On December 10, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the City, with the assistance of the Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), has transformed 165 acres of previously unusable contaminated land into clean space for 28,000 units of housing, 12,000 of which are affordable housing units, 16 new schools, 2.9 million square feet of community space, and 6.1 million square feet of commercial space.
The Office of Environmental Remediation was created in 2008 as part of New York City’s PlanNYC sustainability plan. Over the years the Office of Environmental Remediation has designed and operated programs to transform unusable vacant contaminated land through cleanup. Almost 70 percent of these projects are in geographic areas that experience negative environmental impacts due to historical and current social inequities, known as environmental justice areas. Once the programs are completed, they are eligible for a Green Property Plaque. This plaque signifies that the area is safe for the development of buildings.
Four projects the Office of Environmental Remediation completed are: the Mt. Hope Walton Apartments, Rheingold Affordable Senior Residences, Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus, and River Avenue.
The Mt. Hope Walton Apartments, located 1761 Walton Avenue in the Bronx, resulted in a new 14-story building comprised of 103 affordable units (15 percent of these units are for formerly homeless households) and a 9,900 square-foot gymnasium (with a basketball court and fitness center). This cleanup involved the excavation and removal of contaminated soil.
The Rheingold Affordable Senior Residences is located at 11–23 Montieth Street in Williamsburg. This remediated land resulted in an eight-story, 93-unit supportive housing development for seniors. The new building includes supportive services, food pantry, and a rooftop garden. This cleanup involved excavation and removal of contaminated soil and the installation of a vapor barrier and engineered system to protect individuals from any residual contaminants.
The Tommie L. Agee Educational Campus is located at 111-10 Astoria Boulevard in East Elmhurst. This remediated land is now home to a 646-seat school for grades six through eight. This cleanup involved the removal of contaminated soil and the installation of a depressurization system to protect individuals from any residual contaminants.
The River Avenue project is located at 1169 River Avenue in the Bronx. This building has 245 affordable units for formerly homeless individuals and families, 148 total supportive units, and 97 units allocated for low-income families. The building also hosts a specialized District 75 school. This cleanup involved the excavation and removal of contaminated soil and community air monitoring.
The Office of Environmental Remediation has also completed The Eliza located in Inwood neighborhood of Manhattan, land under the Halletts Point Building 7 in Queens, and a new building within the New York City Housing Authority Astoria Housing Campus.
Mayor Eric Adams said, “New York City’s most valuable resource is our land — and our Office of Environmental Remediation does incredible work to make sure we can use every square foot safely and in a healthy manner. The 165 acres we’ve cleaned up have allowed us to house tens of thousands of our neighbors, put thousands of students in school seats, and build new plazas, parks, and open spaces across the city. I’m grateful to the tireless public servants and hardworking New Yorkers who have turned these spaces into the gems they are today.”
Mayor’s Office of Environmental Remediation Acting Director Shaminder Chawla said, “The milestone of 1,000 cleanups is a fantastic achievement – the most of any municipal program in the country. New York City is working to address centuries of land pollution, one property at a time. We make sites ready for redevelopment, which brings housing, jobs, and millions in tax revenue for our city. I’m especially proud of OER’s hard work in environmental justice communities where the impacts of pollution and land vacancy hit hardest.”
By: Chelsea Ramjeawan (Chelsea is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)