New York, NY – Today, more than 100 environmental advocates and concerned residents rallied at City Hall to demand Mayor Zohran Mamdani act to decarbonize New York City, as he promised during his campaign. Food & Water Watch was joined by ALIGN, TREEage, NYPIRG, Rise & Resist, Sunrise Movement NYC, Climate Defenders, Climate Defiance, Hot Girls Organize. 

The coalition called on Mamdani to:

• Close former mayor Adams’ Renewable Energy Credit (REC) “Landlord Loophole” that allows building owners to buy ‘offsets’ instead of reducing emissions
• Sufficiently fund heat pump programs to help homeowners leave the oil and gas network
• Invest in green and healthy schools to address decades of divestment and deterioration
• Fight fossil fuel infrastructure, including the Williams NESE pipeline and Gowanus fracked gas power plant

Activists pointed out that a lack of sustainable climate infrastructure is an affordability issue. Mamdani’s climate pledges would improve public health, reduce air pollution, create thousands of new green jobs, and help New Yorkers save on energy. 

“Mayor Mamdani promised to create a city that is affordable, livable, and safe. A plan to address emissions and skyrocketing energy bills goes hand-in-hand with Mamdani’s affordability agenda. The longer Mayor Mamdani waits to deliver on his promises to fight fossil fuel infrastructure, invest in green, healthy schools, and clean up emissions from buildings, the more New Yorkers will pay the price with steeper energy costs, more air pollution, and thousands of lost jobs. The time to act is now, and that’s why we’re rallying to tell Mayor Mamdani: Keep your climate commitments,” said Graham Gale, organizer at Food & Water Watch.

“Our schools are falling apart and our kids are falling behind,” said Jenille Scott, ALIGN Climate Director. “Every day that NYC students are exposed to poisonous toxins, poor air quality, and uncomfortable temperatures in the classroom means lower test scores, higher absences, and a growing education and health crisis. Green, Healthy Schools connect so many of this administration’s priorities — child care, safe work, and fixing what’s broken in our day-to-day — and it’s time for the Mayor to take action to protect our city’s greatest public resource, our schools.” 

“Candidate Mamdani promised a break from the status quo to meet our spiraling climate and affordability crises head on. Ten months into his administration, it’s past time for Mayor Mamdani to step forward to stop fossil fuel infrastructure buildouts spurred on by AI and data center speculation; to publicly oppose proposed fracked gas power plants within city limits; to fulfill his campaign promise to close the crippling administrative loophole his predecessor ripped into NYC’s primary climate law, Local Law 97; and to green our antiquated, overheated, polluting and toxic public schools. The work we committed to in collectively electing Zohran was never intended to be a vanity project. As deaths mount and our city’s archaic infrastructure is compromised through compounding climate bombardments, we need Mayor Mamdani to rise to the moment to deliver to New Yorkers what he himself promised: to keep us safe and healthy in our schools, our homes and our places of work, while confronting the affordability crisis head on.” — Ken Schles, Rise and Resist Climate Co-organizer.

“New York City students at TREEage have spent the first month of the academic year focused primarily on the fight for Green Healthy Schools. With Mayor Mamdani in office, they have felt hopeful that this legislation will finally be implemented and are beginning to envision a safe and sustainable school system in the near future. Students, however, are disappointed by the limited progress made by the Mamdani administration so far. Youth organizers and allies have outlined creative, effective, and actionable solutions and are calling on the Mayor to prioritize their implementation. We know this is possible, and we urge the Mayor to follow through on the climate justice commitments he has made.” said Kathryn Gioiosa, Executive Director of TREEage.

“Mayor Mamdani has the power to deliver cleaner air, more jobs, and lower bills to thousands of New Yorkers by strengthening our laws to make buildings more energy efficient, goals he supported on the campaign trail. So, why isn’t he keeping his word yet as Mayor?” said Danilo Martinez, Queensborough Community College student and NYPIRG student board chair. “We’re counting on the Mayor to keep his promises to students, tenants, and homeowners: Close the Landlord Loophole, reject fossil fuels, and lead NYC into the affordable, healthy, green future.”

“In the past year, Sunrise NYC has zeroed in on issues sitting at the intersection of the climate and affordability crises, including rising energy bills that threaten New Yorkers’ health while funding the buildout of more fossil fuel infrastructure,” said Avalon Akashi, Sunrise Movement NYC Hub Coordinator. “However, we need our elected officials, especially Mayor Mamdani, to also champion climate legislation. We urgently ask our Mayor to sponsor green, affordable infrastructure as a first step towards realizing his vision for a safe, livable and healthy New York together.” 

“If New York is going to lead the way on fighting climate change, we cannot keep building more dirty fossil fuel infrastructure. Mayor Mamdani needs to lead the fight against dirty energy projects like the Williams NESE pipeline and the Gowanus fracked gas power plant. As a candidate, Mamdani committed to shutting down dirty energy infrastructure; now we need him as mayor to deliver,” said Jonathan Westin, Executive Director at Climate Defenders.

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