Climate Crisis Floods NYC, Hochul Adds Fuel to Fire

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, May 21, 2026

Climate Crisis Floods NYC, Hochul Adds Fuel to Fire

Echoing Trump’s EPA rollbacks, Hochul’s CLCPA cuts will hike energy bills, increase pollution and doom future generations of New Yorkers

New York, New York – Many New York City streets looked more like canals last night following a heavy thunderstorm. Scenes of New Yorkers navigating flooded streets and subway stations have become all too common with the worsening climate crisis. As temperatures rise, the atmosphere can hold more water, which leads to intense deluges that city infrastructure cannot keep up with.

Kathy Hochul’s time as Governor has been defined by the climate crisis. Shortly after she took office in 2021, 12 New Yorkers were killed during flooding caused by Hurricane Ida. In 2023 and 2025 smoke from Canadian wildfires blanked the state causing dangerous air quality for millions of people. And now New Yorkers across the state are struggling to pay their energy bills as the cost of fossil fuels continues to rise.

Instead of providing real solutions to New York’s climate and energy affordability crises, Hochul took state budget negotiations hostage this year to roll back the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), the state’s nation leading climate law.

Alex Patterson, Campaign Coordinator for Public Power NY, said: “The climate crisis is here today and instead of saving New Yorkers, Governor Kathy Hochul is adding fuel to the fire by rolling back our climate law. The truth is, Hochul is gutting our climate law so she can double down on gas during a historic cost spike, all to power AI datacenters that will drive up our bills even more. Instead of tearing down our future, she should maximize the power of public renewables, which will make sure the next generation has clean air to breathe, affordable energy bills, and less fear of drowning in basement apartments.”

New Yorkers and elected officials are demanding Hochul include $200 million for public renewables in this year’s budget to address both the climate crisis and the energy affordability crisis.

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Note to the editor:

About Public Power NY

As chronicled in the new book “Organize or Burn.” Public Power NY is a movement fighting to ensure New York effectively carries out the Build Public Renewables Act by building 15 Gigawatts of public renewables by 2030. Hailed as the first statewide Green New Deal law, BPRA was written by PPNY and passed in 2023 thanks to four years of organizing by a multiracial, multi-generational movement of climate and advocacy organizations, labor unions representing millions of New Yorkers and tens of thousands of New Yorkers who have taken action from upstate, downstate, and everywhere in between. With federal climate action off the table, BPRA has enabled NY to not just play defense against Trump, but lead the way the way FDR created NYPA to do.