TESTIMONY
Justin Green, Executive Director of Big Reuse, on Eviction of Composting Site and Advocacy for Legislative Support
1:39:07
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3 min
Justin Green, Executive Director of Big Reuse, discloses the potential eviction of their composting site by the Parks Department and champions for the support of community composting through legislative action.
- Green details the Parks Department's decision not to renew their license for the composting site beneath the Queensboro Bridge, in spite of substantial community and official support.
- He criticizes the Parks Department's prioritization of parking over composting and sustainability.
- Big Reuse's accomplishments in community composting are highlighted, including managing millions of pounds of food and yard waste.
- Green advocates for Council Member Brewer's composting bill and amendments to support existing community composting initiatives.
- The testimony underscores the contradiction between the Parks Department's actions and its stated support for composting and sustainability.
Justin Green
1:39:07
Hi.
1:39:07
My name is Justin Green.
1:39:08
I'm the executive director of Big Ries.
1:39:10
Thank you guys for having us.
1:39:12
Thank you.
1:39:13
Share for having this hearing, and thank you council member Brewer for introducing the composting legislation.
1:39:23
Despite the testimony you gestured from Parks about supporting composting, and sustainability online today.
1:39:30
They just told us, they agreed that they were not renewing our license to continue operating our composting site that we've operated for over a decade underneath the Queensboro Bridge.
1:39:40
They The site produces the most compost on Parksland, although it's under 20,000 square feet.
1:39:51
Parks is planning to evict our community composting site this June.
1:39:55
Not renewing our license agreement.
1:39:57
That's despite every local elected official, every community board surrounding it, assembling members, council members, barrel presidents, all design, shreds that they've had, around Baby Queensbridge Park asking that we remain.
1:40:13
They've taken all of that input and thrown it out the window.
1:40:17
They are telling us that they need that space for parking.
1:40:20
And they're gonna kick off our composting site.
1:40:22
They have unused comp parking space up and down the Queensboro Bridge Plaza that is underutilized.
1:40:31
So despite what they're saying, they are not actually following through on their requirement currently to compost, yard waste, and hopefully, this the bill that accounts member brewers introduced will push them in the right direction.
1:40:47
When we took over the site, we removed 4 be dumpsters of garbage, parts of managing that site.
1:40:53
We we worked with Department of Sanitation.
1:40:55
We built out a NASH recognized the state of the art composting site.
1:41:00
We compost at that site over a million pound well, £2,000,000 of food waste and yard waste that we supplied over 300 community groups around the city.
1:41:13
And help parks become more sustainable.
1:41:19
With the budget cuts additionally, as you're all aware, department of sanitation cut funding for community composting with the last round of pegs.
1:41:28
In November, causing a layoff of a 115 staff across 8 nonprofits and botanical gardens.
1:41:35
We support intra 1 30, especially if it can be amended to support the existing community composting groups that have built support over the last decade for composting and beyond.
1:41:47
In New York City that pushes parks to be take responsibility and for managing a driveway sustainably.
1:41:55
Parks is the city's largest producer of leap in yard waste and needs a compost.
1:42:01
So it just makes sense for parks to compost and for composting to happen in parks.
1:42:06
Thanks.