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Events & Activities
When: 6:30 PM
Where: The New York Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall

Governor Hochul's cancellation of congestion pricing and the New York State Assembly's failure to pass vital bills are a climate disaster. It's time to hold our leaders accountable – in person. Join us at a town hall-style forum to question Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, and citywide elected leaders about the accelerating climate crisis!

Sponsored by NYPIRG and a range of organizations, we will have experts who will explain the issues, and then we will put our questions to Governor Hochul and other top state- and city-level leaders.

We hope to see you there!
When: 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM
Where: Albany

NYPIRG and our coalition partners gathered to tell New York State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie to call a vote on both the Climate Change Superfund Act and the NY HEAT Act!

When: 11 AM to 3 PM
Where: New York State Capitol in Albany

New York's families cannot wait another year for cleaner heat and lower bills!

NYPIRG – along with the Renewable Heat Now Campaign and NY Renews – held a news conference and lobby day calling on the New York State Assembly to join the state Senate in passing the NY HEAT Act before the end of this legislative session.

When: All day
Where: Albany

NYPIRG and the New York is NOT Disposable Coalition met with state legislators and rallied to help pass two critical bills – the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act and the Bigger Better Bottle Bill – to reduce single-use plastics and increase recycling.

When: 11 AM to 1 PM
Where: Albany, Brooklyn, Long Island, Manhattan, New Paltz, Queens, Staten Island & Syracuse

When: All day
Where: Albany

NYPIRG students headed to Albany to fight for free public college tuition, better financial aid, more mental health services, and MORE!

After years of stagnant state funding and ever-increasing tuition, it is vital that we not return to the status quo in higher education. New York must usher in a new era that recognizes that investing in higher education boosts racial and economic equity and strengthens our economy. Students from across the state headed to Albany to fight for free and fully funded CUNY and SUNY, more financial aid, and additional class offerings, advisers, and mental health counselors.

When: 11 AM
Where: Union Square in Manhattan

The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign rallied for Congestion Pricing NOW!
As the New York City region's population and commerce have grown, so have traffic and gridlock. New York State and City officials, stakeholders, and advocacy groups have conducted numerous studies over the past 45 years to determine the most effective way to address congestion – particularly in the most congested area, the Manhattan Central Business District (CBD). These studies overwhelmingly pointed to congestion pricing as the most effective tool.
 
Faster buses, cleaner air, and transit improvements are on the horizon! Congestion pricing will not only reduce traffic and cut pollution, it will also raise billions of dollars to fix the aging transit system to improve commutes for transit riders, a majority of whom come from marginalized communities or low-income households. We celebrate the TMRB's recommendations to implement congestion pricing, and call on the MTA to adopt them swiftly to support equitable and reliable mass transit for all of us.
When: 6 to 9 PM
Where: City Winery in Manhattan

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!
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NYPIRG in the News
Ethics commission report shows record highs in lobbying spending  (WENY, June 28, 2024)
Stop Danskammer Coalition says application withdrawal win for public health  (Mid-Hudson News, June 26, 2024)
State lobbying hit record numbers in 2023  (ABC News 10, June 25, 2024)
NYS lobbyists spent record $360M to try to influence government, report says  (Newsday, June 25, 2024)
New Yorkers go to the polls – some of them anyway  (WAMC, June 24, 2023)
Fake Signatures and ‘Good-Faith Letters’ Fuel a Lucrative Campaign Haul  (The New York Times, June 24, 2024)
Environmental Advocates Push for Bill to Hold Big Oil Responsible  (Fingerlakes 1, June 22, 2024)
Foes of Danskammer Power Plant question site's long term use after bid to operate full-time dropped  (The Daily Freeman, June 22, 2024)
Making Democracy Work: Civic education, first hand, at Students Inside Albany conference  (TBR Newsmedia, June 21, 2024)
Bill aims to hold oil companies responsible for emissions  (WSYR, June 21, 224)
Bill aims to hold oil companies responsible for emissions  (CNY, June 21, 2024)
New York feels the heat  (WAMC, June 17, 2024)
New York State Lawmakers Once Again Fail to Pass Meaningful Climate Legislation  (Hellgate, June 12, 2024)
NYC congestion pricing delay may face legal challenge. Why the comptroller calls Gov. Hochul's move "a disastrously wrong turn."  (CBS, June 12, 2024)
A NY push to cut down on single-use plastics just fizzled out. Why? And what happens now?  (The Poughkeepsie Journal, June 11, 2024)
RHN To Albany Leaders: “Inaction On NY HEAT Mocks Our Climate Law”  (Harlem World Magazine, June 11, 2024)
Opponents of Hochul’s Move to Halt Congestion Pricing May Go to Court  (The New York Times, June 11, 2024)
NY bill to make big polluters pay for emissions passes legislature  (Adirondack Explorer, June 10, 2024)
New York Legislature Passes Climate Change Superfund Act  (ENR, June 10, 2024)
Lawmakers head for the exit, will they return before the end of the year?  (WAMC, June 10, 2024)
News Archive
Reports & Features
A coalition of civic, environmental, social justice, and community-based charities joined with small business “redemption centers” to call on Governor Hochul and the state legislative leaders “to urge your attention and immediate action to prevent business closings and job losses by supporting legislation to boost the ‘handling fee’ that provides revenues for redemption centers, which are critical to the success of the state’s Bottle Deposit Law.”
VICTORY! On Monday, June 17, a six-year fight for clean air and public health came to an end when Danskammer Energy withdrew its application to build a new fracked gas plant on the Hudson River in Newburgh, NY.
As a dangerous heat wave grips New York, sending "feels like" temperatures soaring above 100 degrees, community leaders, local officials, and extreme weather survivors are demanding Governor Hochul take immediate action by signing the recently passed Climate Change Superfund Act (S.2129B/A.3351B) into law.
Tale of the Tape: NYPIRG's 2024 Legislative Review – The number of bills that passed in the Senate increased, while that number decreased in the Assembly. The Governor's use of emergency "messages of necessity" flattens.
NY State Assembly Passes Historic Climate Superfund Bill to Make Polluters Pay for Climate Damages
NYPIRG's Statement on Governor Hochul's Delay of Congestion Pricing
A coalition supporting improvements to the state’s Bottle Deposit Law today released a listing of over 1,000 local charities that benefit from the law. The coalition argued that these charities offer services for those in need and that modernization of the forty-year-old law would enhance the charities’ services.
A coalition supporting improving the state’s Bottle Deposit Law today released a review of recent redemption center closures. The review, conducted by redemption centers, identified 97 businesses that have closed or appear to be closed. Another 54 redemption centers had disconnected phones and no obvious social media presence. The coalition argued that many of these closures are the direct result of New York's 15 year "freeze" of the handling fee that redemption centers rely on for revenues.
NYPIRG Reacts to Speaker Heastie's Comments on Climate Change Superfund Act
A coalition of civic groups today called on the New York State Board of Elections to review the state’s polling locations to see if colleges have on-campus polls as required under the law. The letter is in reaction to the results of a survey conducted by NYPIRG. NYPIRG analyzed 199 colleges (217 campuses, some colleges have multiple campuses) in New York State, of which 147 have dorms located on their premises. This review of the locations of polling places for college students living on-campus identifies a wide gap between those campuses that have dorms and the number that have polling places.
A statewide coalition representing hundreds of community, environmental, labor, and religious groups today applauded state Senate approval of the Climate Change Superfund Act, which requires Big Oil to cover New York's climate damages – not taxpayers. The groups urged swift action in the state Assembly. The majority of Assemblymembers are sponsors of the legislation.
News Release on NYPIRG's Recent Victory Expanding Financial Aid for Low-Income Patients
Environmental, community, and business groups representing 300 New York organizations today held a press conference to urge state lawmakers to include the "Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill" (S.237B/A6353A) as a "must do" priority for the end of session
NYPIRG Statement on Start of Congestion Pricing
NYPIRG reacted to elements of the final state budget, highlighting the "good," the "bad," and the "ugly."
Release: County & Local Elected Officials Join 180+ Organizations to Urge Governor Hochul & Assembly Speaker Heastie to End $265M of Fossil Fuel Subsidies in the Final NYS Budget
Bill to Gut NYC’s Landmark Climate and Jobs Law Slammed as Real Estate Lobby Attack Begins. Proposed Linda Lee bill would eviscerate Local Law 97, which is creating thousands of local jobs, cutting utility bills, and reducing pollution.
Report and Release: Climate Change Superfund Environmental Justice. $1 Billion Potential Scenario of Annual Allocations by Region and County
Report from NYPIRG and NY Renews – On the Backs of New York State Households: The Extreme Costs of Climate Change Impacts Families in Every Region of the State
NYPIRG and Other Transparency Advocates Urge Legislature and Governor to Strengthen Freedom of Information Law for Sunshine Week
Reports & Features Archive