INWOOD CLIMATE CHANGE & HEALTH POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

04 Inwood Climate Change & Health Project

ABOUT INWOOD CLIMATE CHANGE & HEALTH PROJECT

One of WE ACT's goals is to increase climate resiliency in Northern . To do that, it is important to understand the issues that communities face with climate change, and equip them with the tools needed to advocate for increasing resiliency in their own neighborhoods.

The Inwood Climate & Health Project is a collaborative community-based initiative that engages Inwood members on how climate change shows up in their neighborhood, how it can impact health, and how to address the issue.

Through a series of meetings, Inwood community members identified extreme heat and poor air quality as climate-change related issues that affect their health. WE ACT then worked with these members to create an action plan to address these priority issues.

Today, we are sharing the recommendations with the rest of the Inwood community to increase awareness and to gain feedback on our work so far.

Through collaborative learning and engagement, the ultimate goal of this project is for community members to build power to increase climate resiliency in Inwood. Inwood Climate Change & Health Project

The following are policy recommendations made by Inwood community members ONENYC: thriving neighborhoods

S U P P O R T A R T S A N D C U L T U R E I N A L L C O M M U N I T I E S

Offer 85 paid internships at cultural organizations through CUNY Cultural Corps – offer some of these internships for Inwood residents to implement programs that spread awareness about climate change and heat mitigation/adaptation through art

Implement community initiative to improve historically under- invested parks in neighborhoods where need is greatest by investing in free, renewable energy transportation to connect Inwood Hill and

E N H A N C E N E I G H B O R H O O D A C C E S S A N D C O N N E C T I V I T Y T O P A R K S A N D O P E N S P A C E S

Encourage elected representatives to commit to annual summer block party, organized in conjunction with local Inwood community organizations

S T R E N G T H E N O P E N S P A C E S A N D O P P O R T U N I T I E S F O R R E C R E A T I O N I N U N D E R - R E S O U R C E D A N D G R O W I N G N E I G H B O R H O O D S

Continue summer streets and weekend walks – have 1 of these events in Inwood each year to promote community pride and cohesion

Support five more Mayor’s Grant for Cultural Impact partnerships between City agencies and cultural organizations specifically targeting low income neighborhoods - provide grants for local cultural organizations to design programs for Cooling Centers (i.e. educational, informational, entertainment) ONENYC: livable climate

E M P O W E R N E W Y O R K E R S T O T A K E C L I M A T E - S M A R T A D A P T A T I O N M E A S U R E S

Coat one million square feet of rooftop, with outreach prioritizing high heat vulnerability neighborhoods – fund rooftop gardens for apartments buildings in the east-side of Inwood

Conduct 10 community preparedness boot camps to assist local organizations with their emergency planning and connect them with NYCEM’s resources – host at least 1 of these boot camps at NYCHA Dyckman Houses

Implement heat-health trainings and programming - train staff at Inwood Cooling Centers before summertime

D I V E S T T H E C I T Y ’ S P E N S I O N F U N D S O F A L L F O S S I L F U E L R E S E R V E O W N E R S

Approve plan for unwinding investments in fossil fuel owners from the pension fund portfolio – approve this plan by 2020

U S E T H E B E S T A V A I L A B L E S C I E N C E T O I N F O R M A M U L T I - H A Z A R D A P P R O A C H T O C L I M A T E A D A P T A T I O N

Collect baseline neighborhood-level temperature data in 14 neighborhoods with high heat vulnerability – collect this temperature data in east Inwood to understand heat vulnerable locations

I N V E S T I N A C A R B O N N E U T R A L A N D C L I M A T E R E S I L I E N T F U T U R E

Begin doubling pension investments in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and other climate change solutions – invest in transitioning all NYC operated vehicles away from fossil fuels, vehicles that drive up 10th avenue ONENYC: efficient mobility

I N C E N T I V I Z E C O M M E R C I A L A N D F L E E T V E H I C L E S T O R E D U C E E M I S S I O N S

Expand clean truck program to trucks used for train yard work

Relevant city agencies will collaborate in study of true vehicle pollution in by 2020 and use this to advance green freight and other vehicle pollution cleanup initiatives – study air pollution effects of vehicles driving on 10th ave in Inwood and release data annually

H E L P F A C I L I T A T E T H E E X P A N S I O N O F N E W Y O R K C I T Y ’ S B I K E S H A R E S Y S T E M T O N E I G H B O R H O O D S W H E R E I T I S C U R R E N T L Y U N A V A I L A B L E

To increase bike share usage in an underserved neighborhood, Inwood, provide free access to residents on public assistance

To increase bike share usage in an underserved neighborhood, Inwood, fund bike share programs through local bike shops

I M P R O V E B U S N E T W O R K P E R F O R M A N C E B Y E X P A N D I N G B U S P R I O R I T Y C I T Y W I D E

Improve 5 miles of bus lanes in Inwood

Improve Improve bus speeds in Inwood by 25% by end of 2020

I N C E N T I V I Z E C O M M E R C I A L A N D F L E E T V E H I C L E S T O R E D U C E E M I S S I O N S

Incentivize ice cream trucks to convert to renewable energy

M A N A G E V E H I C L E D E M A N D O N C I T Y S T R E E T S

Enforce truck idling laws in Inwood, focusing on trucks on 10th Avenue M O D E R N I Z E T H E S U B W A Y S Y S T E M A N D I M P R O V E A F F O R D A B I L I T Y A N D A C C E S S I B I L I T Y

Incorporate changes into zoning regulations that promote coordinator of new development with subway accessibility improvements – implement accessibility improvements at 207th Street A train (including 211th street entrance) Entrance

ONENYC: healthy lives

D E S I G N A N E N V I R O N M E N T T H A T C R E A T E S T H E C O N D I T I O N S F O R H E A L T H A N D W E L L - B E I N G – P R O T E C T , R E S T O R E , A N D C O N S E R V E T H E C I T Y ’ S N A T U R A L E N V I R O N M E N T ” B Y P R E S E R V I N G > 2 5 0 A C R E S O F C I T Y W I D E N A T U R A L A R E A A N N U A L L Y

Plant over 5,000 street tress in neighborhoods with the highest vulnerability to heat – plant trees along 10th avenue and streets east of 10th avenue

Create portion of waterfront that is being developed under the Inwood NYC Action Plan to be restored to natural (proposed below 201st street East of academy and above 207th and below 208th between Exterior and 9th Ave)

E X P A N D H E A T - H E A L T H P R O G R A M M I N G A N D E D U C A T I O N

Conduct 2 heat-health trainings to service providers working with populations with increased vulnerabilities to heat-related illness – train Inwood cooling center staff (NYPL, Comm Center, youth Center, senior center)

Launch a radio and newspaper media campaign to promote risks of heat-related illness and ways to protect those with increased susceptibilities – do this by sharing Cooling Center information and signs of heat stress Inwood NYC Action Plan

I M P R O V E N E I G H B O R H O O D I N F R A S T R U C T U R E

Invest in park maintenance by providing permanent funding for maintenance of 13 park projects established under the Inwood NYC Action Plan

Increase park access from 10th Ave

Ensure easy pedestrian access to and maintenance of city owned waterfront space between 205th and 204th St

Use permeable surfaces for walkways when building up waterfront parks North Cove and Academy St

Future waterfront developments must use permeable surfaces for all walkways and establish flood protection in adjacent parks

Develop an Inwood drainage plan to address water and sewer infrastructure needs and through this plan, fix drainage in 211st A train entrance

Return a portion of the new waterfront parks North Cove and Academy St. to natural marsh and grasslands

I N V E S T I N P E O P L E

Offer Spanish classes for mono-lingual English-speaking community members through the Workforce1 Career Center in Northern Manhattan

Offer Spanish classes run by local organizations for mono-lingual English- speaking community members through the Building Capacity Program

Through Building Capacity Program, offer educational and arts grants to Inwood organizations that want to spread information about extreme heat and climate change, requiring at least 1 of their programs to take place in Inwood NYCHA campus

C R E A T E A C O M P R E H E N S I V E Z O N I N G F R A M E W O R K

Future waterfront developments must use permeable surfaces for all walkways and establish flood protection in adjacent parks nyc climate resiliency guidelines 3.0

According to NYC Climate Resiliency Guidelines 3.0, heat vulnerable neighborhoods should use “Increase the solar reflectance of surfaces by utilizing light-colored pavement, coatings and materials, in combination with shading, with a minimum target of 50% of the non- structure areas offacility sites” – make 10th Avenue and all roads east of 10th Avenue with lighter more reflective surfaces. Require any new projects on the Inwood waterfront to have reflective surfaces for pavement.

According to NYC Climate Resiliency Guidelines 3.0, heat vulnerable neighborhoods should use “Select green/blue roofs and/or other appropriate landscape elements that maximize cooling with input from landscape architects.” - provide incentives for Inwood buildings to implement green roofs

NEW YORK STATE POLICY

C L I M A T E L E A D E R S H I P A N D C O M M U N I T Y P R O T E C T I O N A C T ( 2 0 1 9 )

Select Inwood for air monitoring program

Reduce greenhouse gasses through park expansion

Expand green/blue roofs in Inwood

G E N E R A L S T A T E - L E V E L G O A L

Enact state-level laws requiring max building temperature T H A N K Y O U F O R C O M I N G

F O R M O R E I N F O R M A T I O N : www.weact.org/campaigns/inwood/

S O N A L J E S S E L PHONE : 2 1 2 - 9 6 1 - 1 0 0 0 E X T . 3 1 2 EMAIL : s o n a l@w e a c t . o r g