Are your Con Edison bills too high? Throughout New York State, our energy bills are going up, and many of us don't understand why. Join us on Wednesday, May 14th from 3:00-5:00 PM at Community Justice Connect (3213A Third Avenue in the Bronx) to learn more about why your bills are going up, and what you can do about it. We will review existing bill saving programs, hear a presentation from the Brooklyn Bronx Clean Energy Hub, give away free home energy kits ($80 valuation) to help make our homes more efficient, and learn about the NY HEAT Act, a bill in front of the State legislature that would lower energy bills and save households on average $136/month on energy bills. RSVP

Are you passionate about clean beauty and helping eliminate toxic chemicals from personal care products? We have teamed up with Clearya to use its Clearya Survey app for a citizen science project collecting data on the toxic ingredients found in personal care products being sold in Northern Manhattan. Click here to register for our virtual training meeting at 6:00 PM on Thursday, May 15th (if you cannot make it, you must watch the recording before participating). And then join us for our first round of data collection in local beauty supply stores at 1:00 PM on Saturday, May 17th – right after our May Membership Meeting. This will be the first of several data collection events in May and June during which you can use the Clearya Survey app to scan personal care products in these stores and collect data for our survey. You MUST attend the virtual training on May 15th to participate. Contact [email protected] with questions. RSVP

The Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice - in collaboration with NYC Parks, City Parks Foundation, Natural Areas Conservancy, and The Nature Conservancy - is hosting an in-person event to launch its Urban Forest Plan. This is the first step in engaging with our community about the plan (a website and questionnaire for feedback are in the works). The Manhattan kickoff event will be on Thursday, May 15th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM at the Thomas Jefferson Recreation Center (located at 2180 First Avenue, between 112th & 113th Streets). There other events in other boroughs, along with a virtual event on June 4th. RSVP

Join Consumer Reports, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Clean + Healthy, and local community partners for a powerful community conversation about the Beauty Justice Act, a groundbreaking bill that would ban the most harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products sold in New York State. This in-person event will be held on Friday, May 16th at 2:00 PM at the Yonkers Public Library (1 Larkin Center, Yonkers, NY 10701).

Hear from a panel of health experts, local organizations, and advocates about how this legislation protects public health, especially for communities disproportionately impacted by toxic beauty products. Consumer Reports will share findings from its recent study on synthetic braiding hair, which revealed dangerous chemicals, including known carcinogens like benzene and lead in every sample tested. These results highlight the urgent need for stronger regulations, particularly as Black women and girls face disproportionate exposure to these toxic substances through products marketed to them. RSVP

Mark your calendar for our May Membership Meeting on Saturday, May 17th from 10:00 AM-1:00 PM. Note that it is a week later than our usual meetings (due to Mother’s Day). We will be meeting at the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge, located at 454 West 155th Street, and we will be joined by our friends from NYLCV to talk about parks and other green spaces. In addition, our Environmental Health team and Capstone students will talk about our air quality monitoring in Northern Manhattan - including some preliminary findings on the impact of congestion pricing. RSVP

Are you interested in improving the parks in Northern Manhattan? Then join us along with the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund for our Northern Manhattan Parks Workshop on Tuesday, May 20th at 6:00 PM at the Manhattanville Community Center (530 West 133rd Street). As part of our Our Parks, Our Backyards campaign to engage Northern Manhattan residents on parks issues and the importance of parks funding, this event will bring together park advocates, community members and elected officials to discuss parks in Northern Manhattan, identify problems, solutions, needs/goals and engage in the budget campaign. RSVP

Join our Climate Justice Working Group for a special in-person meeting to talk about community solar. We will be meeting on Wednesday, May 21 from 6:00-7:30 PM at our office, located on the Second Floor of 1854 Amsterdam Avenue (at 152nd Street). RSVP

Join Consumer Reports, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Clean + Healthy, and local community partners for a powerful community conversation about the Beauty Justice Act, a groundbreaking bill that would ban the most harmful chemicals in cosmetics and personal care products sold in New York State. This in-person event will be held on Friday, May 23rd at 5:00 PM at the Community Board (4101 White Plains Road, the Bronx, NY 10466).

Hear from a panel of health experts, local organizations, and advocates about how this legislation protects public health, especially for communities disproportionately impacted by toxic beauty products. Consumer Reports will share findings from its recent study on synthetic braiding hair, which revealed dangerous chemicals, including known carcinogens like benzene and lead in every sample tested. These results highlight the urgent need for stronger regulations, particularly as Black women and girls face disproportionate exposure to these toxic substances through products marketed to them. RSVP

Are you interested in improving the parks in Northern Manhattan? Then join us along with the New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund for our Northern Manhattan Parks Day on Saturday, May 31st from 12:00-4:00 PM at Marcus Garvey Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Thomas Jefferson Park, Fort Tryon Park, and Inwood Hill Park. As part of our Our Parks, Our Backyards campaign to engage Northern Manhattan residents on parks issues and the importance of parks funding, we will celebrate by bringing together the community to enjoy the parks in Northern Manhattan. No set agenda. Just come, enjoy the park, and tag us on social media! The rain date for this will be June 7th. RSVP

WE ACT is co-hosting a virtual Buffalo Mayoral Candidate Forum on the Environment with New York League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and Citizens Campaign for the Environment on Monday, May 12th at 7:30 PM on Vimeo. ABC 7 Senior Reporter & Anchor Michael Wooten and NYLCVEF President Julie Tighe will moderate. RSVP