Investment Priority 1:

Maintain and modernize our infrastructure and facilities

We will make substantial investments to bring our infrastructure and buildings to a state of good repair, promote energy efficiency, incorporate modern design standards, and modernize our existing City assets. We can more easily sustain and improve quality of life in all neighborhoods when our physical infrastructure is durable, efficient, and designed to meet future needs.

Protecting new yorkers through improvements and replacements

Through regular maintenance, we extend the life of City assets and make sure that we are providing the highest level of service to New Yorkers today. For example, over the next 10 years DOT is committing more than $10 billion toward repairs and replacements that will ensure the safety of its 794 bridges and tunnels for decades to come.

This TYCS also includes targeted investments for New Yorkers that rely on City buildings for housing and their health. DHS will spend $57 million to modernize fire safety systems at 32 City-owned homeless shelters. The City has also committed $2.2 billion toward NYCHA’s Capital Action Plan, which is designed to implement repairs and reduce its future capital needs, and $4.5 billion to NYCHA’s Five Year Capital Plan (2020-2024) for infrastructure improvements, major building modernizations and upgrades, and repairs of developments damaged or impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Additionally, DFTA will coordinate with NYC Emergency Management to continue to prepare and oversee older adult centers to operate as Cooling Centers during declared Heat Emergencies.

For more detail on the City’s heat mitigation investments as a response to climate change, see Investment Priority 5.

Maintaining our infrastructure in a state of good repair

Through maintaining our current infrastructure, we make sure our investments serve New Yorkers better today, and for longer into the future. Regular maintenance of our infrastructure saves money over time, as these routine expenses reduce the need for major, often more costly repairs and more frequent replacement. Through regular inspections and asset management improvements, we are also making our City safer for residents.

For example, SCA keeps our schools in a state of good repair through an annual visual survey of architectural, electrical, and mechanical components of buildings. SCA produces component ratings that help the agency prioritize projects based on asset conditions. Other agencies complete similar work, such as DDC’s pilot of five building conditions assessments for the Brooklyn Public Library. These assessments will inform planning, decisionmaking, scope development and budgeting decisions about every aspect of these facilities.

For more detail on how the City is working toward this principle in the near term, see Investment Priority 1 .

Promote energy efficiency

Over the last seven years DCAS has invested approximately $600 million in energy efficiency and clean energy generation projects. The investments have decreased energy use by about 2.3 million MMBtus (roughly the amount of energy used by 188,000 City residences) saving more than $80 million in annual energy costs, and reduced emissions by about 220,000 metric tons (the equivalent of removing 48,000 cars from the road). In total, the City has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 23%, compared to 15% for the private sector. Over the next 10 years, we will continue to make aggressive investments in more energy-efficient and clean energy generation infrastructure.

DCAS has been allocated $3 billion to meet near-term goals of energy and emission reductions by 2030 and ensure that the City is on track to meet the longer-term goals of an 80% reduction in its emissions and carbon neutrality by 2050. DCAS partners with other agencies to achieve these goals, such as a collaboration with H+H to help accelerate carbon-reducing energy saving projects throughout City hospitals. These types of investments are expected to continue paying dividends in avoided energy costs, catalyzing green jobs, enhanced social infrastructure, improved air quality and public health and environmental justice initiatives.

DCAS serves as the hub for energy management for the City’s fixed asset portfolio, and is responsible for purchasing the energy necessary to operate the City’s schools and community colleges, cultural institutions, libraries, offices, police precincts, fire houses, wastewater resource recovery facilities, and more. Since buildings and other facilities constitute close to 90% of municipal emissions, DCAS has committed to leading the way in emissions reductions and energy efficiency efforts.

Incorporating modern design standards

We are continually improving the design of our infrastructure to meet long-term needs. The City is implementing new standards for resiliency, public health, and accessibility. In March 2021, HPD released revised Design Guidelines for City affordable housing developments with stronger requirements and recommendations that facilitate broadband access for tenants, increase energy efficiency, improve cooling and ventilation, and build out a supplementary guide that serves as a framework for accessibility requirements.

Agencies are also adapting their own design practices and standards to promote efficiency. For example, DDC has implemented Office Master Specifications (OMS), a new digital specification writing platform aimed at improving the process of writing and reviewing specifications. DDC has integrated mandatory use of master specification templates in new design consultant contracts to promote quality and efficient design of public buildings by reducing constructability challenges, streamlining building code compliance, and reducing the overuse of costly, non-standard materials.

Modernizing facilities and equipment

The City is continuously updating its facilities and equipment to ensure that they are serving New Yorkers appropriately, beyond simply maintaining existing assets in a state of good repair. These improvements are being made across all agencies, with an eye toward improving both access to services and the quality of those services.

Some of these investments serve specific populations because it is a City priority to safeguard the well-being of vulnerable populations including the elderly, disabled, and homeless. DHS plans to invest over $130 million to increase capacity and make improvements to homeless shelter facilities that serve a range of disparate populations, including $15 million at Bellevue to improve the 30th Street Men’s Shelter and complete Community Improvement Projects.

Other investments serve the city as a whole, such as those that make the city cleaner and safer for all New Yorkers. For instance, DSNY collects approximately 12,000 tons of garbage and recycling a day, operates from 59 local sanitation garages, and uses over 5,400 vehicles and other specialized equipment. This TYCS allocates $2 billion to replace vehicles and other equipment over the next decade so DSNY can continue to provide safe and reliable service. Similarly, this TYCS allocates $1.4 billion to FDNY to purchase emergency response and support vehicles, renovate firehouses and EMS stations, and upgrade communications systems in order to maintain critical fire and emergency medical services, Citywide. Similarly, FDNY is allocating approximately $157.2 million for firehouse renovation projects, Citywide, that will lead to improved fire safety services for residents.

Yet another set of investments is dedicated to improving the experience of individuals who interact with the criminal justice system. Capital investments can provide safer spaces in precincts and corrections facilities for both victims and those who have been detained by law enforcement. For example, the NYPD Special Victims Division has spent the last three years developing in a victim-centered approach to sexual assault investigations, starting the moment that a survivor first encounters police through the end of an investigation. Capital investments in welcoming facilities, including dedicated waiting rooms and interview rooms, have been supplemented by increased staffing and trauma-informed, empathy-based training for the Division.