Join NYPIRG for a townhall to show support for our nation-leading climate and jobs law, Local Law 97, and to learn about all of its successes, threats, and opportunities!

Now more than ever, New York needs to protect New Yorkers, and that means fighting climate change. The real estate industry and big money do not like it, but we know we cannot wait for climate action to protect our communities. New York City deserves reduced air pollution, more jobs, and lower utility bills!

Join us to find out how you can help!

NYPIRG cosponsored the University Student Senate March in March for more CUNY funding and free student Metrocards! Kick-off for the march was at 11:30 AM at Brooklyn Borough Hall, then we marched across the Brooklyn Bridge to rally at City Hall.

We participated in a panel discussion that featured Blair Horner (Senior Policy Advisor, NYPIRG), Laurie Konwinski (Justice & Peace Ministry Coordinator, Catholic Charities Tompkins/Tioga), and Ryan Castalia (Executive Director, Sure We Can), led by artist Siyan Wong. The panelists discussed New York's "invisible labor" and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill.

This panel was part of "Five Cents a Can," a multimedia exhibition exploring the lives of the canners who make their livelihood collecting recyclable beverage containers. The exhibition is at the Cherry Gallery in Ithaca from March 28 through May 3, featuring the paintings of Chinese-American visual artist and activist Siyan Wong, alongside installations and video works by Wong and filmmaker Alvin Tsang. The exhibition also features canvases by painter Mark Gaston Pearce (former chairperson of the National Labor Relations Board under President Obama) which explore the larger tapestry of labor in America.

The exhibition is curated around current lobbying to pass the Bigger Better Bottle Bill in Albany, and the panel discussion helped New Yorkers understand the issue and what they can do to help.

NYPIRG and our coalition partners mobilized to demand that the New York State Legislature passes the NY HEAT Act in the state budget for cleaner heat and lower bills!

NYPIRG and the Campaign for New York Health held a lobby day to fight for universal healthcare!

Passing the New York Health Act is more urgent this year than ever before. Our state lawmakers must act to protect New Yorkers from exploitation by insurance and pharmaceutical corporations for profit, and attacks on our healthcare at the federal level.

We set up teams and met with state legislators to discuss the health issues facing their constituents and to illustrate how the New York Health Act — our state bill to provide comprehensive, universal healthcare to all New Yorkers — will improve our health and financial security. Sharing our personal stories, as patients and care-givers, was a powerful way to show how this transformational policy will impact real people.

NYPIRG, the CUNY Rising Alliance, and other partners hosted a mayoral forum about the future of CUNY! We met New York City mayoral candidates, learned about their plans for uplifting CUNY, and asked them about how they plan to defend CUNY during this uncertain time. Will the next mayor be a CUNY champion or not?

Public higher education must be free and fully funded, and financial aid and student services must be expanded!

With the cost of living increasing so much in recent years, the burden on students has been immense. Years of stagnant state funding and ever-increasing tuition and other costs of attending school have threatened college accessibility for too many students. Campuses are drastically underfunded when it comes to professors, academic advisors, class availability, and mental health counselors, making it all the more difficult for students to thrive. Last year, NYPIRG fought for and won improvements to higher education funding in the state budget. But this year, it is time to get more funding so that our college communities can thrive! 

Along with our student and faculty partners, NYPIRG organized a Higher Education Action Day where we took a day trip to Albany to advocate for:

• A New Deal for CUNY
• Free and fully funded SUNY
• More money for mental health resources, advisors, and smaller class sizes.

We scheduled meetings between students and our elected representatives, who will decide how much funding our colleges receive. Our elected officials need to hear from the students of today as to why the state needs a student-friendly budget! 

We met the candidates running for New York City mayor!

Staff and students from across the city represented NYPIRG at our New York City Mayoral Candidate Forum, where attendees heard from five candidates for mayor (Scott Stringer, Jessica Ramos, Zellnor Myrie, Zohran Mamdani, and Brad Lander) who all answered questions on climate, jobs, and justice issues, such as reducing pollution, improving mass transit, and working to protect New Yorkers from the worst effects of climate change. With the federal administration in the pocket of the oil and gas companies, it is more important than ever for our top local elected officials to take major action!

Pass the NY HEAT Act!

NYPIRG, Renewable Heat Now, and allied groups called on the New York State Legislature to pass the NY HEAT Act in the budget for cleaner heat and lower bills! We told our reps that climate action and energy affordability cannot wait.

200+ advocates from across New York State met to advocate for the Bigger Better Bottle Bill and the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act, having meetings with 80+ lawmakers to urge them to support the bills. The day kicked off with a rally on the Million Dollar Staircase, featuring faith leaders who made the case for why urgent action on reducing plastic and packaging pollution is vital for our future.

Also, check out NYPIRG's analysis which shows that modernization of New York's Bottle Deposit Law would generate nearly $100 million more than it does now in the first year of implementation, revenues that can be used to invest in the state’s flagging recycling efforts and to improve its administration.

Despite frigid temperatures, NYPIRG gathered with fellow environmental activists to demand that New York City councilmembers protect Local Law 97!

With the nation-leading climate law under attack, it is more important than ever to ensure full implementation of our green new deal for buildings — the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. LL97 is already creating thousands of new jobs, lowering our utility bills, and improving the air that we breathe.

Now is the time to MAKE POLLUTERS PAY!

NYPIRG and our allies rallied outside of Governor Hochul's New York City office and urged her to sign the Climate Change Superfund Act to protect New York taxpayers by making the world's biggest, richest oil companies pay their fair share for climate-related damages.

We need faster buses on Flatbush Avenue!

NYPIRG's Straphangers Campaign and our partners have been collecting community and business surveys on rider challenges in the Flatbush Avenue corridor, and we released the results at a news conference. In alarming (yet unsurprising) results, the survey found that one in three riders have lost pay, been reprimanded, and/or been fired due to a late bus on Flatbush Avenue.

NYPIRG IS 50 YEARS OLD!

That is an incredible testament to the dedication, hard work, and luck that has allowed us to meet the half-century mark. It is quite a milestone – which we marked with the NYPIRG 50th Anniversary Celebration.

The event was a rousing success, and we all had a wonderful time celebrating NYPIRG’s decades of tireless work for the public interest, reconnecting with friends and colleagues from years past, and honoring our 2023 Changemaker Award recipients – including renowned author and activist Jane Fonda!

We are pleased to share these event photos and this commemorative video that highlights NYPIRG's decades of tireless work for the public interest.

Thank you so much to everyone who was involved – our honorees, current and former students and staff, friends, colleagues, and supporters – for your generous support and steadfast commitment to our crucial mission.

Thanks again, and we look forward to the work ahead!