PlaNYC

[lammius]

Earlier this week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered a press conference on the topic, "A Greener, Greater New York." The speech unveiled initiatives that are part of the ever-developing PlaNYC 2030, the City's mean GREEN plan for growth and sustainability. Participating in the press conference were, of course, the Mayor, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The plan addresses three major challenges the City is facing...

Challenges

By 2030, our City will be getting bigger, our infrastructure older, and our environment more unpredictable. Now is the time for New Yorkers to rise once again to the challenge of tomorrow. The top three things you should know about New York over the next 25 years:

1. OpeNYC

We will be getting BIGGER (much bigger). New York's resurgence has attracted record numbers of new residents. By planning for growth, we can maintain our quality of life and make sure our City stays as open as ever.

2. MaintaiNYC

Our infrastructure will be getting OLDER (and it's pretty old to begin with). By 2030, nearly all of our major infrastructure networks will be more than a century old--and under new pressures. Together we can maintain and modernize these systems to compete as a 21st century city.

3. GreeNYC

Our environment will be AT RISK (and that's not a risk worth taking). With rising sea levels - and temperatures - we're already starting to experience the effects of global warming. We must conserve our City's resources and do our part to fight against climate change.

THE PLAN

Land

Housing. Create homes for almost a million more New Yorkers, while making housing more affordable and sustainable.

Open Space. Ensure that all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park.

Brownfields. Clean up all contaminated land in New York.

Water

Water Quality. Open 90% of our waterways for recreation by reducing water pollution and preserving our natural areas.

Water Network. Develop critical back-up systems for our aging water network to ensure long-term reliability.

Transportation

Congestion. Improve travel times by adding transit capacity for millions more residents.

State of Good Repair. Reach a full "state of good repair" on New York City's roads, subways, and rails for the first time in history.

Energy

Provide cleaner, more reliable power for every New Yorker by upgrading our energy infrastructure.

Air

Achieve the cleanest air of any big city in America.

Climate Change

Reduce global warming emissions by more than 30%

Some Specific Elements

Some specific elements of the plan include the planting of one million new trees citywide, expanding the construction of "green buildings" throughout the City, transit projects such as the Downtown-JFK link and the 2nd Ave Subway, and the controversial "Congestion Pricing" scheme for the area of Manhattan below 86th Street.

The PlaNYC website has the entire plan available for review. PlaNYC 2030

So what do you guys think? Is the City on the right track? Is this plan as progressive as it's billed? Is it progressive enough? Can the City meet the challenges it faces and does this plan help it do that?

[Lowerdeck]

Infrastructure definitely needs to be rebuilt. The subway seems ancient, the roads are in pretty rough shape, and I'm not sure about pipelines and telecom lines.