Climate Change and Environmental Justice: What’s Next for New York?

Flooded basements and streets, dangerously eroded coastlines, hazardous sewer overflows: addressing the impacts of climate change will take monumental effort. How will New York rise to the challenge? On December 3, Elijah Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, joins Open House New York for the capstone of Water Works.

Living in a city surrounded by water, New Yorkers face a number of challenges due to the climate crisis—and many of the communities most heavily impacted have also experienced decades of underinvestment. The Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) is the office tasked with preparing the city for the impacts of climate change in a way that tackles racial and social inequities in health outcomes resulting from our environment.

In 2024, MOCEJ released the EJNYC Report, New York City’s first comprehensive study on environmental inequality. Community feedback on this report will help shape the next step, the city’s first Environmental Justice Plan, outlining the city agency actions and citywide initiatives for addressing environmental injustice.

This presentation will offer an inside look at MOCEJ’s approach and process, along with opportunities for community participation. Learn how the office detects climate change problems facing NYC, develops plans to address them, budgets for and finances the plans, and designs and builds solutions for a more just and resilient city.

This program is part of Water Works, a yearlong series exploring the city’s water systems and our connections to water.

Community tickets for this event are available for New York City residents who are SNAP or WIC recipients or public housing residents, students and teachers at New York City schools, and nonprofit professionals working in the environmental sector and/or serving low-income communities in New York City.

To request community tickets, complete this form.

Photo: Janine and Jim Eden, CC-BY-2.0