PlaNYC

PlaNYC is an effort released by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007 to prepare the city for one million more residents, strengthen the economy, combat climate change, and enhance the quality of life for all New Yorkers. The Plan brought together over 25 City agencies to work toward the vision of a greener, greater New York. Since then, significant progress has been made towards the long-term goals set by the Plan.

PlaNYC specifically targets ten areas of interest: Housing and Neighborhoods; Parks and Public Spaces; Brownfields; Waterways; Water Supply; Transportation; Energy; Air Quality; Solid Waste; and Climate Change.

Over 97% of the 127 initiatives in PlaNYC were launched within one-year of its release and almost two-thirds of its 2009 milestones were achieved or mostly achieved. The plan was updated in 2011 and has been expanded to 132 initiatives and more than 400 specific milestones for December 31, 2013.

Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, led the team of experts that developed the plan, which The New York Times called the Bloomberg administration’s "most far-reaching"—"its fate could determine whether his administration will be remembered as truly transformative."[1]

Components

The plan has three major components:

Congestion pricing

One of the most controversial aspects of the plan is the mayor’s call for congestion pricing, specifically a bid to levy a fee of $8.00 on all cars entering midtown Manhattan during peak hours on weekdays. The proposal has stalled in Albany despite support from environmental groups and the governor’s office.

A large criticism stems from the plan’s assumption that more riders could use mass transit. New York City Transit, after doing an analysis of each subway line, revealed that many subway lines are already used to capacity, and that the tracks allow no room to add more trains.[2]

Promoters of this mechanism argue, however, that the system could generate much needed funds for currently underfunded MTA Capital Construction projects (e.g. Second Avenue Subway, 7 Subway Extension, East Side Access, etc.).

Support

PlaNYC is supported by Campaign for New York's Future, a coalition of civic, business, environmental, labor, community and public health organizations.

TRIRIGA / IBM deal

According to a study by the mayor’s office, the city’s municipal buildings account for nearly 3.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions each year[3] and utilize 6.5 percent of the city’s energy.[4] One of the main goals of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2017.[3]

In order to meet this, the government of New York City signed an agreement worth more than ten million dollars with TRIRIGA (acquired by IBM),[5] a leading integrated workplace management system and environmental sustainability software provider[6] through which the city will deploy TRIRIGA’s environmental and energy management software (now IBM TRIRIGA) across more than 4,000 government buildings throughout the city of New York.[5]

Prior to the agreement, the city’s rate of energy consumption in NYC municipal buildings totaled nearly $1 billion each year,[4] and accounted for about 64 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.[7] New York City will use performance data from IBM TRIRIGA system to provide the city with the critical analysis required to implement carbon reduction strategies and to inform the project selection process for PlaNYC funded retrofit projects.[5]

Through the agreement, TRIRIGA (now IBM) and New York City will work together to measure existing and historical energy and water usage and enter it into the city’s implementation of IBM TRIRIGA - known to the city as Sustainable Energy Property Tracking System (SEPTS) - helping to identify resource-intensive facilities and prioritize energy efficiency investment decisions.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Cardwell, Diane; Bagli, Charles V. (April 20, 2007). "Mayor To Unveil 25-Year Outline For Greener City". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  2. ↑ Neuman, William (June 26, 2007). "Some Subways Found Packed Past Capacity". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The City of New York. "PLANYC 2030 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory". Retrieved June 3, 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Long-Term Plan to Reduce Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Municipal Buildings and Operations, Energy Conservation Steering Committee, July 2008
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "New York City Implements TRIRIGA TREES to Reduce Energy and Carbon Footprint" (PDF) (Press release). TRIRIGA INC. April 13, 2010. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  6. ↑ "P&G, Dell, HP, Better Place/Tririga, Harris Corporation, and Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Win Awards" (Press release). AMR Research. May 28, 2009. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  7. ↑ The City of New York. "PLANYC 2030 - Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory: 2007 Emissions Data". Retrieved June 3, 2010.

External links