If you live in New York City, please consider this (copied from an e-mail I sent to some friends and fellow New Yorkers this afternoon) an appeal to throw your support behind our last push to pass the #GasFreeNYC bill in 2021. One real estate lobby-backed council member in Queens stands between us and the biggest municipal climate policy victory of the year in the US:
“Dear Friends,
As fellow New Yorkers, who – at some level – have been engaged with the effort to pass Intro 2317 (aka, the #GasFreeNYC bill), you grasp how significant a win it would be to see this legislation pass the NYC City Council this year. Time is now wearing thin, and, unfortunately, Councilmember Jim Gennaro of Queens – ironically, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Environmental Protection – is stalling the bill in committee as the end of the year and the session rapidly approach. Fully half of the council is now co-sponsoring the legislation and the Mayor is ready to sign it, but we have to force this bill out of committee ASAP, and that will require some popular pressure.
Here’s what you can and should do today/this week:
1. Call Council Member Gennaro’s office and urge him to allow a vote on the bill: 866-583-2908 or 718-217-4969
2. Call your own CM and urge them to co-sponsor if they haven’t already (here’s the list) or, if they are already co-sponsoring, to go to Gennaro and Speaker Corey Johnson to urge passage of the bill.
3. If you’re a die hard, join this rally Wednesday at noon at Gennaro’s Queens district office: Click here for details and to RSVP
If you’re feeling extra motivated, please don’t hesitate to call Speaker Johnson’s office directly (at 212-788-7210) to urge passage of Intro 2317 (and express your dissatisfaction at the foot-dragging and his failure to champion/co-sponsor this important climate legislation), and, of course, please do circulate this email as you see fit to friends, relatives, and an other New Yorkers who are ready to throw their support behind taking a big step forward for climate progress.
To keep yourself honest, I encourage you to reply to me to let me know what you followed through on (and if you plan to join me at the rally). Let’s get this done.
Warmly,
Tom
PS: Given that Gennaro’s victory in a special election earlier this year was fueled by money from the real estate industry, it should come as no surprise that he is now doing the real estate lobby’s bidding. Even ConEd has come out in support of this bill though, and it’s beyond time we passed it.”
Climate / Change 