Climate Change and Environmental Justice

Flooded basements and streets, dangerously eroded coastlines, hazardous sewer overflows: addressing the impacts of climate change will take monumental effort. How will New York City rise to the challenge? On December 3, Elijah Hutchinson, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, will discuss the city’s climate plans at the capstone event of Water Works. Following his presentation, Elijah will be joined in conversation by Claudia Herasme, the former Chief Urban Designer for New York City’s Department of City Planning.

Living in a city surrounded by water, New Yorkers face a number of challenges due to the climate crisis—and many of the communities most heavily impacted have also experienced decades of underinvestment. The Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice (MOCEJ) is the office tasked with preparing the city for the impacts of climate change in a way that tackles racial and social inequities in health outcomes resulting from our environment.

In 2024, MOCEJ released the EJNYC Report, New York City’s first comprehensive study on environmental inequality. Community feedback on this report will help shape the next step, the city’s first Environmental Justice Plan, outlining the city agency actions and citywide initiatives for addressing environmental injustice. 

This presentation will offer an inside look at MOCEJ’s approach and process, along with opportunities for community participation. Learn how the office detects climate change problems facing NYC, develops plans to address them, budgets for and finances the plans, and designs and builds solutions for a more just and resilient city.

This program is part of Water Works, a yearlong series exploring the city’s water systems and our connections to water.

SVA Theatre is committed to accessibility for all patrons. The venue is ADA compliant and provides listening devices for the hearing impaired.

Elijah Hutchinson is the Executive Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate & Environmental Justice, helping New York City achieve one of the most ambitious climate agendas in the country.  

Throughout his tenure, Elijah has guided the release of the Environmental Justice NYC (EJNYC) Report, the city’s first comprehensive study on systemic environmental inequity across all five boroughs, and the EJNYC Mapping Tool, a significant step in the Adams administration’s efforts to embed environmental justice into the city’s climate work. His leadership has also been key in the office’s work to help implement Local Law 97 of 2019, the city’s groundbreaking carbon emissions law. Elijah is also overseeing the office’s significant progress on PlaNYC: Getting Sustainability Done, the city’s strategic climate plan. Elijah is working to protect New Yorkers from the impacts of climate change, like extreme heat and heavy rain, and create more good-paying green jobs for New Yorkers. 

Elijah came to MOCEJ from the New York City Economic Development Corporation. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, attended Harvard College, and received a Master’s in City Planning from M.I.T.

Claudia Herasme brings a passion for creating vibrant public spaces and inclusive communities to urban design. As a Partner at Partners in Public Design, she works to design environments that support both people and ecosystems. She’s also the creator and co-host of Urbanística Podcast (based in Santo Domingo, the DR), making urban design knowledge accessible to everyday city dwellers so they can better understand their environment and become agents of change in their communities.

Claudia has shaped urban policy at the highest levels, serving as Managing Deputy Commissioner of Planning and Design for Chicago’s Department of Planning and Development and as Chief Urban Designer for New York City’s Department of City Planning. Her work ranges from implementing Chicago’s transformative Invest South/West initiative to developing NYC’s Urban Design Principles and waterfront design standards that continue to guide development today. As an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Claudia mentors the next generation of urban designers. She previously served on the AIA New York Board as Public Director and regularly participates as a design competition juror and academic critic.

Born in the Dominican Republic, Claudia earned her Master of Architecture and Urban Design from Columbia University and her degree in Architecture from Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña in Santo Domingo.