NYCHA Joins City’s Greening and Sustainability Initiative
General Manager Michael Kelly announced the official launch of NYCHA’s recycling program on May 29 at Steepshead/Nostrand Houses in Brooklyn, where he was joined by NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY)Commissioner Kathyrn Garcia and Mayor’s Office of Sustainability Director Nilda Mesa.
“We are very excited to implement recycling at all of our 328 developments over the next 18 months—starting now with Sheepshead/Nostrand, Bronx River, Bronx River Addition and Boynton Avenue Rehab,” GM Kelly said.
“NYCHA’s 178,000 apartments represent eight percent of the City’s rental housing stock, and they generate up to 190,000 tons of solid waste per year. So by putting recyclables where they belong, we’ll lead by example and make a huge contribution to the City’s sustainability plan.”
NYCHA will continue to work closely with DSNY and GrowNYC to develop a coordinated strategy with property management and resident leaders to encourage residents to recycle.
NYCHA has been implementing sustainability initiatives over the past decade — including energy-efficient refrigerator and lighting replacements, conversion of boilers to natural gas, a computerized heating automated system, and other measures. These initiatives have saved NYCHA tens of millions of dollars in utility costs.
Just last month, the de Blasio administration announced an innovative plan to upgrade and retrofit thousands of public housing buildings, dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This alone will generate tens of millions of dollars in cost savings, and create more than 500 jobs.
Additionally, NYCHA will deploy $3 billion of funding from FEMA — the largest FEMA grant in history—to repair, protect, and make much more resilient over 400 buildings within 33 public housing developments that sustained severe damage during Superstorm Sandy.
