Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Faiza Azam, Climate and Labor Organizer at ALIGN - The Alliance for a Greater New York
3:36:33
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104 sec
Faiza Azam, representing ALIGN and the Climate Works for All coalition, advocated for prioritizing green, healthy schools in New York City's budget. She emphasized the need for investments in clean energy upgrades, ventilation improvements, and electrification of aging school buildings, particularly in environmental justice communities.
- Highlighted the importance of addressing inequality and climate crisis simultaneously
- Called for dedicating funding to upgrade and electrify public schools, especially those in communities impacted by flooding and poor air quality
- Stressed the potential for millions of dollars in savings from clean energy upgrades that could be reinvested in schools
Faiza Azam
3:36:33
Thank you to the committee of environmental protection, waterfront and resiliency for giving me the opportunity to speak.
3:36:40
Hello all, I'm Faiza Azam.
3:36:42
I am the climate and labor organizer for align the alliance for a greater New York.
3:36:46
We coordinate the climate works for all coalition, which is a coalition of labor, environmental justice, climate, faith, students, and parents working together to ensure that we tackle inequality and the climate crisis while hand in hand with a diverse group of members.
3:37:03
One of our core issues is green healthy schools.
3:37:06
This is a known fact that our buildings in New York City are aging and they're over a hundred years old and our schools are often underinvested in.
3:37:15
We must ensure that green healthy schools is a priority and that the city's budget is focused on investing millions of dollars that could be saved from clean energy upgrades into our schools.
3:37:28
When we're talking about upgrading our schools, we're talking about ensuring that ventilation is appropriately dedicated funding towards as well as electrification.
3:37:38
The city has not prioritized funding our public schools ensuring that there is an upgrade and electrification process, and we wanna make sure that students from three k to 12 are the ones as well as teachers and school staff that are facing the most climate injustices are the ones that are being supported the most and that it is done in environmental justice communities, especially those heavily impacted by flooding and poor air quality.
3:38:08
So thank you so much for this opportunity to speak and we hope that the city is prioritizing funding for our New York City public schools.