This week, Mayor Eric Adams continued his green New York City mission by unveiling the New York Climate Exchange, an expansive environmental research center on Governors Island. The mayor announced that the state-of-the-art sustainability center would be operated by Stony Brook University, whose $700 million proposal will develop a 400,000-square-foot campus dedicated to researching and creating innovative climate solutions affecting New York City and the world. The New York Climate Exchange will have a full-scale campus, laboratories, student housing, and a hotel. It will also equip and train New Yorkers to hold the green jobs of the future and is expected to open in 2028.
“Here in the heart of New York Harbor, we are taking a giant leap toward a cleaner, greener, more prosperous future for every New Yorker with the ‘New York Climate Exchange,’ announced Mayor Adams. “This first-of-its-kind project will make New York City a global leader in developing solutions for climate change while creating thousands of good-paying green jobs for New Yorkers and infusing $1 billion into our city’s economy. Where some people see challenges, New Yorkers see opportunities, and this team and this project are leading the charge.”

The New York Climate Exchange will create over 2,200 union jobs, including construction and building services. It is committed to hiring all construction and building service workers at prevailing wage with a goal of 35 percent minority- and women-owned business enterprise (M/WBE) participation in construction. The campus is expected to serve 600 postsecondary students, 4,500 K-12 students, 6,000 workforce trainees, and 250 faculty and researchers every year while supporting up to 30 businesses annually through its incubator program. The campus will be funded in part with significant gifts of $100 million from the Simons Foundation and $50 million from Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“Governors Island is a remarkable part of New York City’s geographic landscape and history, and over the years, I’ve worked hard to ensure its protection. Now, the island will serve as the location of the New York Climate Exchange, a one-of-a-kind hub for researching and developing innovative climate resiliency solutions for our city and the world,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. “With new academic offerings and thousands of good, union construction and permanent jobs on the way for New Yorkers, I will do all I can to support this project and continue the fight against climate change.”

For low-income New Yorkers, the city will install solar energy, electric building infrastructure, green roofs, and other renewable energy on as much city-owned property as possible, including DOE schools and our NYCHA buildings. Already, the city is powering up new rooftop solar panels in Brooklyn. The city will launch a program subsidizing the installation of solar panels for up to 3,000 homes of low-income New Yorkers, which includes solar panel installation job programs for NYCHA residents.
“Lower-income communities are on the front lines of the climate crisis but so often lack the resources to make the changes that they and their children need,” said Mayor Adams. “We are excited to bring solar energy to public housing in all five boroughs and deliver a cleaner, greener, and more prosperous future for our city.”
In celebration of Earth Month, Mayor Adams released PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done. Plans are already in motion to expand New York City’s tree canopy by 30 percent by planting thousands of new trees and improving our green spaces, parks, and recreation areas. The electric vehicle charging network is being expanded across the five boroughs. There are efforts to prevent flooding and sewage problems by building new overflow tanks along the Gowanus Canal to improve drainage in flood-prone neighborhoods. The plan also aims to make electric vehicles more accessible by putting charging stations within 2.5 miles of every New Yorker by 2035. The plan includes the first low-emission zone focused on areas of the city with high truck traffic and low air quality. The Adams administration is pushing for electrifying school buses and the city’s fleet. The plan will also work to increase the city’s green economy through education and training programs at public schools. During the next three years, the program aims to help 1,000 students explore jobs in climate and resiliency, as well as train 1,000 educators on the booming economy. The city is expected to have more than 230,000 green jobs by 2030.
“We’re going to reshape our relationship with energy: how we generate it, how we use it, how we store it and how we pay for it,” said Adams.