REMARKS
Council Member Gale A. Brewer's remarks on composting facilities in NYC parks
0:01:43
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168 sec
Council Member Gale A. Brewer provides detailed remarks on the proposed legislation (Intro 130-A) to establish composting facilities in NYC parks. She explains the inspiration behind the bill, its environmental and economic benefits, and the phased implementation plan.
- Brewer cites Riverside Park's successful composting project as the model for the legislation.
- The bill aims to reduce organic waste in landfills, improve soil health, and create green jobs.
- The implementation plan includes specific targets for composting facilities in parks across all five boroughs by 2026, 2027, and 2028.
Gale A. Brewer
0:01:43
Well, first of all, very much thanks to chair, Shekhar Krishnan, all the cosponsors, members of the committee.
0:01:49
This came about because Riverside Park, which is, may not fit as to one of the larger parts, but they have a completely, recycling project.
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Meaning, all composting goes to, about 3 or 4 bins.
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It is beautiful.
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It has solar, panels.
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It looks like something that you would want to visit.
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And in fact, school children and visitors are coming to see it.
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It's something that is, able to take all of the waste from Central Park I mean, from Riverside Park, from 59th to 168th Street, put it in these bins, compost it, and go back to the park.
0:02:27
So it's that was the model that we're looking for.
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So 130, as the chair indicated, talked about composting facilities in the parks to manage plant waste in particular in an environmentally sustainable manner so that we reduce organic waste going to landfills.
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And it would promote sustainable practices, contribute to greener, more eco friendly parks.
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It can improve when you do this composting.
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Soil health reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
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And in terms of the economic impact, these facilities create green jobs in each borough with staff required for the operation of the sites.
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And as I said, they're really gorgeous, if done correctly.
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Long term sustainable solution to waste management that can reduce costs related to traditional waste disposable methods.
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And as the chair indicated, the phased timetable is by July 26, 1 compost facility in 2 parks in each borough.
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By July 27, 1 compost facility in 2 parks in each borough.
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And by 28, one compost facility in 5 parks in each borough.
0:03:38
And that gives, I think, parks department enough time to plan, to budget, and to scale the composting facilities.
0:03:44
And I wanna thank them because I know originally they were not supportive.
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They came around thanks to all the hard work of both sides of the aisle, in terms of support from the administration and the city council.
0:03:55
And implementation will be tailored to meet the needs of each borough, while making sure that it is uniform across all 5 boroughs, and that's really important.
0:04:04
So I really wanna thank the chair as I indicated, Eric Goldstein of NRDC, Justin Green, a big reuse in the entire composting coalition, for their support.
0:04:14
And certainly, here in the city council, legislative council, Chris Santorian, thank you, Patrick Movil, and for my staff, Shula Puder and Cynthia Hornig, who worked really hard on this legislation.
0:04:26
And so may it all look like Riverside Park a place to visit.
0:04:30
Thank you very much, mister chair.
