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Have something to submit? Email dartwestphal@gmail.com

Canoeing Trips April 18th and April 25th

Email @dart.westphal@manhattan.edu to sign up!

Thursday, March 30th Quarterly Meeting of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership and Annual Bronx Council for Environmental Quality Meeting at Manhattan College.

In-person Partnership Meeting and Finalizing of Urban Waters Workplan. The Bronx and Harlem Rivers Urban Water Federal Partnership will celebrate their 2023/2024 work plan revision on March 30th at Manhattan College from 3-5 pm. The meeting is in coordination with Bronx Council for Environmental Quality's Annual Meeting which will follow from 5-7 pm. View the full schedule here, add to your Google Calendar here, and RSVP via rsvp@bceq.org with your name, organization, and dietary restrictions.

City of Water Day - July 15th

This year’s region-wide celebration will be held on Saturday, July 15th. NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program and Waterfront Alliance are looking forward to celebrating the resilience of our New York and New Jersey Harbor alongside our many partners. For a limited number of participating organizations, HEP can provide funding support to help community organizations run programs centered around this year’s theme: building resilience and community capacity to weather climate change. 

Curious about how to put together a City of Water Day small grant application? Then be sure to join March 9, 2023 at 2pm to learn more about how you can participate in this year’s City of Water Day and help our communities become resilient and involved in climate action. Attendees will get an overview about HEP's application process and will also get the chance to hear from previous City of Water Day award recipients on best practices for hosting a program for the first time as well as building sustainable partnerships.   

Register here to join on March 9, 2023 at 2pm!

 OMSB Seminar Series: "Charging Stations and the City”

Beia Spiller, Resources for the Future

https://sites.google.com/site/ebeiaspiller 

https://www.rff.org/people/beia-spiller/

Location: Capalbo (DLS 300)

Time: 1 to 2 pm 

Abstract: Electrifying vehicles can be a very effective strategy in reducing transportation-related pollution, and, if enough adoption occurs in disadvantaged communities, this adoption will benefit those who have historically been most affected by transportation caused pollution. Yet NYC faces a challenge in achieving widespread EV adoption, as a large percentage of families live in multifamily homes or single family homes with no garage access. This means that they will need to rely upon public charging stations to charge their vehicles. As the city moves towards a large roll out of public charging stations, understanding the extent to which these investments can accelerate adoption of EVs, particularly in disadvantaged communities, will be a key factor in estimating the benefits of clean energy investments. Our research explores the placement of charging stations across the city and the effect of these on EV adoption at the zip code level. We first identify the geographical distribution of charging stations with respect to demographics and show how public charging stations have been targeted towards wealthier and whiter neighborhoods. Then, using detailed information on new EV registrations over time and location, we estimate the extent to which charging station access increases EV adoption across different community types and location. Finally, we estimate the benefits of targeting future investments in public charging stations in disadvantaged communities, rather than extending the status quo approach of continuing to invest in wealthier and whiter neighborhoods. Our results suggest that investments in charging stations is an effective manner to increase EV adoption in a dense city where households have limited access to parking and home charging. However, given the disparities in current charging station locations, the city will have to take a different approach to ensure that EV adoption results in benefits to disadvantaged communities.

Above: "Sustainability at Manhattan College: An Assessment using the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating Systems (STARS)" by the students from POSC 223. This will be used to draft a college wide sustainability self-study that will be shared with the community during Earth Week. 

Above: Video Recording of the FDC Seminar March 2nd

Faculty: please let us know of courses that should be added to the List of Courses Addressing Sustainability and the Environment for Fall 2022

Above: Companion Slides to the March 2nd Center for Faculty Development Seminar

Tibbetts Brook News Update

THE CITY OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR

NEW YORK, NY 10007 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2022 

MAYOR ADAMS ANNOUNCES MAJOR MILESTONE IN PROJECT TO “DAYLIGHT” TIBBETTS BROOK, EXTENDS PUTNAM GREENWAY IN BRONX

After Years of Stalemate, Adams Administration Reaches Agreement to Purchase Critical Bronx Property Needed to Complete One of New York City’s Most Ambitious Green Infrastructure Projects to Date

Project Will Create Additional Capacity in Bronx Sewer System, Improve Health of Harlem River, and Provide Residents with New Green Space

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced that the city has hit a key milestone in the project to uncover Tibbetts Brook and extend the Putnam Greenway in the Bronx. Following years of a stalemate, an agreement has been reached with railroad freight company CSX Transportation to purchase a piece of property critical to the project for $11.2 million. By obtaining this final component, the city will be able to move forward with rerouting the brook above ground, an engineering feat known as ‘daylighting,’ and will complete one of New York City’s most ambitious green infrastructure projects to date.

Removing Tibbetts Brook from the sewer system will create much-needed additional capacity in the borough’s drainage network and is expected to reduce combined sewer overflows by 228 million gallons annually, which will improve the health of the Harlem River. This green infrastructure project will also create new parkland for New Yorkers to enjoy within the former CSX rail line property and extend the existing Putnam Greenway, which goes through Van Cortlandt Park and connects northward to the 750-mile Empire State Trail.

“Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to completing one of New York City’s most ambitious green infrastructure project to date,” said Mayor Adams. “After years of trying, I’m proud that this administration was able to reach this milestone and can proceed with rerouting Tibbetts Brook above ground. Not only will this create more green spaces to enjoy, but it will remove millions of gallons of water from our sewer system, lessening potential flooding on rainy days.”

“With the help and support from Senator Schumer, our partner agencies, and countless committed electeds and advocates, the city will improve water quality for nearby rivers, reduce flooding, all while providing additional parkland and greenway connections,” said Deputy Mayor of Operations Meera Joshi. “This type of action highlights the importance of redeveloping unused industrial space creatively for the purpose of greening our city, and directly benefitting those communities in the Bronx as well as those adjacent to the Harlem River”

“Rerouting this long-buried waterway above ground will reduce pollution going into the Harlem River, lessen flooding, connect greenways, and create even more recreational space for the Bronx,” said Chief Climate Officer and DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala. “Thanks to the persistent efforts of the Adams administration and our elected, community, and environmental partners, we are on our way to acquiring this critical piece of land from CSX Transportation and moving forward with the plan to restore Tibbetts Brook. This is one of our most ambitious green infrastructure projects to date, complementing the many other innovative initiatives we are already utilizing - including the recently expanded Cloudburst Program, Bluebelts, rain gardens and green roofs - to tackle climate change.”

“This project has been years in the making, and we are so proud that this administration has negotiated the vital CSX agreement to move forward with daylighting Tibbetts Brook – a win for environmental justice, and a big upgrade for the Bronx,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “In addition to adding nearly four acres of brand new greenspace and improving water quality in the Harlem River, this project will add an extension to our Putnam Greenway, connected to the larger Empire State Greenway, increasing recreational opportunities for all New Yorkers to enjoy.”

Tibbetts Brook was dammed in the 18th century to form a mill pond in Van Cortlandt Park and by 1912 it was completely buried underground and directed into the city’s sewer system. The daylighting project will return it closer to its natural open-air path, which winds through the Kingsbridge neighborhood and empties into the Harlem River.

Once completed, the daylighting project will remove roughly 4 to 5 million gallons of water from the sewer system each day, more on rainy days. The project could lessen flooding in some areas of the Tibbetts Brook watershed, and reduce treatment costs and greenhouse gas emissions by diverting brook water away from the Wards Island Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility.

There has already been significant community engagement on the project, and it is now in the final stages of the design process. Construction is expected to begin in 2025.    

Acquisition by the city of the rail property is subject to approval by the federal Surface Transportation Board for use of the former rail line as a trail. The overall daylighting and greenway project budget is $133 million. The project is part of an agreement between New York City and New York State to further improve the ecological health of city waterbodies.

“For years I’ve been pushing CSX to sell the abandoned Putnam Right-Of-Way to the City to extend a walking and biking greenway to the people of the Bronx and beyond. This parcel has been the missing piece of the puzzle to connect the emerging and popular Manhattan and Hudson River Greenways — and will inject a vibrant green lifeline into the Bronx,” said U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer. “City Hall and the Bronx-community have long been working on a plan to build a beautiful greenway that will connect the Bronx to a massive network of other Greenways, parks, and bike paths, as well as improve the borough’s drainage capacity. The negotiations are no longer stalled and the project is back on track with an agreement for the city to purchase this critical piece of property thanks to the persistent work of Mayor Adams.”

“As New York continues to address the challenges of climate change, the Tibbetts Brook daylighting project will provide much-needed weather resiliency and green space for the Bronx,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. “I applaud Mayor Adams’ work to get this deal done and I will continue to advocate for these types of critical infrastructure projects that create green spaces for New Yorkers, as well as protect and preserve our neighborhoods from extreme flooding events. I urge the Surface Transportation Board to swiftly approve this critical acquisition.”

“The daylighting of Tibbetts Brook has been a longtime priority of mine and our community. The benefits for this project are numerous,” said New York State Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. “It would reduce combined sewage overflow into the Harlem River by more than 300 million gallons per year, resulting in immediately cleaner waterways and improved recreational opportunities along the river. It would mitigate flooding in surrounding communities of Kingsbridge and Van Cortlandt Village, such as that which shut down the Major Deegan Expressway in 2021. It would create new greenspace for Bronxites to use and enjoy for years to come, transforming space which is currently nothing more than urban blight and a receptacle for dumped garbage. It would increase capacity for carbon capture in the Bronx and would alleviate noise and air pollution from the adjacent highway."

“The uncovering of Tibbetts Brook and the extension of the Putnam Greenway in the Bronx is a game-changing initiative that will not only benefit the environment but also greatly improve the overall well-being of the residents in the area,” saidNew York State Assemblymember Yudelka Tapia. “The greenway will provide a much-needed respite for local residents, serving as a place for exercise, relaxation, and community building. The restoration of Tibbetts Brook will also have a positive impact on the ecosystem, promoting biodiversity and improving the water quality of the area. We are incredibly grateful to Mayor Eric Adams and his administration for their tireless efforts in making this project a reality.”

“The Daylighting of Tibbetts Brook is a monumental investment in the Bronx,” said New York City Council Member Eric Dinowitz. “An environmental project of this scale has never been taken on by the city until now, and the impact of this critical achievement cannot be overstated. The purchase of the CSX property puts us on a path to accomplishing a massive feat —converting our aging, environmentally unfriendly infrastructure to modern day, green infrastructure, the kind that is backed up by science to reduce the impacts of climate change, not to mention the immediate benefits such as a reduction in flooding. I give my deepest thanks to my local partners, the Bronx Council on Environmental Quality, Bronx Community Board 8 and the Van Cortlandt Park Alliance for their tireless work on this project, and to the Adams administration for making the environment and the Bronx a top priority.”

Recent Publications

Jimena González-Ramírez, Jill Caviglia-Harris and John C. Whitehead (2021), "Teaching Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: A Review of the Economic Education Literature", International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics: Vol. 15: No. 3, pp 235-369. http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/101.00000143

Environmental and natural resource economics (ENRE) is a rapidly growing economics field, creating challenges for instructors seeking to bring these advances into the classroom. This paper creates an easy-to-use guide to the large volume of journal articles on teaching ENRE. We include cross-referenced tables for quick review, detailed summaries for more in-depth understanding, and categorize each of the articles according to topic and pedagogy. We identify an impressive set of resources that instructors can use to engage students. The most common ENRE topic in these 54 articles is incentive-based approaches for addressing externalities, and more specifically, marketable pollution permits. The least developed topics were those focused on conservation, sustainability, and climate change.

Monday March 6th, Noon, Meeting with the Army Corp of Engineers:

The USACE plans have SeaWalls and Elevated Promenade Walkways on the Manhattan side of the Harlem River on the water's edge, but on the Bronx side of the river has much more limited storm surge barriers located in-land.

Please join the Harlem River Working Group and partners in the final meeting with the Army Corps of Engineers to discuss their NYNJHATS Proposal (the deadline for comments is March 7th).  We have requested the meeting to discuss some of the concerns of our communities on the impact of the Flood-Mitigation Features on the communities of the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. 

• Please refer to the documents prior to the meeting here.  

• This is the link for the meeting: https://usace1.webexm.tommaso.com/meet/danielle.

This meeting will only be focused on the Harlem River, Bronx Kill, and East River, focusing on the areas of the Bronx and Manhattan, the South Bronx, Randalls Island and Rikers Island.  We are concerned that this might cause additional flooding in the Bronx, the communities and infrastructure along the waterfront. We are suggesting that changes should be made to this proposal for the Bronx Side of Harlem River, incorporating an Elevated Promenade on the Bronx Side, ensuring equitable access to the waters edge for both the Bronx and Manhattan. Please attend the meeting, listen to community and advocates concerns and share your voice.

Carol Samol (Bronx Borough Office Director at City Planning) and Dart Westphal (Director of Environmental Studies) discuss 'Fixing the Cross Bronx Expressway' as part of S.T.E.A.M. Week. Afterwards this year's class of students were inducted into KAO the Interdisciplinary Environmental Honor Society. Congratulations to Mia Brito-Karcher (Environmental Studies), Christian Machado and Kaitlyn Cooke (Environmental Science). 

Manhattan College Earth Week 2023

Manhattan College Earth Week 2021

Manhattan College Earth Week 2020 Flyer

EPA Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program

EPA is soliciting applications for projects that support community-based nonprofit organizations (CBOs) in their collaboration with other stakeholders (e.g., local businesses and industry, local government, medical service providers, academia, etc.) to develop solutions that significantly address environmental or public health issue(s) in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms. The Environmental Justice Collaborative Problem-Solving (EJCPS) Cooperative Agreement Program provides financial assistance to eligible organizations. The EJCPS Program anticipates awarding approximately $30,000,000 of Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding through 83 cooperative agreements. 

More information can be found here. Applications due April 10, 2023

EPA Environmental Justice Government-to-Government Program (EJG2G)

The Environmental Justice Government-to-Government (EJG2G) program provides funding at the state, local, territorial, and tribal level to support government activities that lead to measurable environmental or public health impacts in communities disproportionately burdened by environmental harms. Formerly known as EPA's State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement Program (SEJCA), this program was renamed to better reflect the spectrum of entities eligible for this funding. EPA is soliciting applications for projects that transform overburdened and underserved communities into healthy, thriving communities capable of addressing the environmental and public health challenges they have historically faced, as well as current and future challenges. The EJG2G Program anticipates awarding approximately $70,000,000 of funding through 70 cooperative agreements nationwide. 

More information can be found here. Applications due April 10, 2023

EPA National Wetland Program Development Grants

Eligible applicants for projects that develop or refine state/tribal/local government wetland programs as a whole, or individual components of those programs. Eligible applicants under this announcement are non-profit, non-governmental organizations, interstate agencies, and intertribal consortia (local governments not eligible – but please share with local eligible groups).

More information can be found here. Applications are due Monday, March 27, 2023.

Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking

The Biden-Harris Administration announced the availability of $550 million from President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act to expedite investments through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking (EJ TCGM) program. This new, innovative program will fund up to 11 entities to serve as grantmakers to community-based projects that reduce pollution. Selected grantmakers will develop an efficient, simplified process so that organizations that historically have faced barriers to receiving funding can more seamlessly apply for grants that address environmental harms and risks.

Learn more here.

Request for Nominations to the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council

EPA invites nominations from a diverse range of qualified candidates to be considered for appointment to its National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC). The Agency is looking to fill approximately ten (10) new vacancies for terms through September 2024.

To maintain the representation outlined by the charter, nominees will be selected to represent: academia; community-based organizations; non-governmental organizations; state and local governments; and tribal governments and indigenous organizations. Vacancies are anticipated to be filled by September 2023. Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified persons to be considered for appointment to this advisory council. Individuals are encouraged to self-nominate.

Learn more about the nomination process and how to submit nominations here. Application Deadline March 17, 2023

Link to: "Off-Campus Community Engaged Federal Work Study Positions 2021-2022"

You must be logged in with your MC Google Account to view the above sheet

CURES is Hiring Federal Work Study Students for our Rooftop Garden

LINK to full job description and application

SEASONAL GARDENER

Reports to: Director of CURES (Dart Westphal)

Start Date & Term: two distinct session

• May 1st - June 30th

• July 1st - August 24th

Background:

The rooftop garden on the top of the Broadway garage is supported by CURES, the Center for Environmental Resilience and Environmental Sustainability. The student-run garden grows herbs, flowers, fruits and vegetables for sale at local farmers markets and for donation to the 242nd st. Friendly Fridge. 

Job Description:

The Seasonal Gardeners will perform all aspects of garden maintenance including the care of the garden’s planting beds, plants, watering equipment, and composters. The successful candidates have prior experience in gardening and/or landscaping, be capable of performing quality work, be punctual and have excellent attendance. This is not a permanent position. Students must be comfortable working in an urban garden setting, with pigeons, insects, and other local flora and fauna. 

Specific Tasks & Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Plant Health Care:

• Maintain and oversee diverse plantings of perennials, annuals, grasses and bulbs.

• Perform seasonal gardening/landscaping work such as pruning, weeding, fertilizing, deadheading, mulching, dividing, planting, soil placement, etc.

• Observe plant conditions and report maintenance needs to the supervisor as necessary.

General Maintenance:

• Remove litter and other debris from plant beds and lawn areas.

• Keep pavements and adjoining surfaces clean.