Perception and reality
We need the Build Back Better agenda to
combat climate change and bring jobs
COURIER LIFE, S 28 EPTEMBER 10-16, 2021
EDITORIAL
OP-ED
Has New York City fi nally
turned the corner after
suffering through a year
of violent crime increases? According
to Mayor Bill de Blasio
and NYPD offi cials, it has.
August saw an overall crime
drop of 5.4 percent for major
offenses (murder, rape, robbery,
felony assault, burglary,
grand larceny and auto thefts).
More importantly, shootings
dropped about 30.7 percent citywide
compared to August 2020,
which was part of a summer
plagued by gun violence.
The relief regarding the
year-over-year crime drop between
August 2020 and August
2021 is tempered somewhat by
the fact that shootings in New
York City are still about double
what they were two summers
ago, in pre-pandemic August
2019.
Further evidence that
there’s much more to do to
drop crime occurred in the
Bronx over the past week,
where fi ve people were killed
in as many days in the 47th
Precinct’s confi nes. Queens
and Brooklyn also saw deadly
shootings on Labor Day and
Tuesday morning.
Yet, when de Blasio, Commissioner
Dermot Shea and
Chief of Department Rodney
Harrison spoke about the
crime stats on Sept. 7, they
seemed much more confi dent
that crime is fi nally on the
downturn for the foreseeable
future.
One reason comes down
to effective police work. Year
to date, the NYPD has made
more than 3,000 gun arrests,
the highest number in 25
years. This new high comes
a year after the department
disbanded their Anti-Crime
Units, which specialized in
targeting gun criminals, and
transitioned the offi cers assigned
into public safety duties.
Those public safety offi -
cers, Harrison reported, are
responsible for about half of
the gun arrests made in 2021.
Despite concerns raised by
critics, this editorial board included,
it seems the dissolution
of the Anti-Crime Units has
not backfi red on the NYPD’s
fi ght against gun crime.
The NYPD and the de Blasio
Administration also deserve
credit for fi nding alternative
ways toward fi ghting
crime — from investing millions
in summer youth, sports
and employment programs, to
working with violence interrupters
to help preserve the
peace as much as possible.
Perception isn’t always reality.
Though even one shooting
in New York City is one
too many, violent crime is far
from out of control. The city
hit a very rough patch related
to the pandemic, and the healing
has only started.
We hope against hope that
the city continues to build
on its crime-fi ghting efforts
and that even better days are
ahead.
BY JULIE TIGHE
& JEFF VOCKRODT
This summer New York City has
experienced severe fl ooding events,
devastating and endangering communities,
compromising our infrastructure,
and reinforcing the severity
of the climate crisis. The fl ooding
from Tropical Storm Elsa washed
out several subway stations and local
highways, stopping New Yorkers
in their tracks. And we’re not alone.
Across the country, wildfi res have
been so severe that the ash caused
the sun and moon to appear red here
in NYC.
These major fl ooding and severe
weather events reinforce not only
the increasing intensity of climate
change, but also how our aging infrastructure
is unprepared to deal
with these disasters. As global temperatures
continue to rise at alarming
rates, this warming makes
weather events more frequent and
intense, which causes devastating
impacts to our outdated infrastructure.
To effectively address the growing
climate crisis and jumpstart the
move to a clean energy economy, we
must implement ambitious policies
to tackle climate change and create
union jobs.
We have a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to invest in our future.
Congress is working on both a bipartisan
$1 trillion infrastructure package
and an even bolder and more historic
$3.5 trillion investment in line
with President Biden’s Build Back
Better agenda.
The $3.5 trillion climate infrastructure
package will build more
climate-resilient infrastructure,
support the green economy, and create
good-paying union jobs right
here in New York. It achieves this by
establishing a clean energy standard
to get us to 100% clean electricity by
2035, investing in our ports to jumpstart
offshore wind development, expanding
clean transportation, and
supporting the manufacturing jobs
that come with these green technologies
all while prioritizing climate
justice.
The billions proposed to repair
transportation infrastructure, including
funding for the Gateway program
and mass transit, can create local
jobs and help our state economy
grow. Investments in manufacturing
and clean energy can help revitalize
New York’s manufacturing sector,
which employs about 4.5% of the
state’s workforce, and create good
union jobs in New York’s clean-energy
sector, a growing industry for
our state.
Investments in climate infrastructure
can accomplish several
goals at once. For example, by retrofi
tting school buildings, which must
remain a priority in federal infrastructure
investments, we can have
a real impact on emissions, make
schools healthier and safer, create
good union jobs, and save schools
millions. In New York City alone,
where we are advocating for Carbon
Free and Healthy Schools, we
can have an impact equivalent to
planting 400,000 trees, address longstanding
facilities issues in school
buildings, create thousands of union
jobs, and save schools $70 million every
year on energy costs.
Critically, climate justice must
remain central to the plan, including
investments to improve climaterelated
housing and health outcomes
for low-income and vulnerable populations,
such as greater access to
clean drinking water, lead remediation
in housing, pollution reductions,
and retrofi tting public housing
to make it energy effi cient. To build
a clean-energy future that works for
all New Yorkers, we must prioritize
communities that have historically
been left behind and overburdened
by pollution.
We thank Rep. Jeffries for being a
climate champion and pushing these
critical elements of the Build Back
Better agenda forward. Now is the
time to make sure these crucial infrastructure
investments get across
the fi nish line. Now is the time to
rebuild our economy and create a
clean-energy future. We can’t wait
until the next Superstorm devastates
our communities. We must act now
to combat climate change, invest in
resilient communities, and create
good-paying jobs for New Yorkers.
Julie Tighe is the President of the
New York League of Conservation
Voters. Jeff Vockrodt is Executive Director
of Climate Jobs NY.
We have a once-in-ageneration
opportunity to
invest in our future.