#GasFreeNYC Starts Now! Lawmakers, Advocates To Pop Champagne & Celebrate End of New Fossil-Fuel Buildings

BROOKLYN, NY (01/03/2024) (readMedia)-- Lawmakers and climate activists will gather Thursday, January 4th at noon in front of NYC's first all-electric skyscraper with champagne and hot cocoa to celebrate rare good news for climate progress: the start of New York City's #GasFreeNYC laws. In effect as of January 1st, the landmark laws, LL154 and LL97, mark the beginning of NYC's commitment to clean up its most climate-polluting sector: buildings.

Under LL154, all new buildings under seven stories in the city are required to be built without burning fossil fuels for heat and hot water, with larger buildings to follow their lead in 2027. New York is now the largest city in the country to pass a law requiring new buildings to be built with zero-emissions heating, galvanizing a national tipping point and ushering in a new era of climate-friendly construction. New York City's all-electric new buildings mandate is expected to produce as many as 20,000 all-electric homes each year, which will create cleaner, safer air for New Yorkers and reduce planet-warming pollution from buildings, while saving both building owners and renters money on their utility bills.

In addition, New York City's LL97 requires large buildings to reduce their emissions, eventually phasing out oil and gas by 2050. Tens of thousands of buildings are already taking steps to reduce pollution under LL97, resulting in the creation of thousands of green jobs.

This event will be livestreamed here: https://www.facebook.com/foodandwaterwatchNY