ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
CHIEF Susan Amron
DEPUTY Hilary Meltzer
The Environmental Law Division represents and advises the City on environmental and land-use matters involving
the drinking water supply, wastewater and stormwater management, solid waste management, energy sources,
hazardous waste remediation, natural resources, environmental review of City initiatives and private development
projects, climate change planning, and implementation of PlaNYC (the Mayor’s environmental initiative).
Defending the City’s Environmental Review of Projects
The Division regularly defends environmental challenges to rezoning and economic development projects. Division attorneys
successfully defended the City in challenges to major rezonings of the East Village / Lower East Side and Sunset Park in Brooklyn,
as well as to the Harlem-East Harlem Urban Renewal Project, which will bring job opportunities, retail, and affordable housing to
a three-block area in East Harlem. In addition, Division attorneys prevailed in a high-profile legal challenge to the construction
of a much-needed, multi-district sanitation garage on Spring Street in Manhattan. The petitioners, including a number of vocal
celebrities, argued that the garage would unfairly burden the community. The court rejected this argument, determining that the
City had acted reasonably in planning for and siting the garage.
Protecting the City’s Water Supply
The Division worked with the Mayor’s Office and the Depar