar maps exist on other city websites, but officials said none aggregates as much information in one domain. The materials could prove useful for residents looking to learn more about potential environmental risks in their communities. Another city measure requires officials to create plans for addressing the “environmental justice concerns” identified in the inquiry.
The data release is required under Local Law 60 of 2017, which mandates city staff to complete a study every five years analyzing environmental justice concerns across the five boroughs and maintain a website with related data.
A report accompanying the mapping tool explores environmental disparities across the city, with some of the worst harms closely linked to an area’s racial and economic characteristics.
Communities of color are disproportionately exposed to diesel emissions because of their locations near certain highways and trucking routes. And researchers also found the majority of people at high risk of injury or death due to heat live in northern Manhattan, central Brooklyn, southeastern Queens, and the Bronx.
Disparities also show up in access to parks and proximity to hazardous waste sites. Similar findings have shown up in other reports. A 2022 study by the University of California, Berkeley, connected ongoing health and environmental woes in city neighborhoods to racially discriminatory lending practices outlawed more than a half-century ago.
“We cannot allow these injustices to continue,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement on Friday. “Studying environmental injustices is the first step towards addressing the problem.”
He added that officials would use the data collected in the report to target environmental injustices and build a more environmentally resilient city where New Yorkers could live longer, healthier lives.
Local Law 60 required the data projects to be completed by the end of 2018. Kim Winston, a spokesperson for the mayor’s climate and environmental justice office, said the work was delayed because the agency wanted to ensure it included the state’s criteria for “disadvantaged communities,” areas targeted for extra funding and cleanup in the state’s multibillion-dollar climate plan.
“Studying an issue as complex and with as much history as environmental justice takes time,” Winston said in a statement.
Another city measure, Local Law 64 of 2017, requires the city to craft plans for tackling the environmental justice concerns identified in the inquiry. That includes identifying potential projects to improve conditions in specific locations as well as boost public participation and transparency in policy decisions.
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