Tell Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani: Invest in Green Healthy Schools
We are so affected by our spaces. If a room is too polluted, hot, cold, noisy, or bright, we can’t possibly do our best work. But there are also quieter things: mold or greenhouse gasses go unnoticed at first, but lead to a lifetime of asthma and generations of climate disaster that fundamentally change how we move through the world. On the other hand, beautiful, safe spaces transform for the better how we think and learn.
This is why the Green, Healthy Schools campaign matters. It calls for upgrades to the most decrepit NYC public schools, to improve air quality and comfort, remove toxins, reduce emissions poisoning the planet, and create thousands of union green jobs that we need for a just transition. For years, the Climate Works for All coalition has been working to advance a vision that treats schools as essential public infrastructure for climate, health, labor, and racial equity.
As part of this campaign, Climate Works for All will deliver hundreds of postcards created by children at Street Works Earth 2024 and 2025 to Mayor Mamdani, alongside messages from educators, families, and community members. These postcards carry students’ own reflections and hopes for what school could be: clean, safe spaces that support learning and imagination.
Fixing buildings alone will not solve the deeper crisis facing public education. But the conditions of our school buildings are a visible marker of broader inequities rooted in racism, segregation, and chronic underfunding. Investing in Green, Healthy Schools is a concrete step toward repairing that harm, and toward a city that protects children, workers, and the climate at the same time.
Support this work by signing the petition to Mamdani from the Climate Works for All coalition. Learn more by reading the report and visiting nyclimateworks.org.
