Transcript: Mayor Adams unveils Ambitious Plan to Make New York City Leader in "Green-Collar" Jobs

February 27, 2024

Andrew Kimball, President and CEO, NYC Economic Development Corporation: Good morning! All right, All right. Whoo! I only have to do it once.

Feel that energy. There's nothing better than tackling the climate crisis, talking about innovation and talking about jobs, and that's what this event is all about. I want to welcome everybody to Sunset Park and the Brooklyn Army Terminal.

My name is Andrew Kimball. I'm President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. It is so exciting to be here today to make a new chapter in New York City's fight against climate change and continue our efforts — yes that's right — and continue our efforts to not only tackle climate change but really adapt our economy, make this opportunity the opportunity to build the inclusive, equitable economy of the future that we all want to see.

Before turning things over to the mayor, I just want to make sure I'm acknowledging some of the so many people, and I'm just going to name a few. But I was looking at this book this morning, and this is a big book. And the hours and hours and hours around the table with our colleagues in government, with not‑for‑profits, with corporate partners to come up with the 63 initiatives in this plan was truly extraordinary.

But it all starts with leadership in City Hall from Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer's office leading Housing, Economic Development, Workforce Development, just extraordinary in getting the team across government to work efficiently together. Huge shout out to EDC's partner and co‑author of this report, Abby Jo Sigal, Executive Director of the Mayor's Office of Talent of Workforce Development.

There are numerous other agencies and city organizations we worked alongside to really bring this first of its kind plan. And you look across the world, you look at other great cities, some have tried, there is nothing like this out there. So, I really hope you will take a look at this book and set of recommendations.

And then to our key partners in one of the key initiatives we're announcing today, the Harbor Climate Collaborative, Clare Newman, the extraordinary leader of Trust for Governors Island. And Lindsay Greene, who is doing just an amazing job leading the Brooklyn Navy Yard into its next iteration.

I also want to thank all the startup companies, the not‑for‑profits, the workforce development partners who are here today. Many of them are tabled. I hope you'll go around and talk to them. It's really extraordinary. It was awesome to be with the mayor. His eyes always light up when you're talking about technology, particularly when it involves AI and energy, which we just did.

I've had a chance to collaborate with the mayor now for 20 years, really lucky, both at the Navy Yard when I was there, and at Industry City. This is somebody who passionately understands the importance of public‑private partnership, of driving job creation, but making sure that we pivot our economy to be one that is truly inclusive.

And it is so exciting and my honor to introduce the Get Stuff Done mayor, Eric Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you. Thank you. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the long, long relationship that I've had with Andrew and just watched him, all parts of his development of our city.

When I go back and think about Newlab in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, I have to think about Andrew's vision there and allocating the first million dollars as borough president as Newlab started, and walking through Newlab and watching some of the development.

And as I was stating to the deputy mayor, Deputy Mayor Maria Torres‑Springer, that one of the missing components was the connecting the jobs to the community. That is in the heart of many of the public housing. The component of making sure those tenants were able to learn from the new development and technology and be part of the employment pipeline was something that we should have developed more and but we're learning from that now.

Climate change is not only our environment, but it's changing the climate of those who are not part of the green economy. And to have this amazing organization that I met some time ago to be here as well, Green City Force, what they are doing.

Green City Force is so significant, because there needs to be a level of honesty with this conversation when we talk about climate change of the people who are impacted the greatest from terrible emission conditions, terrible environment condition, terrible health conditions, many of our coastal areas are impacted, Black and brown communities were not part of the conversation.

And what Green City Force is doing is showing these young people that this is an issue that impacts them. They really did not believe... It was part of, I met them years ago as borough president, and I was blown away by the initiative and what they were doing.

And they are so energetic. They've become ambassadors to other young people to say that the climate change conversation is not a conversation that they are omitted from. And now this beautiful initiative here is going to further expand how green technology means green dollars and it means jobs. And that's what Abby Jo is really showing, just to build out our pipeline and change the quality of the environment in which they live.

So, this is really an exciting moment. I'm happy to be here. And the beauty is that I can just step back and let people with the expertise do their job, and that's exactly what they're doing.

So, to the partners of our EDC, the entire team, they just keep knocking it out of the park over and over again. Thank you. And the Office of Talent and Workforce Development, we have to get people back to working. That is so important, and that is what we are focusing on, an entire team over there.

Today, we're here to announce the site of the future Climate Innovation Hub at Brooklyn Army Terminal and to announce the Green Economy Action Plan that was this big book when you are bored on the weekend and you want to flip through, you could do so. But you're right, the thickness of it that's made of, which I hope is recycled paper.

The goal is to bolster our rapidly-growing sustainability sector, which is important to build out the infrastructure. We need to support it, that's crucial, because you can expand the sector, but if you don't build out the infrastructure, then it's not going to reach the level of expansion that you desire.

And expand the workforce, jobs, give real jobs, how people can find a duality of improving our environment but also improving their living conditions. And these are good, well‑paying jobs in the process.

And New Yorkers have always used innovation, that's who we are. And we are not going to follow, we're going to lead from the front. We did it by building our economy of the future. We must draw on our resources to protect our city.

Climate change is real. We see it every time we see the coastal storms. And let's be clear: we are in February, and you could go outside without a jacket on. Something is just not right. It may seem comfortable, but it impacts our growing patterns. It impacts everything that we need. There's a reason we have several seasons in the year, and we need to make sure we protect that.

We are going to ensure that we look at the low‑carbon economy, build infrastructure that protects our people and our city, and create jobs and prosperity as we do so. The Green Economy Action Plan is about building for the future starting now.

New York City has always taken upon that initiative and have millions of both white collar jobs and blue collar jobs, now we're introducing a new terminology in our society: green collar jobs. Jobs where you can ensure improving the environment is also improving our lifestyle.

New York City is leading the way on this new category. So many of the white and blue collar jobs of the past are becoming green collar jobs of the future. And we're ready. This new plan will deliver more than 12,000 green economy apprenticeships and identifies 21 key occupations that are essential to growing the green economy and providing pathways to economic mobility.

From building resiliency projects and retrofitting apartment buildings to installing solar panels, EV charging stations and wind turbines. These green collar jobs are already in demand. We must put people in the position in the pipeline to fill the jobs.

And the numbers are clear: over 400,000 jobs in the green economy by the year 2040. That means children who are running around on our playgrounds today are going to be filling these green collar jobs in the future.

We want to ensure that we are not going to miss the opportunity to educate, train and position New Yorkers from all backgrounds to benefit from this new economy.

We want everyone, especially residents from economically and environmentally disadvantaged communities, to participate in this initiative moving forward. The Green Economy Action Plan goes far beyond education and training. That's what's really attractive of this for me.

As I announced in our State of the City address earlier this year, we are using New York City's historic waterways to chart a new course for our economic future. We have underutilized our waterways for so many years, and we are reinvesting and reexamining how they can improve our movement, our transportation and our economy.

So, we are transforming the shoreline that made New York City the economic engine of this nation to the harbor of the future, a harbor that will extend from Hunts Point Market in the Bronx all the way to the north Shore of Staten Island and include a $100 million for the Climate Innovation Hub here at Brooklyn Army Terminal.

And this hub will bring business development, incubation and research to a four million square foot campus, turning Sunset Park into a center for clean tech innovation and manufacturing. The sun will not set in Sunset Park; it is going to rise and rise in a healthy way.

It will be home to over 150 climate tech startups and other green economy businesses over the next 10 years. The hub alone is expected to generate $2.6 billion in economic impact and create 600 jobs right here in this community, while providing workforce training and job placement particularly for local Sunset Park community.

On March 18th, we'll be releasing a request for proposal for partners to help make this hub a reality. The Climate Innovation Hub would also partner with the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Climate Exchange on Governors Island, and we have just two amazing leaders at both Brooklyn Navy Yard and at Governors Island. I know Brooklyn would like to claim Governors Island, but we all have to share it.

This forms a new climate collaborative which will unlock six million square feet of space for climate research, education, training and space for companies to grow. Connected by New York City Ferry, the Harbor Climate Collaborative will support the creation of 5,000 permanent jobs, educate and train 2,100 students and generate $55 billion of economic impact; and it will transform the harbor of the future into the global destination for jobs, tech and innovation.

And so again, I just really want to thank Lindsay Greene over at the President and CEO of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Clare Newman, President and CEO of the Trust for Governors Island, and for the vision and partnership in bringing the next generation of green jobs here. And everyone, Maria, your team, Abby, your team, Andrew, your team and just a complete teamwork as we move our city and our community forward.

This week, the New York City Department of Transportation will preview part of the future as we open the city's first public e‑battery charger station in Cooper Square. And we're excited that here at the Brooklyn Army Terminal we'll have another public e‑battery charger station.

So we're on the cusp of a new kind of industrial revolution, and we intend to make sure that this revolution does not leave anyone behind and create new jobs of the future.

We cannot fight climate change on our own, it must be a partnership. But working together, we can get it done. And I think the most important part of it, I just really want to encourage the young people from Green City workforce: you cannot solve global problems with a local mindset.

And when you sit around your boardroom tables, if everyone around them looks like you, talks like you, walks like you and do the same things, then you're going to have a small view. But if your room is diverse with different ideas and people and cultures and understanding, you can solve global problems.

This is a global city with global leaders, and we must have the diversity in our boardrooms to ensure that we can have global approach to these problems. We are doing something great here in the city, folks. And we're not leading from the rear, we're leading from the front.

That is what we do in New York City. Greatest city on the globe. Two types of Americans: those who live here and those who wish they could.

Kimball: Thank you. Thank you, mayor. As the mayor mentioned, a chief component of this plan is ensuring we're building a pipeline of jobs and creating opportunities for all New Yorkers. That means providing training opportunities so these green collar jobs are accessible to everybody.

How we do this is working alongside our partners in the private sector, but also in the not‑for‑profit space who have deep roots within the communities within this city. One of those organizations that the mayor's been giving a number of shout‑outs to is the amazing Green City Force team, and it's my pleasure to introduce Executive Director Tonya Gayle.

Tonya Gayle, Executive Director, Green City Force: Good morning. All right. Good morning. This is fun. Thank you. Thank you all. So, I'm Tonya Gayle, executive director of Green City Force, and at GCF we train young leaders to power a green and inclusive economy through service.

These amazing folks that are here today and others who are all around the city today are serving their country locally as AmeriCorps service members and they are building skills, learning about the green economy and giving back to communities as they do that through service.

They build farms, they grow food, they educate fellow residents, they learn from other public housing and low income residents about a way forward, because we have resilience in these frontline communities. We have leaders and folks who are in our program who show up every day and step into the world and give back to others while they make lives better for themselves and the people they come from.

They are resilient, they are challenged with all kinds of issues that are real barriers facing housing insecurity, family restrictions, health situations; and yet they rise. They are phenomenal, amazing leaders, young leaders who need a platform to thrive and grow, and we're thrilled about this program and commitment and investment by the city.

The Green Economy Action Plan is fully aligned with our mission focused on a just transition. Our folks are graduating and they're learning about all these jobs you're talking about. They're learning about solar installation. They're leading in energy and clean energy roles, learning about urban agriculture, green infrastructure, building construction. You name it.

And it's just like just the beginning, so we're super thrilled and grateful that the city is coming along with us. As Joseph said, the pioneers, although others came way before us, we're happy to be here and really look forward to the next chapter of what this amazing city will do, led by all New Yorkers, especially our graduates. Thank you very much.

Kimball: Thank you so much, Tonya. And you're exactly right. It is going to take continued partnership for all of us to build this network and job opportunities for young people with their eye on the future. And our final speaker, I want to call up, is somebody who represents this sort of innovation and entrepreneurial spirit that's really driving the economy in New York City today.

You know, the mayor loves statistics, and I'm just going to hit him with them again. More private sector jobs and at any point in New York City, highest workforce participation rate at any point in New York City. One in seven businesses in New York City started in the last 12 months, and it's because of entrepreneurs and innovators like Tiya Gordon who is co‑founder and COO of Itselectric, a company born right here in Brooklyn whose mission is to create curbside charging network of EVs, especially designed for cities and urban environments.

Itselectric has received the industry's top accolades both nationally and internationally, and is piloting her technology right here at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, and is a graduate of EDC's Founder Fellows Program where we're really driving opportunities for diverse entrepreneurship in the innovation sectors. Ladies and gentlemen, Tiya Gordon.

Tiya Gordon, Co-Founder, Itselectric: Thank you so much, everyone. Thank you to the Adams administration, Andrew, and the EDC for having us here. I'm here to speak today about the Green Economy Action Plan, which commits to 63 actions, and public EV charging is one.

My name is Tiya Gordon. I am the co‑founder of Itselectric. Our mission is to rapidly scale the urban infrastructure needed for the electric vehicle transition in every city and on every block, as we are the world's first EV charging company that allows cars to be powered by buildings.

We're also the first EV charging company that revenue shares with every community that we deploy in, bringing the green of the green economy directly into the pockets of New Yorkers. Just 12 months ago, this was just an idea, and we needed to test it in the real world in a city that's notoriously hard to crack open, so we approached EDC and asked if we could pilot our technology right here at BAT.

Flash forward one year where Itselectric was just named the Next Big Thing in Tech by Fast Company, and the City Solution of the Year by judges of the Earthshot Prize. As Alicia Keys would say, Mayor Adams, only in New York.

Even better, our early collaboration with EDC was built on the grounds where we're standing today at the Future Climate Innovation Hub, right here in Sunset Park, and has become Pilot Zero for the City's Climate Innovation Pilot Program.

Our work with EDC has been a true partnership; and much more, a model for the City to pilot technologies with private companies and startups enabling this collective to achieve the daunting climate goals with the crucial principles of speed and scale. We together are building an ecosystem that hopefully will just might save our ecosystem. So, thank you so much.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. We'll open to a few questions. But I think Andrew really broke it down in a very simple way: create the environment that we could create the technology and innovation of the future; and then, create the pipeline for employment and execution of what we created. And that is a real sweet spot that we're creating here. So, we'll take a few questions.

Question: Good morning, everyone.

Mayor Adams: Good morning.

Question: Good morning. So, my question is for New Yorkers who might see this story and perhaps they're interested in getting a green collar job, learning more about this economy, getting the training, where do they go, how do they start?

Mayor Adams: Yes. Abby, why don't you…

Abby Jo Sigal, Executive Director, Mayor's Office of Talent and Workforce Development: Great question, and really appreciate it. Good news is we're already doing a lot to really position folks for green collar jobs. So, right here at Brooklyn Army Terminal, there's already a Workforce1 Center, there's a Makerspace. Additionally, there's a lot of work being done on the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The Brooklyn STEAM Center, which works with a number of high schools, really focuses on a number of trainings that really lead to the occupations in the Green Economy Action Plan.

Mayor Adams: And that is such a powerful question, because we sometimes don't realize how people don't know what's the first step. And as I move around the city and I ask people how would you go about finding a job? Where would you look? And it is really amazing that people don't know where to start.

And so what Abby is doing is doing now with our job hiring halls. We did it for city jobs, she's now expanding it for local and private businesses, because we have to start teaching people the basics, you know, what is a resume, how to write a resume, how to do an interview. What are the pathways?

There's a Robert Moses mindset that we've built highways through communities and employment without any entrance ramps. We have to start building entrance ramps so that people can get on the highway of employment.

Good job. See, the key is you put our team up front, the press in the back. This way we don't get all those questions. All right. All right. Thank you.