Taking No Questions Mayor DeBlasio Celebrates One Millionth Tree Planting

Mayor Bill de Blasio at this morning's press conferance celebrating the planting of the 1,017,634, tree in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx,  as part of the MillionTreesNYC.  The Mayor was joined by, (from left) Deborah Marton, Bette Midler,  former Mayor Michael Bloomberg,  Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Council Member Mark Levine,  City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Parks Commissinor Mitchell Silver,  and Congressman Jose Serrano.

The MillionTrees initiative has been plagued by a host of issues including poor management and oversight critics say.  The Mayor refused to answer a single question at the event. (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

City-Wide

By Geoffrey Croft

Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrated the planting of the 1,017,634, tree this morning in Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx,  as part of the MillionTreesNYC.

The Mayor was joined by former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Restoration Project’s Bette Midler who launched the Million Trees program in 2007.  

"We're not stopping," the Mayor pledged.  "There will be 150,000 trees planted over the next three years to continue this tradition."

The much-maligned program has been criticized over the years for a host of reasons:  Critics question the sense of planting new trees when the elected officials allocate only a fraction of the funds needed to care for the millions of already existing trees;  the improper installation/planting of the trees;  the lack of community-based planning and consultation regarding where the trees were planted; the lack of oversight; mortality rate; as well as the adoption rate of the trees which is a major component of the program.  

The program also displaced the Parks Department's public research library at the agency's 5th Avenue headquarters.

De blasio did not stick around to answer questions however.  The Mayor made a hasty exit out of the park after the last photo-op followed by pack of media trying in vein to ask questions.  

Like many of Mayor Bloomberg's "environmental" initiatives  Million Trees was viewed by many more for its PR value for than as a viable, sustainable program.  His PlaNYC program  was flush with capital spending but funding to maintain these new projects were largely absent.

Bette Midler got a hug, and later a kiss from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg who both launched the Million Trees program in 2007.  

Bloomberg reminded the crowd that the original event scheduled for October 21 was canceled  due to the tragic murder of police officer Randolph Holder the night before.

The Parks Department planted 750, 000 of the trees - 495,000 were planted in parkland and the remaining 155, 000 going to streets.  The remaining trees were planted by New York Restoration Project.

Flanked by aids, his security detail and the media, Mayor DeBlasio, makes a hasty exit out of the park without answering a single question at the event.

A member of the Mayor's security detail keeps a close watch over the one millionth planted tree.    (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) Click on images to enlarge.

One Million Trees: Planting Breakdown

Number of Trees Planted by Borough:
•   Bronx – 276,600
•   Brooklyn – 182,593
•   Manhattan – 80,016
•   Queens – 284,755
•   Staten Island – 173,134
•   (Borough unknown) – 2,902

Number of Trees Planted by Type:
•   Street trees: 155,000 (+ 2,020 since planting of the Millionth Tree)
•   NYC Park Trees: 595,000 (+ 15,614 since planting of the Millionth Tree)
•   Private and other open space: 250,000 

DEC/Parks Department Reverse Ridgewood Reservoir Culvert Plan

The decommissioned Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a natural oasis on the Queens-Brooklyn border.  Activists were worried that a state-mandated plan to cut culverts in the reservoir would have impacted the natural beauty of the area. Citizens were concerned that this could pave the way for future development.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge.

Queens-Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

For years the community fought vehemently against Mayor Bloomberg's $50 million PlaNYC proposal to clear out 20 acres of one of the basins for ballfields and develop the natural area for active recreation. 

It appears these efforts may finally be paying off. 

In what was one of the last remaining hurdles, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the Parks Department are reversing course on a controversial $ 6 million dollar, two-year plan to cut large holes (culverts) into the three basins in Ridgewood Reservoir.  The move comes as pressure from environmentalists, area residents and elected officials were mounting to preserve the area exclusively as natural parkland.  

The State DEC has classified the Ridgewood Reservoir's three basins as a "Class C" High Hazard Dam, critics disagreed.   State officials originally mandated that the Parks Department cut culverts as part of an anti-flooding plan, a move which drew wide-spread criticism. 

The Parks Department is expected to submit a new application to the DEC shortly requesting the site be reclassified as a non-hazardous dam.  Plans are also in the works to map the basins as wetlands a move advocates and naturalists fighting to preserve the decommissioned dams requested four years ago.

Invasive species tower over the decommissioned Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park. Advocates want the $ 6 million dollars re-purposed and used to clear out invasive species and replace them with native flora which will among many things increase bio-diversity. 

In July, eight local elected officials sent a letter to Governor Cuomo requesting the plan be scrapped.  

Last week DEC Commissioner Joe Martins sent a letter to the elected officials informing them of the State's decision.  

"The Highland Park/Ridgewood Reservoir Alliance is cautiously optimistic that the reservoir will finally be getting the protection from development that the community has been fighting for since 2007," said Rob Jett,  HPRRA member and the Save Ridgewood Reservoir blog founder. 

"The next important follow up step will be the NYSDEC performing the promised wetlands mapping promised this fall. We had submitted an application for wetlands mapping to the state 4 years ago. In addition, the Ridgewood Reservoir habitats support over 150 species of resident, breeding and migratory species of birds. Many of those are Endangered, Threatened or of Special Concern by both state and federal agencies. For that reason we are asking that the state designate the reservoir a "Bird Conservation Area. 

The HPRRA will continue to work with the community, politicians and parks department to assure that our vision of Ridgewood Reservoir becoming a world class Urban Nature Sanctuary is realized," said Jett.

The environmental law firm Super Law Group were retained by HPRRA and played a key advisory role in the proceedings, acting as a liaison between the community and the Mayor's office, DEC and the Parks Department.  

Edan Rotenberg, a lawyer at the firm gave credit to the community and the elected officials for working together.  He looks forward to helping the community achieve further conservation goals via NY State DEC including  getting wetland status and recognition for endangered species. 

The DEC is being pressed for three things:  to map the wetlands in the Reservoir on its official state map of wetlands; recognize the Ridgewood Reservoir as an official Bird Conservation Area; and have DEC's "New York Natural Heritage Program" officially recognize the existence of rare and threatened plants and animals in the Ridgewood Reservoir.


American redstart at the Ridgewood Reservoir. (Photo: Steve Nanz)

New York Natural Heritage maintains New York's most comprehensive database on the status and location of rare species and natural communities. The information is used by public agencies, the environmental conservation community, developers, and others to aid in land-use decisions.

"We have an oral commitment from the DEC that they will map the wetlands in the park this Fall," said Edan Rotenberg.

"They are going to go through all three basins and look at the wetland to determine what parts of the basin or whether the whole basin should be classified as wetlands.  This is an environmental hot spot. There aren't many regional wetland forest habits left in New York City period. 

There are a number of endangered species in the reservoir, its important the state recognize this," he said.

What's Next?

Advocates are also pressing that the $ 6 million dollars be reallocated for much needed improvements. 

Community members and environmentalists have long advocated for the repurposing of two existing gate house buildings located on the basin's perimeter for an environmental center and Parks Enforcement Patrol and Ranger facility to help ensure the long-term viability and safety of the area.  

"We are glad that the NYC Parks Department finally recognized that the Ridgewood Reservoir is a habitat that should not be disturbed by construction and that it took the step of requesting reclassification to a low hazard dam," said Christina Wilkinson. 

"The money that was to be used for this project should now be re-purposed to clear out invasive species and replace them with native flora. Building a nature center and PEP command will go a long way to ensure the reservoir Highland park are properly used and safe." 

The community is pressing to use two of the reservoir's gatehouses located along the basin's perimeter to be used as an environmental center for public programs and a Parks Enforcement Patrol/ Ranger facility to help ensure the long-term viability and safety of the area.

Invasive vines are pervasive in Highland Park due to a lack of maintenance.  A long-term restoration and maintenance plan for the severally neglected park is vital.


Read/View More:

Parks Officials Say State Wants Ridgewood Reservoir Basins to Be Safer
NY 1 - July 10, 2014 - By Agnes Chung 
http://www.ny1.com/content/212041/parks-officials-say-state-wants-ridgewood-reservoir-basins-to-be-safer/

Plan To Cut Into Historic Ridgewood Reservoir Has Activists Fuming - 
Fears This Will Lead To Development
A Walk In The Park - July 6, 2014

City Considering Leaving Ridgewood Reservoir Natural

A Walk In The Park - October 5, 2012 

Cracks In Ridgewood Reservoir Found - Renovations Delayed

A Walk In The Park - January 13, 2012 

Central Park Vs. Ridgewood Reservoir Fence Discrepancy

A Walk In The Park - May 27, 2010 

Community Boards Not Happy With Ridgewood Reservoir Plans

A Walk In The Park - January 6, 2010 

Bloomberg PlaNYC Parks - Fantasy & P.r.

A Mess. Dreir Offerman Park (Calvert Vaux) - Brooklyn. March 10, 2010.

(Photo: © Geoffrey Croft /NYC Park Advocates) Click on image to enlarge

PlaNYC Broken Promises - One Example. On August 1, 2007 Mayor Bloomberg announced with great fanfare the long - suffering Dreier-Offerman Park in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, near Coney Island would be the recipient of $ 40 million dollars and a host of improvements as part of mayor's PlaNYC 2030.

The promises included kayak launches, an amphitheater, a pedestrian and bikeway network, picnic areas, a central lawn, nature trails, an amphitheater, wetlands, a playground, comfort stations, field house, nature center, two, landscaping, significant infrastructure including utility improvements, parking facilities, remediation of significant contamination, pedestrian bridges as well as the refurbishing of three baseball fields and the building of six soccer fields in the shorefront park.

"PlaNYC has finally given us the resolve and momentum to put long-considered and desperately needed projects in motion. And this project is a great example of that," Bloomberg said.

"This is truly a golden age for parks," said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

The Dreier-Offerman project was expected to be completed by 2011. Construction was supposed to begin in the spring of 2008 with the first of the artificial turf soccer fields - the must expensive in the city's history - expected to completed by the Summer 2008.

That did not happen.

Plagued by massive cost over-runs and delays the first two of the park's six planned artificial turf soccer fields finally opened in 2012. Funding for the other four were cut along with most of the other promised improvements.

Calvert Vaux is the only "regional" park as part of the Mayor's PlaNYC to be designed in-house and not by a consultant. According to City sources, the Bloomberg Administration was so desperate to rush the project through they instructed the project's lead designer, landscape architect Emmanuel Thingue to transmit the project management services on October 29, 2007- before an EAS had even begun. As a result the project went out to bid before an environmental review had even begun and the Comptroller registered the contract without one being completed.

In June 2008 the DPR was asked to perform a full EIS to address numerous issues, considering the history of the site and the limitations of the EAS. This request was denied. The DPR declined saying that as lead agency it was their prerogative to determine if the environmental issues rose to the level requiring an EIS. In their response they also stated that they were "compelled" to stay on their current schedule. Not surprisingly the EAS comments were not responded to.

Mr. Thingue won the 2011 Sloan Service Award, "the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for New York City’s public employees,” according to Commissioner Benepe and has received multiple raises since his involvement with Calvert Vaux Park.

Unfortunately Calvert Vaux represents just one of the broken promises and abuses of the public trust in relation to these projects.

- Geoffrey Croft

City-Wide

Mayor Bloomberg’s legacy parks are coming — but they’re mired in hefty price tags and design problems, according to the New York Post.

The city has over-promised and under-delivered on $291 million in park projects that are being rushed to seal the mayor’s place in history, critics say.

The eight regional parks were announced with great fanfare in April 2007 as part of Hizzoner’s ambitious PlaNYC program.

Five years later, the push to get them completed — or at least under way — before the end of the mayor’s term in 2013 has led to downsized plans, engineering issues and delays.

“There was no planning, no realistic cost estimates. It was fantasy mixed with p.r.,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Parks Advocates.

Troubles emerged soon after the mayor’s goals were passed to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe and his strapped Parks Department. Benepe announced his resignation last week.

Among the problems:

* Ocean Breeze Park in Staten Island saw work on a $69.7 million indoor track stopped over concerns the site’s concrete pilings wouldn’t hold up in the marshy soil. Outdoor soccer and baseball fields were cut. The track lacks air conditioning, making it unusable for big meets.

* At Highland Park, Queens, the administration abandoned its plan to build a 60-acre sports center when environmentalists proved the site was an irreplaceable habitat. The revised project, a $19.3 million installation of paths, lights and fences, has been delayed by construction woes.

* Calvert Vaux Park in Brooklyn was to get sports fields, kayak launches and playgrounds, but amenities were cut after the discovery of contaminated soil. Much of the $20.1 million budget had to be spent on a cleanup.

* At Brooklyn’s McCarren Park Pool, set to reopen June 28 after a $50 million renovation and a year’s delay, a promised rooftop cafe has not been built.

* $29.3 million was budgeted to update Rockaway Park in Queens, but the plan’s second phase, renovation of the Beach Ninth Street portion, has still not been designed.

* Manhattan’s Fort Washington Park was promised a soccer and volleyball facility, renovations to baseball and soccer fields and upgrades to its beach area, but the major sports and recreation elements of the $25.1 million plan were deferred.

* Contamination at Soundview Park in The Bronx caused delays in its $15.3 million renovation. The amphitheater and performance lawn remain unscheduled.

* The city will spend $61.9 million to turn the High Bridge linking The Bronx and Manhattan into a passage for pedestrians and bikes. The design phase, delayed from 2008, was just finished and work hasn’t begun.

In its rush to build, the city skipped crucial steps like site reviews, park activists say.

At Highland Park, for example, the environmental assessment began months too late. And the city seemed unaware the soil under Calvert Vaux Park is a stew of Fort Lafayette munitions and dredge mud from the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge’s construction.

“Mercury, munitions, petroleum, maybe even unexploded bombs from World War I — we don’t know what’s in that soil,” said Ida Sanoff of the Natural Resources Protective Association.

Once the eight projects are finished, finding funds to maintain them will be an annual headache.

“Future maintenance is our biggest concern,” said Francisco Gonzalez of The Bronx’s Community Board 9. “When there are budget cutbacks, the parks face the worst cuts.”

Read More:

Parks & wrecks for Mike Hizzoner’s fields of dreams coming up short

New York Post - By Mary Kay Linge - June 24, 2012

Brooklyn park is worse than its $light

New York Post - October 24, 2011 - By Rich Calder

A Critical Look at PlaNYC, Four Years Later

A Walk In The Park - September 30, 2011

FISCAL CRISIS GUTS CITY PARK PLANS

New York Post - May 26th, 2009 - By Rich Calder

Parks Commissioner Resigns - Hopfully More Private/Corporate Funding To Come- Bloomberg

All In The Family. Incoming Parks Commissioner- and long-time Bloomberg administration employee Veronica M. White- said she planned to continue outgoing Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe's "innovations"and would also try to secure public and private funding for parks. Bloomberg called corporate sponsorships of the city’s parks “one of the great resources New York City has." (Photo: Patrick Wall/DNAinfo)

The mayor confirmed he did not conduct a national search before appointing Ms. White who is currently the Executive Director of the Center for Economic Opportunity which Mayor Bloomberg established in 2006.

In September Mr. Benepe moves to the Trust for Public Land - the lead partner in Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC 2030 schoolyards program- where he will become Senior Vice President of City Park Development, a newly created position. Ms. White also served for eight years on the New York Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land.

City-Wide

Once again, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has chosen management chops over departmental experience, according to DNAinfo.

The city’s new Parks Commissioner, Veronica White, is best known for her controversial anti-poverty experiments, including trying to pay poor people to attend parent-teacher conferences and take their kids to the dentist.

But the Harvard-trained lawyer insisted she’s always yearned to work for city parks.

"It's been my dream job forever, actually,” White told reporters Monday at a press conference at Soundview Park in the The Bronx, where the mayor announced she will be taking the reins from longtime Commissioner Adrian Benepe, who is moving onto a position at the non-profit Trust for Public Land.

White, who was born and raised in Brooklyn and now lives on the Upper West Side, said she applied for the job years ago during Bloomberg's first term — but lost out to Benepe.

"They told me they'd keep my resume on file. So, here I am,” she said.

White has spent the past six years as Executive Director of the Center for Economic Opportunity, an experimental center launched by Bloomberg to test innovative ways to reduce poverty, using $100 million a year in public and private funds.

The center has been a hotbed for ideas, including the short-lived Opportunity NYC program, which tried to encourage the poor to engage in socially-desirable behaviors by paying them cash do things like hold down steady jobs, as well as more successful efforts, such as developing a new way to measure poverty that takes into account public assistance, including food stamps.

Before that, White held a slew of government and private-sector jobs. She consulted for non-profits, real estate and public-private partnerships, served as COO of the New York City Partnership, CEO of the New York City Housing Partnership and as a deputy commissioner at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

She also served for eight years on the New York Advisory Council of the Trust for Public Land, where she "helped the Trust work with government agencies to maximize the impact of parks and public green spaces," Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg said that when choosing Benepe's replacement he was looking for someone "with the same pioneering spirit to lead Parks." He touted her "exemplary record of exploring innovative partnerships and attracting private funds."

Is White the New Black?

Still, some were surprised by White’s lack of parks experience, considering the firestorm that ignited after Bloomberg appointed media maven Cathie Black as Schools Chancellor, despite having no educational background. She lasted less than three months.

“It sounds like this is another Cathie Black thing. Zero experience,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates, who has long been a critic of the growing privatization of the city's parks.

Others were more open-minded.

“I think a lot of people are surprised by her selection,” admitted Holly Leicht, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, who nonetheless thought she brought an important perspective to the table.

“What we are hopeful about is that she’s someone who will look at parks in terms of broader neighborhood and community development,” said Leicht, pointing to White’s experience working to tackle poverty and her understanding of the way that open spaces can impact a community.

Leicht, who had worked closely with White when she was involved in housing issues, also touted White as a force to be reckoned with.

“She is very smart and very focused and very intense,” Leicht said. “I think she understands how the city works very well. And I think she’s someone that gets stuff done.”

Roland Lewis, President of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, who also worked closely with White on housing issues, agreed the appointment had little in common with the ill-fated Black.

“I think it’s a far cry from that situation,” said Lewis.

“She’s not a complete outsider. She knows city life, she knows the Bloomberg administration,” Lewis said, describing White as a “very smart, capable person” he was excited to work with on parks issues affecting the waterfront.

Her Vision for City Parks

Bloomberg said White’s ability to forge partnerships between the public, private and nonprofit sectors will prove crucial for an agency whose budget has been slashed in recent years.

“Otherwise we won’t be able to afford all the things we’re trying to do,” said Bloomberg, calling corporate sponsorships of the city’s parks “one of the great resources New York City has.”

White echoed the mayor’s point, saying that she would work to secure both public and private money to maintain the 29,000 acres of land under the department’s purview, and try to continue in Benepe's footsteps.

“As we increase the parkland, we obviously have to increase the resources available — public and private, especially private,” White said.

"Our goal is to have people be able to go and get close to parks and exercise,” she said.

“Whether it's biking or swimming or just walking."

On a personal note, White said she is an avid user of city parks.

She recalled growing up in Brooklyn and learning to "bike and play ball" in local parks. Now, she she spends the most time in Riverside and Central parks, where her kids spent hours on the playgrounds when they were younger, she said.

Before moving into the public sector, White practiced law at Brown & Wood and Sidley & Austin.

She and her husband, Victor Marrero, live with their two sons on the Upper West Side.

Read More:

Meet the New Parks Commissioner, Veronica White

DNAinfo - June 18, 2012 - By Jill Colvin and Patrick Wall

Parks Chief Steps Down After 10 Years Article

The Wall Street Journal - June 18, 2012 - By Michael Howard Saul

Adrian Benepe Resigns as Parks Commissioner

DNAinfo - June 18, 2012 - By Jill Colvin and Patrick Wall

Recycling Rates Drops To Just 15 % - Plummet Under "Green" Bloomberg Lags Far Behind Other Cities

The proportion of waste being recycled has been steadily sliding, falling from a high of 19 percent in 2002, to just 15 percent in 2011 — far behind other green-minded cities like Seattle, with a recycling rate of nearly 54 percent; Portland, Oregon, with a rate of nearly 60 percent; and San Francisco, which achieved a record-setting 77 percent diversion rate in 2009.

City-Wide

New York’s recycling rate has dropped significantly over the past five years, even as the Bloomberg administration tried to define the city as a leader in green, according to DNAinfo.

As part of its environmental blueprint, plaNYC, the Bloomberg administration has set a goal of doubling the amount of waste diverted from landfills by 2017.

But numbers show that the proportion of waste being recycled has been steadily sliding, falling from a high of 19 percent in 2002, to just 15 percent in 2011 — far behind other green-minded cities like Seattle, with a recycling rate of nearly 54 percent; Portland, Oregon, with a rate of nearly 60 percent; and San Francisco, which achieved a record-setting 77 percent diversion rate in 2009.

A 2009 investigation by NYC Park Advocates discovered that the city's largest landholder the the supposedly "green empire" was not recycling. Approximalty 20 parks - most run by private groups and BIDs - out 1700 parks and playgrounds were recycling.

Even if the city achieves its goal, it will still lag behind the national average rate of 34.1 percent — not to mention countries like Slovenia and France, which divert 37 percent and 68 percent of their waste away from landfills, respectively, according to European Union figures.

“Recycling has been one of the missing priorities of the Bloomberg administration's otherwise impressive track record on sustainability,” said Eric Goldstein, a lawyer and the resident “garbage man” at the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York.

The group has been a vocal critic of the mayor’s recycling policies, including a 2002 decision to suspend glass, metal and plastic recycling to cut costs amid a budget crisis.

The decision caused the recycling rate to plummet to just 11 percent in 2003 after years of steady gains — and it hasn’t recovered since.

In addition to costing the city $300 million to haul 3 .2 million tons of solid waste to landfills each year, the rise comes as tempers are flaring over what to do with the city’s ever-growing load of waste, which is only expected to expand as the population swells.

On the Upper East Side, residents remain angry about the construction of a new waterfront station for shipping waste out of the city by barge, prompting multiple lawsuits.

Elsewhere, environmental activists are sounding alarms over a proposal to build a new waste “conversion” plant that many fear will be nothing more than a glorified incinerator.

Both sides, however, agreed they would be in a far better position were there simply less garbage for the city to have to deal with.

“The city has never really gotten completely serious about recycling,” said Tony Ard, president of the Gracie Point Community Council, which has been fighting the facility on the Upper East Side.

New York City Environmental Justice Alliance executive director Eddie Bautista, who has been lobbying against the potential construction of a waste-to-energy plant, agreed.

"It's not been good," he said of the administration's record on recycling.

"And to their credit, they’’ll be the first to admit it," he said.

Activists agreed that part of the blame rests solely on the mayor — the same man who has touted an aggressive environmental agenda, including mandating expensive phase-outs of certain types of dirty heating oil and more innovative solutions, like painting roofs white to reflect heat.

They said cutting back the recycling program sent a clear message that recycling, which has traditionally been the cornerstone of cities' environmental agendas, was not a priority in New York. And since then, some feel, little effort has been made to change the tune.

“New Yorkers haven’t received a clear and convincing message about exactly how to recycle, exactly what to recycle, and why it’s important, both economically and environmentally," said Goldstein.

"It just sent a confusing message to the public,” he said.

But the tide may be changing.

During his State of the City Speech in January, the mayor vowed to double the amount of residential waste diverted from landfills by 2017 — an ambitious effort that would help bring New York in line with other cities across the country.

“By taking steps like increasing recycling in schools and streets and expanding our plastics recycling program, we'll reduce our waste disposal costs by $50 million annually and help protect the environment,” Bloomberg said in his speech.

Part of the effort, Sanitation Department officials said, will include installing hundreds of new recycling bins in public spaces across the city, as well as expanding the types of plastics that can be recycled to include items like yogurt and food storage containers, which are currently exempt.

Lauren Passalacqua, a spokeswoman for the mayor, also rejected the assertion that the mayor has dragged his feet on recycling, arguing that the administration has been working quietly behind the scenes since the mayor issued his Solid Waste Management Plan in 2004, developing pilot programs to test innovative ideas and leading studies on programs, which are now kicking into gear.

"Our Administration has been an international leader on sustainability issues like long-term waste management, and we’re working to aggressively expand recycling and other sustainable ways to deal with the 11,000 tons of garbage that New Yorkers generate every day,” Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway said.

“The best you could say is we hope it's a transition period," Goldstein said of the push, noting that recent comments from City Hall suggest that the administration is planning "to turn things around."

“Our hope is that the mayor will use these next two years to rejuvenate recycling in New York City, which will benefit taxpayers as well as the planet," he said.

Read More:

Recycling Plummets Under 'Green' Mayor's Watch

DNAinfo - April 2, 2012 - By Jill Colvin

Parks' recycling is out with the trash

New York Post - November 9, 2009- By Rich Calder