Photo: Mayor de Blasio presented his OneNYC plan last week. Courtesy of Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office.
Mayor Bill de Blasio last week unveiled “One New York: The Plan for a Strong and Just City,” an initiative his administration is calling “a comprehensive plan for a sustainable and resilient city for all New Yorkers that addresses the profound social, economic, and environmental challenges ahead.”
OneNYC, according to de Blasio, builds on prior long-term sustainability plans for the city, expanding on targets established under previous plans, as well as on the work of his administration over the last 16 months.
Growth, sustainability, and resiliency are the core of the plan, de Blasio said, but with the poverty rate remaining high and income inequality continuing to grow, his administration added equity as a guiding principle throughout OneNYC.
The initiative sets goals for tackling challenges in the coming years—including a poverty reduction target of 800,000 New Yorkers over the next 10 years, zero waste to landfills by 2030, and the elimination of long-term displacement from homes and jobs after shock events by 2050.
“Environmental and economic sustainability must go hand in hand—and OneNYC is the blueprint to ensure they do,” de Blasio noted. “Today, we are laying out specific goals to make sure that as we build a stronger, more sustainable, and more resilient city, we are also creating a more equitable one. From our unprecedented goal of lifting 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty, to sweeping environmental initiatives such as Zero Waste, the cleanest air of any large city, and a dramatic reduction in emissions, this is a bold and ambitious plan—and New York City requires nothing less. OneNYC builds on the strong foundation created by the Bloomberg administration, and ensures that our city can meet the challenges we face today and in the future, while inspiring others around the world to do the same.”
Among the growing number of challenges the city faces today are a rapidly growing population, rising inequality, an aging infrastructure, and climate change. OneNYC, de Blasio said, lays out a series of specific targets and initiatives to prepare the city for future generations, including: making the Big Apple home to 4.9 million jobs by 2040; creating 240,000 new housing units by 2025, and an additional 250,000 to 300,000 by 2040; enabling the average New Yorker to reach 25 percent more jobs—or 1.8 million jobs—within 45 minutes by public transit; lifting 800,000 New Yorkers out of poverty or near-poverty by 2025; cutting premature mortality by 25 percent by 2040, while reducing racial/ethnic disparities; reducing the city’s greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, over 2005 levels; sending zero waste to landfills and reducing waste disposal by 90 percent relative to 2005 levels, by 2030; ensuring the city has the best air quality among all large U.S. cities by 2030; reducing risks of flooding in most affected communities; eliminating long-term displacement from homes and jobs after future shock events by 2050; reducing the city’s Social Vulnerability Index for neighborhoods across the Gotham; reducing annual economic losses from climate-related events; and continued investment as part of an over-$20 billion program that includes a range of physical, social, and economic resiliency measures.
The 332-page plan is divided into four visions and includes over 200 new initiatives, with over 80 specific new metrics and targets. The full OneNYC report, including complete initiatives and indicators, can be viewed at nyc.gov/oneNYC.
By Forum Staff
