
The state opened the island to the public before handing control to New York City in 2010. Governors Island was a military post and later a major command headquarters for the Army from 1794 until 1966, when it was transferred to the Coast Guard, which left in 1996. He noted that while concern remains in any coastal area, the federal government had made significant upgrades to the island's protections before transferring it over to state control on Jan. 1, 2003, including creation of natural barriers, elevated construction along the shore, and berms. They’re on the front lines of coastal resiliency. “It’s a good place to locate a new center that can have both research and job training. He sees the Exchange’s location on an island as a feature as it confronts the rising seas and more intense storms attributed to the effects of a warming planet. Research, green jobs, training and “proving concepts of resiliency and natural coastal barriers are all a piece of the solution, and that’s what the new plan envisions.”Īnother rendering of the proposed Climate Exchange hub. Goldstein, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council - and an alumnus of Stony Brook University - also was supportive of the Exchange’s mission, saying it addressed the climate challenge on multiple fronts. “As two-thirds of our affiliated local unions are shared with the New York City Building Trades, there will definitely be Long Islanders working both as journeymen and apprentices on this project.”Įric A. “Any project that will create thousands of local union building trades jobs will have major positive economic and workforce development benefits,” he said. Once built, the green energy innovations pioneered on Governors Island will positively affect the entire downstate region. Matthew Aracich, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, said the “benefits of this project begin the moment shovels break ground. “It only enhances the entire downstate region. “Do I think it will be a magnet for talent from around the world? The answer is a resounding yes,” he said. And he noted companies from abroad and other states already were investing money and resources into Long Island, which would only be magnified by the Exchange. He cited cutting-edge research already underway at Stony Brook, the Brookhaven National Laboratory - which is co-managed by Stony Brook and is on its Climate Exchange advisory board - and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. The emerging clean-energy economy - including offshore wind farms, solar energy, electric transportation and green construction - has business leaders enthusiastic about the Exchange’s potential impacts on the region.Ĭombining resources and talent from leading New York City and Long Island institutions is “just a game-changer,” said Matthew Cohen, president and chief executive of the Long Island Association, a regional business group based in Melville.
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He said the plan would generate 7,000 permanent green jobs plus 2,200 construction jobs, give a $1 billion boost to the local economy, and reach thousands of K-12, college and graduate students with educational programing and an expansion of the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, a public high school.

In a press conference Monday on Governors Island, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced that Stony Brook University had won the two-year competitive process to anchor the climate hub. Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis, fourth from right, and others plant a tree Tuesday on campus in celebration of the planned Climate Exchange hub. “One of the things this Exchange will be doing is training the workers who will be defending New York Harbor against sea level rise,” he said. He said tens of billions of dollars will be needed over the next 50 years to protect New York Harbor, and the Climate Exchange is part of that. “It’s an important program that is drawing a lot of talent, and because must be addressed, there will be a lot of opportunities," Spergel said. Nonetheless, he sees the Exchange’s role in fostering innovations and training a green workforce as the “heart” of the project. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.
