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Advocates and residents press council to reject water rental payment, fund resilience and lead replacements
Summary
Environmental and community groups, housing and waterfront advocates, and residents urged the council to reject the proposed water rental payment, increase DEP baseline funding for climate resilience and staff, accelerate lead service line replacement, and fund neighborhood-scale stormwater and community water testing programs.
Multiple coalition witnesses, environmental advocates and community representatives used two-minute public testimony slots to press the City Council to preserve DEP ratepayer funds for water and sewer capital projects rather than diverting them to the city's general fund.
Eric Goldstein of the Natural Resources Defense Council urged continued funding for watershed protection programs and warned that land-protection investments are far more cost-effective than constructing filtration plants. "We need to make sure funding remains there for the most vulnerable parcels," he said.
Advocates from the League of Conservation Voters, Waterfront Alliance, Riverkeeper, Save the Sound and the Swim Coalition asked the council to reject the mayor's proposed rental payment and restore or increase baseline funding for DEP's climate and resilience work, including a fully staffed Bureau of Coastal Resiliency and full implementation of the unified stormwater rule. "Diverting these funds undermines capital funding for water infrastructure," testified Aliyia Sumero of the League of Conservation Voters.
Public witnesses pressed several concrete local initiatives: a small, city-funded pilot to subsidize heat-pump conversions for 1,000 one- and two-family homes (proposed $10,000 per household), expanded multifamily water assistance (increase the per-apartment credit and overall program budget), community-based water testing and point-of-use filtration programs for older housing stock, and more aggressive enforcement and staffing for anti-idling and air-quality complaint programs.
Housing advocates said rising water rates are stressing affordable buildings; the New York Housing Conference urged the council to expand multifamily assistance and keep water-rate increases minimal. Community representatives from Southeast Queens and the Bronx described recurring sewer backups and asked for faster projects to replace failing private shared sewer lines.
What happens next: Witnesses urged the Council to use the FY27 review to press the mayor to reduce or remove the proposed water rental payment and to include funding increases for DEP baseline staffing, coastal resiliency bureaus, stormwater programs and community-level testing and assistance in the adoption of the budget.
