NYC Climate Justice Hub

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A partnership between CUNY and the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance launched in September 2023.

07/20/2026

Climate Justice Action Fellows Visit the CityWorks Exhibition at the NY Hall of Science

The Hub’s 2025-2026 Climate Justice Action Fellows concluded the Fellowship program with a visit to “CityWorks,” a permanent exhibition at the New York Hall of Science dedicated to the engineering and different systems that run New York City.

The exhibit focuses on five aspects of city infrastructure, how they work and their challenges: transportation, water and wastewater, sanitation, construction and urban development, and integrated city systems.

For the past year, Fellows were working on seven campaigns and coalitions that the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance (NYC-EJA) has developed or is a member of: Extreme Heat, Forest for All NYC, Last Mile Coalition, NY Renews, PEAK Coalition, Renewable Rikers, and Transform Don’t Trash.

The visit to City Works gave the Fellows an opportunity to explore ways to make learning about environmental justice challenges interactive and engaging for public audiences.

The other 2025-2026 Climate Justice Action Fellows were Alexander Shearman (Political Economy, Macaulay Honors), Josue Rosa (Finance, College of Staten Island), Victoria Melo (Law, CUNY School of Law), Yaneisha Burroughs (Public Administration, John Jay College), Azka Saqib (History and Library Science), Jacob Velez (Digital Marketing, Queens College), and Walter Arzu (Sustainability in the Urban Environment, The City College of New York).

We would like to give special thanks to the NYSCI Exhibits Staff — Laycca Umer, Katie Culp, Michaela Labriole — who hosted us and collaborated closely with us to create such an inspiring experience for our Fellows!

06/03/2026

The NYC Climate Justice Hub’s Classes & Curriculum Spring Symposium brought together NYC-EJA member organizations, CUNY faculty, students, and community partners at John Jay College last April.

The in-person gathering was framed as a bridge between “the frontline communities and the academy,” with the goal of moving beyond theory and retooling classrooms to support a community-driven just transition for New York City.

The first half of the program, “Honoring Collaborative Successes,” highlighted the successes of several Hub’s Classes & Curriculum collaborations over the past two years, including site visits to The Brotherhood Sister Sol; a “Count Those Trucks” project with The Point CDC in Hunts Point (South Bronx) and The City College of New York; student mini-documentaries on climate justice issues in New York City, and a capstone project surveying CUNY climate justice courses. A central theme of the conversation was how CUNY classes and resources can support research and advocacy priorities identified by local communities.

The second part of the event centered on a "Syllabus Lab," in which participants discussed curriculum design, how to identify literature centering the lived experiences and needs of grassroots community organizations, and how to move away from extractive academic practices.

🔗 Learn more about the Symposium here! https://tinyurl.com/jcrfvcpn

04/21/2026

The NYC Climate Justice Hub is holding a Spring Symposium and Workshop on Wednesday, April 29th, from 3:30 PM to 7:00 PM at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

During the event, attendees will honor and celebrate successful partnerships between CUNY faculty, students, and community organizations that have driven tangible local impact.

They will also participate in a Syllabus Lab to move away from extractive academic practices and to 'retool' classes to support a just transition for New York City.

Dinner will be provided. This is an invite-only event for CUNY faculty, staff, and students. If you're interested in attending, please email Kobie Colemon at [email protected]

04/17/2026

🌳 Seven Hub Research Teams came together at the CUNY Graduate Center in late March for the “Rooted in Community:” Collaborative Research Showcase. During this interactive, full-day event, the teams shared the outcomes of the projects they have been working on since 2024.

The Hub's Research Teams serve NYC-EJA’s city- and statewide-level campaigns and initiatives and six of its member organizations: The Point CDC, Nos Quedamos, GOLES, The Brotherhood Sister Sol, El Puente, and UPROSE. The teams consist of staff from the organizations and CUNY faculty and students.

Unlike traditional university-community partnerships, the Hub’s Research collaborations are “rooted in community,” which means that community organizations set the research agenda, goals, and priorities, while academics provide technical assistance and consultation.

The projects that the teams presented are the following:

- GOLES, Lower East Side (LES): “Listening to LES: Community Driven Climate Resilience and Environmental Justice Insights from the UrVoice Survey”

- The Point CDC, Hunts Point, South Bronx: “Plug into Justice: Community Energy Infrastructure in Hunts Point”

- El Puente, Williamsburg: “Southside People Over Pavement: Mobility Justice, Street Reclamation and Redesign from Los Sures"

- Peter Marcotullio, Geography Professor at Hunter College, and Victoria Sanders, Climate and Health Programs Manager at NYC-EJA: "Breaking Through the Smog: Excessive Heat and Air Pollution in NYC EJ Communities," on NYC-EJA’s Community Heat and Air Monitoring Project for Environmental Justice (CHAMP-EJ).

- UPROSE, Sunset Park: “Mapping a Just Transition: A Vision for Community-Centered Urban Agriculture in Sunset Park”

- Nos Quedamos, Melrose, South Bronx: “From Maps to Advocacy: A Community-Based Curriculum for Environmental Justice, Community Organizing, and Advocacy.”

- BroSis, Harlem: “Growing Community Composting in NYC: The BroSis HotBox Model, the NYC 1K Composting Systems Initiative, and an Online Map and Platform”

02/06/2026

🏍️ As part of the Hub’s Research Teams program, three professors and a student have partnered with Green Light District team to conduct a mobility study for the Southside of Williamsburg (Los Sures).

⛟ Some members of the team gathered recently for a generative in-person workshopping session at El Puente's Williamsburg Leadership Center in Los Sures to draft recommendations to mitigate pollution, calm traffic, and reclaim/create safer, healthier, greener streetscapes and open spaces for young people, elders, and all neighbors.

🤩 El Puente’s Green Light District Team members are Daniela Castillo, Maria Fernanda Pulido Velosa, Raisa Lin Garden-Lucerna, and Efren Olson-Sanchez. The Hub Research Team for El Puente comprises professors Sherry Ryan, Dwayne Baker, and Alison Conway, and master's student Gaston Fernandez.

🛣️ The two-year collaboration will result in a comprehensive report outlining proposed changes to street designs and modal networks that can be implemented by the New York City Department of Transportation ( ) and would improve safety, livability, and quality of life for the Los Sures community.

⛟ The key emphasis of this report will focus on mitigation measures and alternatives to existing truck routes, addressing daily traffic congestion within Los Sures and along the relevant portion of the BQE.

12/17/2025

✨ Happening at the Hub recently!

The Hub Research Teams gathered for a Gratitude Celebration last month to honor and reflect on two years of work with NYC-EJA member organizations across NYC’s environmental justice communities. Our participating CUNY professors and students from Lehman College, City College, Brooklyn College, Hunter College, as well as Hub Advocates and staff from GOLES, Nos Quedamos, and El Puente attended the event.

During the gathering, members shared their most important takeaways or achievements from the projects they have been working on.

Over dinner, participants exchanged books that have impacted or inspired their climate justice work, representing a continuation of knowledge-sharing and learning in solidarity with the environmental and climate justice movement.

11/25/2025

The NYC Climate Justice Hub launched its second Fellowship & Internship Programs (and inaugural Environmental Justice (EJ) Caucus) in October with an Academy spanning three evenings.

The Academy brought together nine Fellows and five Interns selected from a competitive application pool of over 200 CUNY students, along with the Hub and New York City Environmental Justice Alliance staff.

The Fellows are Alexander Shearman (Political Economy, Macaulay Honors), Izza Amir (English, Hunter College), Josue Rosa (Finance, College of Staten Island), Victoria Melo (Law, CUNY School of Law), Yaneisha Burroughs(Public Administration, John Jay College), Azka Saqib (History and Library Science), Jacob Velez (Digital Marketing, Queens College), Ezra Undag (Sustainability in the Urban Environment), and Walter Arzu (Sustainability in the Urban Environment, The City College of New York).

The Fellows are working with and representing CUNY students on seven campaigns and coalitions that NYC-EJA has developed or is a member of: Extreme Heat, Forest for All NYC, Last Mile Coalition, NY Renews, PEAK Coalition, Renewable Rikers, and Transform Don't Trash. The cohort of Fellows has also formed a student caucus that represents and is accountable to the CUNY student body.

The Interns are Nial Parmanan (Law, CUNY School of Law), Josh Levine (Community Health & Social Science, CUNY School of Public Health), Leslie Mejía (Education, College of Staten Island), Diana Higuera (Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures), and Juan Carlos García (Psychology, Graduate Center).

The Interns are working with NYC-EJA member organizations, GOLES, Brotherhood Sister Sol, Nos Quedamos, El Puente, and The Point CDC, and supporting their local initiatives and projects.

During the Academy, the Caucus and interns learned more about the Hub partnership, NYC-EJA, and the history of student organizing at CUNY. Students learned about key climate and environmental justice issues in New York City and State, as well as their duties for the upcoming months.

The Fellowship runs until June 2026, and the Internship until February 2026. Learn more about the Academy and both programs here! https://tinyurl.com/5n99ukvr

Address

365 5th Ave
New York, NY
10016

Website

https://centerforthehumanities.org/programming/nyc-climate-justice-hub

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