Sustainable Long Island
May 2015
Sustainable Long Island Newsletter
The one-stop-shop...
For all Sustainable Long Island news! 
In This Issue
Community Feedback Key to City of Long Beach's Comprehensive Plan
High School Fellows Visit Level Solar
Farmers' Market Season is Right Around the Corner
Pally Says More Apartments Needed Near Train Stations
Transportation Emerges as Crucial to Escaping Poverty
EmPower Solar Presents Solar Sundays
Board of Directors
Join Our Mailing List
Reading this newsletter, but not on our mailing list?
Join Today!

Community Feedback Key to City of Long Beach's Comprehensive Plan
Projects to be selected based on resident input 

(via Long Beach Herald) - As reconstruction efforts continue throughout Long Beach, officials are looking to create a more resilient and economically sustainable city.

 

They began developing an updated Comprehensive Plan earlier this year that focuses on the City's future.

The goal of the plan, officials said, is rebuilding and enhancing sustainability, emphasizing initiatives that residents deem most important. At a public information meeting on April 28th held at the Magnolia Senior Center, officials shared aspects of the updated plan with residents and solicited feedback from them on the projects they would like to see in the future.

 

"I'm glad they're doing this," said resident Rachel Miller, who came to ask about plans to build an esplanade - a walking and sitting area similar to the boardwalk - near Reynolds Channel, to beautify the north side of the city. "I hope they're taking some of the suggestions. It's great that they're asking about all kinds of community issues."

The city developed a comprehensive plan in 2007 that never got off the ground, officials said. Patricia Bourne, Long Beach's director of economic development, said that the plan needed to be re-examined in light of the recent recession and the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

 

A push to shift the city to a 12-month economy has also necessitated an updated plan. The new one will deal not only with economic factors, but environmental issues, in the interest of preparing the city for another catastrophic storm. "We have to look more seriously at resiliency to protect our homeowners, businesses and infrastructure," Bourne said.

 

A $25 million grant from the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery will be earmarked for building up the bulkheads on the north shore in accordance with the city's Community Reconstruction Plan, she explained, adding that Sandy aid money would not cover all of the reconstruction projects the city would undertake, and that the comprehensive plan would help prioritize them. Once the plan is in place, the city will apply for more state and federal funding.

 

Experts from the city and various firms it has partnered with for the projects, including Cameron Engineering & Associates, Sustainable Long Island, Local Office Landscape Architecture, and Nelson, Pope & Voorhis LLC, were on hand at the meeting to answer residents' questions and provide insight into the Comprehensive Plan and the accompanying Local Waterfront Revitalization Plan.

 

Read more here...  

 

If you were unable to attend the meeting, you can view and provide feedback on all the facilitated activities here

 

High School Fellows Visit Level Solar
Program teaches young adults about sustainability issues 

Each year, students from Sustainable Long Island's High School Fellowship enjoy a variety of field trips, meetings, and guest speaker presentations. The focus of this year's High School Fellowship has been environmental resource management, water quality, energy conservation, and climate change, as well as additional sustainable development issues.  

 

Last week, the Fellows began their trip series with a visit to Level Solar - a leading residential solar installer, which helps homeowners save money and reduce their environmental footprint. 

 

Level Solar provided the Fellows with a firsthand look into the solar power industry. The students traveled to the facility, located in Ronkonkoma, NY where they met with market analyst, Zack Grey. Mr. Grey gave a PowerPoint presentation on solar power and facilitated a discussion about the benefits of solar power versus the use of fossil fuels, coal, and natural gas, as well as the resulting carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The Fellows were then led on an hour-long tour of the facility as Mr. Grey shared some career advice and spoke about his role and involvement at the company.

Farmers' Market Season is Right Around the Corner
Fresh, affordable produce from the farm to your table 

With the nicer weather finally here and spring in full swing, you can expect to see news about your favorite Long Island farmer's market opening in the coming weeks and months.


By shopping at Farmers Markets, customers reduce their carbon footprints by purchasing locally grown produce and getting more nutritional bang for their buck.  

 

You can click here to view an informational video produced by North Shore LIJ Health System highlighting one of Sustainable Long Island's partner farmers' markets - the Spinney Hill Farmers' Market in Great Neck.

 

What makes Sustainable Long Island's partner markets truly unique is the focus on youth. Each market is run by local high school students, under the supervision of a market manager (all hired from the local community), who learn valuable skills, tools, and basics of business, along with customer service, nutrition, and farming. The income, experience, and training in agriculture, marketing, and community building that the market staff receives goes a long way for those who come from often underserved neighborhoods, with dreams of one day attending college, as well as securing full-time jobs and long-term careers. 

 

Stay tuned for information on farmers' markets across Nassau and Suffolk Counties, including the ones Sustainable Long Island works with in Roosevelt, Bellport, Flanders New Cassel, Freeport, Wyandanch, and Great Neck! 

 

Mitch Pally Says More Apartments Needed Near Long Island Train Stations
Sustainable LI Board Member's Interview with Newsday 

(via Newsday) - Shifting demographics and employment trends are creating major new housing and transportation needs on Long Island, Mitch Pally says. He is chief executive of the Long Island Builders Institute in Islandia and serves as the Suffolk County representative on the board of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, giving him a unique view of the interrelated issues.

 

As companies recruit talent from Brooklyn and Queens, commuting trends are beginning to reverse from the crush of traffic going westward in the mornings toward Manhattan, said Pally, 63. And as people get married later in life and look to drive less, there is more demand for apartments near train stations.

 

"It's essential that the non-real-estate business community support these type of projects because they are being done for their benefit," he said. "They have their businesses here, they need employees, and those employees have to live someplace on Long Island." 

 

What's driving these lifestyle changes?

Especially in the last 10 years, people are not getting married at 22, they're getting married at 32. They are having children later, they are having fewer children. The diversity of our population continues to increase. And that puts pressure on the housing stock. They don't want a single-family home now. They may want one when they get to 35. And they don't really want a car; they want the ability to get on a train. I wouldn't call it 'urbanism,' but I would call it 'new suburbanism,' because it's a combination of suburban and urban lifestyle.

 

If we don't provide the housing option now for [young people] to be able to live on Long Island in the type of housing they want, they won't be here five to 10 years from now to buy your house.

 

What areas will see the greatest demand for more trains?

We obviously have demand now for reverse commuting. As the innovation economy on Long Island expands, that's going to be our future. The question is, Where are we going to get the workers for those types of jobs? Some of them will live on Long Island, and obviously, for them, intra- island commuting is essential, but in addition to that, reverse commuting -- bringing the workforce in from Brooklyn and Queens, where many young people now live -- is as important. That is a very difficult thing for us to do during peak hours because most of the trains are going westbound to the city.

 

Where are new housing projects underway?

Farmingdale has a number of projects, one of which just opened; Wyandanch will open shortly, Ronkonkoma is moving forward, there are projects in Port Jefferson, which has the advantage of being near Stony Brook University. Valley Stream just had a new project, Baldwin has options, we're all hoping at some point Hicksville might be an opportunity, and Mineola is expanding dramatically with regard to housing. Most [projects] tend to be right along the railroads or near the railroads.

 

Read more here... 

 

Transportation Emerges as Crucial to Escaping Poverty
Lack of reliable transportation is often a huge barrier

(via New York Times) - James Baker was pedaling to work along a slick, snow-covered road in Frederick County, Md., when a traffic light changed abruptly. He braked and skidded to the ground, unhurt but making a mess of his clothes before a long day of work and school.  

 

He was on his bicycle that snowy morning last December, about an hour northwest of Washington, because the bus service in Frederick was so erratic. Routes were far apart and the buses often late, making a 30-minute bike ride, whatever the weather, a better option.

 

His commuting problems highlight a central theme for many low-income people trying to build a better life: A lack of reliable and efficient transportation is often a huge barrier.

 

In a large, continuing study of upward mobility based at Harvard, commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty. The longer an average commute in a given county, the worse the chances of low-income families there moving up the ladder.

 

The relationship between transportation and social mobility is stronger than that between mobility and several other factors, like crime, elementary-school test scores or the percentage of two-parent families in a community, said Nathaniel Hendren, a Harvard economist and one of the researchers on the study.

 

The study notes the connection in places with notoriously long commutes and poverty, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, Fla., and Birmingham, Ala.

 

A separate report focusing on New York, from New York University's Rudin Center for Transportation, came to a similar conclusion. The study compared neighborhoods by accessibility to mass transit and the number of jobs within an hour's commute. It found that residents of the areas least well served by mass transit relied on personal vehicles. Areas in the middle third - those with some, but insufficient, access to transportation - had the highest rates of unemployment and the lowest incomes, the study found.

 

Read more here...

EmPower Solar Presents Solar Sundays
Every Sunday from June 14 - December 13 

EmPower Solar encourages you to join them at the EmPower Solar Design Center in Island Park for Solar Sundays - a free seminar and Q&A session for Long Island homeowners, held on the second Sunday of every month.  

 

The presentation begins promptly at 11:30am. Professionals will be available throughout the day to help answer any questions about solar - from the latest policy updates to technological innovations. Light refreshments will also be available. You can bring your PSEG bill to design your home solar system and see how much you can save! 

Together we can build a more
sustainable Long Island

 

These challenging economic times have magnified the problems we Long Islanders face each and every day. With our leaders warning us of tougher times to come, thinking regionally and acting locally is urgent. It is in all of our best interests to stay engaged and do what we can together to build a more sustainable Long Island.

 

Please consider making a tax-deductible gift to Sustainable Long Island that will help support our ongoing and future work within your Long Island communities; while helping advance economic development, environmental health, and social equity!

Want community updates on various planning projects? Exciting tidbits on events, meetings, and engagements in your neighborhood? Exclusive information and the latest feedback about everything Long Island?


Real-time updates on all the news you've read today! What are you waiting for? Join us, like us, follow us, and stay informed!

 

Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Visit our blog

Sincerely,

The Board and Staff of Sustainable Long Island