New York City Insider: Representative Adriano Espaillat Champions Environmental Justice With District Waterfront Tour.

 

PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release July 5, 2022

Representative Adriano Espaillat Champions Environmental Justice With District Waterfront Tour. Member Hosted Inaugural Waterfront Tour Along Harlem River to Assess Environmental Justice Needs.   NEW YORK, NY – Representative Adriano Espaillat (NY-13) hosted a waterfront tour along the Harlem River late last month to assess coastal infrastructure and environmental justice needs impacting New York’s 13th congressional district. View photos from the New York 13th Inaugural Environmental Justice Waterfront Tour The tour featured 16 locations highlighting ongoing and completed projects as well as infrastructure needs, including projects related to water quality, public waterfront access, pedestrian and wildlife safety, sewage control, flood management, storm resiliency, sanitation, and more. “Investing along our waterfront has tremendous benefits on the quality of life of New York City residents, families and visitors across my district,” said Rep. Espaillat. “I appreciate each of the local environmental organizations and officials who participated in my recent waterfront tour to ensure the health, safety and vibrancy of this region for years to come. Our gorgeous waterfront presents boundless opportunities—to create good-paying green union jobs, bolster community resilience, and address climate change—and it will take each of us to protect it for the sake of our health and our future.” “We were excited to join our community-based partners, agencies, and elected representatives to highlight environmental justice needs along the Harlem River, and we thank Representative Espaillat for showcasing the inequities along the waterfront in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, communities that bear a disproportionate amount of pollution and the impacts of climate change,” said Sonal Jessel, MPH, Director of Policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. “All communities deserve a clean, accessible waterfront and protection from storm surge and other climate impacts, and we look forward to working with the congressman and other leaders who joined his tour to ensure this happens.” “Thank you Congressman Espaillat for bringing this needed focus to the Harlem River,” said Robert Pirani, Director of the New York - New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program. “The tour highlighted how the community groups and public agencies in the Urban Waters Federal Partnership are seeking to advance environmental quality and public parkland all along the River, including many projects identified in the Harlem River Watershed Plan. Your leadership is critical to continued progress along this vital waterway.” "This was truly a watershed moment! The Bronx Council for Environmental Quality and the Harlem River Working Group are pleased and honored that Congressman Adriano Espaillat stepped up to promote the promise of clean water in the Harlem River following in the tradition of our former Congressman Jose E. Serrano. Congressman Espaillat set the example as the first elected official to initiate the idea of a boat tour of the Harlem River and worked with community volunteers to organize it. The Bronx thanks you,” said Karen Argenti and Chauncy Young of the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality and the Harlem River Working Group. Rep. Espaillat has long championed environmental justice and held this inaugural waterfront tour in collaboration with the Bronx and Harlem River Federal Urban Waters Program, the Harlem River Working Group, the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, and WE Act for Environmental Justice. Other participants included representatives from the New York City Department of Transportation, Parks, Restoration Project, Environmental Protection Agency, Economic Development Corporation, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Public Advocate’s Office, Department of Environmental Conversation, Department of Environmental Protection, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Army Corps, Public Advocate’s Office, Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, U.S. Geological Survey, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.   Representative Espaillat is the first Dominican American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and his congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill and the north-west Bronx. First elected to Congress in 2016, Representative Espaillat is serving his third term in Congress. Representative Espaillat currently serves as a member of the influential U.S. House Committee on Appropriations responsible for funding the federal government’s vital activities. He is also a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), where he serves in a leadership role as the Second Vice Chair and is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where he serves as Deputy Whip. Representative Espaillat also currently serves as a Senior Whip of the Democratic Caucus. To find out more about Rep. Espaillat, visit online at https://espaillat.house.gov/.