NYC Left Behind: The Uneven Distribution of New York's $4.2 Billion Green Bond Act

A 127-year-old water main breaks underground in New York’s Times Square.Photo byMarc A. Hermann/MTA, via AP

In November 2022, New Yorker State voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot proposition to make $4.2 billion available for environmental and community projects to protect water quality,  adapt to climate change, improve resiliency, and create green jobs in the state. The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act was widely supported by those especially residing in New York City, who remember very clearly the destruction and havoc caused by Hurricane Sandy and Hurricane Ida and other severe weather events the city has endured. 

Hurricane Sandy (2012) caused unprecedented destruction, flooding tunnels, destroying homes, and leaving more than 8 million without power.Photo bywww.nydailynews.com

The Bond Act created a $4.2 billion purse for the state to create funding opportunities and grants that municipalities could apply for to pay for large, expensive projects such as creating eclectic school buses for districts, updating waterway and stormwater systems, and developing green buildings. NYS has already taken out $313 million of the Bond Act funds for such projects. Still, the vast majority of it has been put to use everywhere but New York City, which has received just under 2% of funding so far, with the rest being used by the Finger Lakes, Capital Region, Mid-Hudson, and Central NY region.

Roughly 64% of the state's population lives in the NYC metropolitan area, and 40% in NYC alone. Now, many of them (residents and politicians alike) are speaking out against the disproportional use of the funds. The funds are not supposed to be allocated according to region but rather by spending categories such as water infrastructure or land conservation (you can see the funding allocations here). Another part of the way the program works is by placing funding caps on localities, and in that way, NYC is viewed by the program as just another municipality. For example, NYC has the largest school district in the country, but again it is only considered as one school district - so to get electric school buses for the district it is competing against many other much much smaller school districts but fighting over the same small pot. 

NYC to buy 51 electric school buses for $18.5 million.Photo byNYC Mayor's Office

But the difference in need between say NYC and a small region like the Hudson, is that the projects are obviously going to carry a heftier price tag. A new Green Resliancy Grant that is partially funded by the Bond Act is currently taking applications from municipalities to cover up to 90% of stormwater management projects, however those grants are capped at just $10 million for each locale. 

NYC residents had high hopes of receiving funding for numerous projects that are currently on hold, such as the restoration of marsh and forest lands (of which they have few, but made all the more critical that they are protected). The Dept. of Taxation and Finance (DEP) estimated that a project to improve NYC’s resilience to heavy rains, such as expanded sewers and the restoration or creation of natural flooding features (wetlands) - would cost a staggering $30 billion at the current rate of funding it could take upwards of 30 years to make those changes. It's time that NYC quite honestly doesn’t have. The inability to receive adequate funding from the Bond Act makes the situation all the more infuriating for residents and the local politicians who championed its passage. 

Wetlands Management Framework Announced For New York City.Photo byuntappedcities.com

The 2% funding that NYC has received equals out to about $6 million, and it has already been put to use on upgrading equipment that cuts down on raw sewage from flowing into the East River when rainwater overwhelms the system. That project is estimated to cost the city $24 million. The City is also hoping to get Bond Act funding to help support its citywide sustainability agenda, known as PlaNYC, which includes a program that allows property owners in severe flood-prone areas to move out and be fairly compensated by the city for doing so. A clause within the Bond Act mandates that it provides at least a third of the funding to ‘disadvantaged’ communities disproportionally affected by climate change and pollution. With that clause, NYC could receive more funding as about 60% of its residents fall into that category. With only 10% of the Bond Act funding already distributed, residents and local officials in NYC are hoping they can advocate and pivot to receive the funding they so desperately need.