New York’s mayoral race could decide the city’s climate future todayheadline

Six years ago, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hosted a chaotic press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower to announce the city’s commitment to its version of the Green New Deal. 

The mayor, whose term ended in 2022, planned to achieve this through the Climate Mobilization Act, which later passed the city council and aims to cut municipal emissions 85 percent by 2050. Shortly before de Blasio was scheduled to speak, however, Trump Tower employees began blasting music to drown him out. Reporters were forced to shout questions over the vocal stylings of Tony Bennett.

Six months into the second Trump administration and the theatrics surrounding de Blasio’s 2019 announcement seem almost quaint. Although New York’s climate goals remain among the nation’s most ambitious, the city has struggled to fulfill them. 

While transportation emissions are down about 10 percent since de Blasio announced the Climate Mobilization Act, those from buildings — which account for roughly 70 percent of the city’s total, due largely to the heating and cooling needs of 8 million people — are down approximately 2 percent, nowhere near what’s needed to meet the 2050 target. Local Law 97, a key component of de Blasio’s climate plan, set emissions limits for buildings greater than 25,000 square feet and instituted fines for owners who refuse to comply. (Because the city has limited control over the subway and public utilities, so efforts to retrofit buildings, encourage public transit use are among its most meaningful ways to control emissions locally.)

With Adams’ popularity in free fall after a scandal-plagued tenure, this year’s mayoral race will likely sweep a newcomer into office — and with it a chance to realize de Blasio’s thwarted ambitions. (The general election is in November, but the city’s partisan skew means the Democratic primary probably will determine the winner.) In recent debates, however, climate change has been overshadowed by New York’s affordability and quality of life. This, activists say, elides the scale of the problems the city faces. 

“We need someone who has vision and who isn’t just giving [voters] ‘green-lite,’” said Elizabeth Yeampierre, executive director of the Brooklyn-based climate justice nonprofit Uprose. Yeampierre wants to see the next mayor “really looking deeply at the possibilities for New York City to lead when it comes to preparing such a huge population of people for disaster.” 

Nine candidates are competing in the Democratic primary, but the field has narrowed to two front-runners: Andrew Cuomo, the state’s former governor and the son of former governor Mario Cuomo, and Zohran Mamdani, a state legislator and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. 

Cuomo’s governorship ended in controversy when sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied, led to his resignation in 2021. During his tenure, he drew fire for approving gas pipelines, defunding public transportation, and supporting the Independent Democratic Caucus, or IDC. The nine Democrats of that group caucused with Republicans, giving them control of the State Senate despite having fewer seats. The IDC blocked the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, a statewide commitment to decarbonization, which that later passed after an activist coalition ousted IDC members.  

“We didn’t see any major climate legislation passed until 2019,” said Keanu Arpels-Josiah, an organizer with the youth climate justice group Fridays for Future NYC.  “And that’s because of Governor Cuomo.” 

The former governor’s opponents worry Cuomo will do more of the same as mayor. Although the city is making good progress in reducing building emissions – nearly half of the city’s largest buildings already meet 2030 targets – Cuomo has shown a willingness to gut the law. He tried to undermine it as governor, his candidacy is supported by lobbyists representing landlords who oppose it, and he’s met with co-op and condo leaders to let them know he’s open to weakening the law’s requirements. 

Cuomo’s campaign disputed this characterization, and not all environmentalists oppose the former governor. The New York League of Conservation Voters argues that Cuomo’s detractors are an unavoidable byproduct of his time in office. That group endorsed Cuomo and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, and they say Cuomo’s statewide fracking ban, instituted in 2014, and offshore wind victories under the first Trump administration show he’ll be able to advance green energy in the current political environment. 

Others aren’t convinced. The Director of Policy at the American Institute of Architects warned that the changes Cuomo proposed to Local Law 97 as governor would effectively render it toothless, and Cuomo did not release a climate plan, which puts many environmentalists on edge. “Andrew Cuomo is ruled by his resentments,” said Pete Sikora, the Climate and Inequality Campaigns Director for New York Communities for Change. “He does whatever powerful lobbies want.”

New York Communities for Change, a nonprofit focused on affordability, has endorsed Mamdani. His climate plan includes free bus rides, expanding renewable energy on municipal land, and an ambitious “Green Schools” plan. The proposal calls for renovating 500 public schools to make them resilience hubs that would serve as evacuation centers during floods and cooling centers in the event of extreme heat. Mamdani has also pledged to prioritize more resilient waterfront infrastructure, oppose utility rate hikes, and direct more money toward NYC Accelerator, which helps building owners figure out how to decarbonize their energy systems. 

“The climate crisis is growing increasingly dire,” Sikora said. “The opportunity is there to create lots of good jobs and save people money through reducing pollution and moving to clean energy.”

Mandani enthusiastically supports Local Law 97, which provided a long grace period for building owners to comply. That ended this year, and the city will begin levying fines against violators in  August. “It’s a pretty good bet that if [Cuomo] became our mayor, he would be looking for ways to weaken Local Law 97,” said Laura Shindell, the New York state director at the nonprofit Food and Water Watch, which has urged voters to choose anyone but Cuomo. The Cuomo campaign insisted he had not tried to undermine the law as governor, but did not speak to his plans if elected mayor.  

Cuomo’s failure to release a climate plan also rankles activists, especially when the climate threats facing New York City are far from theoretical. For example, a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene identified flash flooding as the city’s most pressing problem. 

“Not enough attention is being paid to what could reduce the impacts that people are suffering now in the short term, before we figure out what makes sense to do in the long term,” said Malgosia Madajewicz. She is an economist and associate research scientist at the Columbia Climate School who has studied the effects of flooding on neighborhoods around Jamaica Bay. Some will have to relocate, like those who experienced the worst flooding wrought by Hurricane  Sandy in 2012. Others may be able to adapt, but it’s difficult for residents to make that decision without help from experts — and funding from the city.

“There’s a big information gap there that wouldn’t be very difficult to address,” said Madajewicz, explaining that small changes, such as helping individual homeowners raise their boilers and electrical systems, could have a big impact. “A little bit of public assistance would go a long way.”