By Anna Gustafson
City officials sought input from Queens residents on how to make the borough and city more environmentally friendly at a meeting at Bayside High School last week.
David Bragdon, director of the city Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability, spoke to some 20 Queens residents about PlaNYC, an initiative Mayor Michael Bloomberg began in 2007 designed to create a greener New York by creating more parks, reducing traffic congestion and improving air and water quality.
Officials are updating the document and holding meetings around the city to get feedback about the initiative. They will release a new version of PlaNYC on Earth Day in 2011, which will be celebrated April 22.
“By 2030, the city’s population will grow by 1 million, and in Queens the population is projected to go up by 15 percent to well over 2.5 million,” Bragdon said at the meeting held at Bayside High School at 32-24 Corporal Kennedy St. “We need to make sure those people have clean water to drink, good parks and schools to go to.”
Queens residents gave a number of suggestions to Bragdon, including better mass transportation — particularly in Queens, where bus service has been cut over the past year. Residents said bus and subway service should be extended in Queens. Others who attended the meeting said there should be more of an emphasis placed on composting and creating additional community gardens.
“I’d like to see a green curriculum in the public school system,” said St. Albans resident Almitra Gasper, the community liaison for the Farmers Boulevard Community Development Corp., a group dedicated to making southeast Queens more environmentally friendly.
Bragdon said the city has been working hard since 2007 to implement the plan, under which he said 9,203 units of affordable housing were created or preserved in Queens, more than 87,000 trees planted, and 70 school yards converted to parks. He noted that much of the city’s water infrastructure needs to be updated or replaced and transportation needs to be improved.
“Much of the subway system was built over 100 years ago,” Bragdon said. “The 7 line is overcrowded and can be slow. We have a goal to expand not just the subway but the bus network and expand options for walking.
Bragdon encouraged residents to make changes in their own lives as well.
“It’s the everyday decisions on whether we leave the lights on and choose to carpool that have a big impact,” Bragdon said.
Bloomberg announced this week that the city received the 2010 National Award for Smart Growth Achievement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its PlaNYC program.
“PlaNYC continues to be recognized as a comprehensive strategy that has changed the way we are going to effectively meet the challenges of a growing population and create a greener, greater city,” Bloomberg said in a prepared statement. “We will continue to seek input from New Yorkers as we regularly update the plan, so it continues to evolve with new technology, new innovations and new community needs.”
Reach reporter Anna Gustafson by e-mail at agustafson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
