John C. Liu of The New York State Senate writes:

Flushing, NY – As dangerously high temperatures hit the northeast, NYS Senator John Liu, Assemblywoman Nily Rozic and environmental advocates gathered at the famed Queens Botanical Garden green roof to call on Governor Hochul to sign their bill S6409A/ A6901 to extend the green roof tax abatement program in New York City. Advocates are calling for an extension to the green roof tax abatement program before it expires, potentially halting progress on numerous green infrastructure projects across the city.

Green roofs are a vegetative layer grown on rooftops that help to reduce the heat island effect, absorb rainwater runoff, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve air quality. Since 2009, the program has provided tax abatements to building owners of up to $200,000 per roof. The legislation, which passed both the Senate and Assembly this past session, would extend the abatement until 2027 and increase reimbursement to incentivize greater participation by building owners throughout NYC.

Additional changes to the Green Roof Tax Abatement include:

• Removing the requirement that 50% of the roof be green in order to encourage buildings with less square footage to participate in the program
• Increasing the tax abatement from $5.23 per square foot to $10 per square foot
• Lowers depth of soil requirements to 1.5 inches, allowing for more buildings that might not be able to support 2 inches of soil to plant green roofs
• Removes cumbersome drainage requirements which may be harmful to modern green roofs
• Raises the total program cap to $4 million per year

Read more: With temperatures hitting record highs across the northeast, legislators and environmental advocates call for the extension of NYC’s green roof tax abatement before it expires