Life in NYC is an inherently sustainable proposition. The City’s subways, buses and 1,000-plus miles of bike lanes and routes make it easy to get around without a car. Walking and biking throughout NYC, whether strolling alongside rows of brownstones, visiting historical sites or exploring the greenways, are among the great pleasures of the City. Farmers' markets and farm-to-table restaurants ensure that residents and visitors eat fresh local food. Oases like Central Park and Prospect Park are destinations for outdoor activities that yield health and environmental boons. Sustainability projects here are sometimes spectacular sights: for example, an urban farm, with rows of lettuces, on a building rooftop.
NYC has long been at the vanguard of urban sustainability, and as part of the
The overarching aim for these initiatives is to ensure the quality of life for NYC residents and visitors. When eating out, spending time outdoors and using mass transit, visitors to the City can enjoy these elements of green living while contributing to NYC’s sustainability goals. Here’s how you can help when visiting.
September 17–24, 2023, New York City will welcome back Climate Week. With the City’s ever-changing landscape come myriad opportunities to make the five boroughs greener. Visit
Photo: Tagger Yancey IV
1. Use mass transit
Subways and buses are ideal low-carbon-footprint travel options, and go almost everywhere in the five boroughs. A 2012 report showed that the average mass transit ride prevents 10 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions for the equivalent car ride, and since the subway system has a ridership of more than 1.7 billion passengers a year, the cumulative emissions offsets are significant.
2. Take a bike or walking tour
The City’s hundreds of miles of greenways are
Photo: Julienne Schaer
3. Get outdoors
In parks and outdoor spaces throughout the five boroughs, you can picnic in the grass, wander forest paths and play sports like Frisbee and soccer. Gardens offer another way to get close to nature. You can also head for beaches—the Bronx’s
4. Drink from reusable canteens
NYC’s tap water, sourced from reservoirs upstate, is of famously good quality; a recent New York Times
5. Reduce waste while traveling
Cut down on trash by eschewing takeout, which often entails single-use disposable plastic, and eat at a restaurant instead. Also ask servers to skip the plastic straws, which we throw away in the US to the tune of a
6. Help your hotel go green
Nineteen NYC hotels are participating in the
The Fat Radish. Photo: Julienne Schaer
7. Eat at farm-to-table restaurants
You can reduce your carbon footprint while pleasing your palate at restaurants around the five boroughs that celebrate the delicious flavors of regionally grown food.
8. Buy at farmers' markets
Farmers' markets all across the five boroughs offer a cornucopia of foods. Eating locally grown food significantly reduces emissions that transportation generates. Check
9. Recycle
There are numerous recycling receptacles along NYC sidewalks, as the City amps up its recycling strategy in preparation for the 2030
The High Line. Photo: Brittany Petronella
10. Visit green landmarks
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