Environmental Defense Fund Applauds Appointment of Chairs for City Council Land Use, Housing and Environmental Protection Committees, Urges Unified Action to Address Joint Crisis

New York, NY — Environmental Defense Fund today issued the following statement on the appointments of Council Member Kevin Riley to Chair the Committee on Land Use, Council Member Pierina Sanchez to Chair the Committee on Housing and Buildings and Council Member James Gennaro to Chair the Committee on Environmental Protection. EDF hopes to work with these and other Council Members to legislate the recently released SHELTR report, authored in partnership with Regional Plan Association and the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development. 

“The appointments of Council Members Riley, Sanchez and Gennaro are strong choices to address the multiple crises facing the City of New York. We urge them to work closely together in addressing head on the challenges that arise from the housing crisis being deeply intertwined with the climate crisis,” said Dr. Karla Sosa, Manager, New York State Affairs. “New York City is face to face with our shrinking housing stock being at risk of rising costs and rising tides. A better, stronger, more resilient city is possible. We and our partners have presented a clear roadmap to support the City in this endeavor, and we are ready to work with them to advance SHELTR from policy to practice.”