Four years after the release of PlaNYC 2030, the citywide sustainability plan that has framed New York's recent transportation reforms, Mayor Bloomberg is in Harlem today announcing a major update in the effort to build a "greener, greater NYC." The law that codified PlaNYC in 2007 scheduled revisions to the plan every four years.
The details of the revised plan haven't been posted online yet, but in a press release the mayor's office gave top billing to an initiative they're calling the "Clean Heat Campaign," which seeks to phase out use of the dirtiest heating oils.
The city is also touting a social networking tool called "Change by Us" meant to gather ideas and feedback from local residents on planning and sustainability initiatives. According to the press release, the platform works by asking a question "that residents can respond to by text message or through the Change by Us web and mobile sites." Questions will be put out frequently, the city says, but it's not clear yet how the responses will be integrated into the real-world planning process.
The full plan will include revisions to PlaNYC's transportation and public space planks, which have helped guide the addition of new pedestrian spaces, bike lanes, and rapid bus routes for the last four years.
The signature transportation initiative in the original PlaNYC, congestion pricing, fell victim to the windshield perspective of Albany lawmakers in the spring of 2008. No one expects a congestion pricing revival today, but advocates will be watching closely to see if the administration takes full advantage of traffic reduction strategies entirely within its control. Most notably, reining in the proliferation of off-street parking that has accompanied new development in the city would address one of the big missing pieces in the original PlaNYC.
Streetsblog's Noah Kazis is at the event in Harlem and will be filing a report later today. We'll provide more details from the updated plan as they become available.
