Mayor Bill de Blasio’s OneNYC plan envisions mass greening of Big Apple

Greener. Cleaner. Faster. Safer.

Mayor Bill de Blasio marked Earth Day with a “blueprint for the future of New York City,” an ambitious environmental plan to reduce greenhouse gases, increase recycling, expand mass transit and shore up the city against future Sandy-like disasters.

Reducing the amount of trash that comes from America’s largest city is the centerpiece of the OneNYC plan.

“The average New Yorker throws out nearly 15 pounds of waste a week, adding up to millions upon millions of tons a year,” de Blasio said. “To be a truly sustainable city, we need to tackle this challenge head on.”

The mayor by 2030 wants to reduce the amount of garbage currently 3.6 tons — by 90% and would do it by:

• Expanding recycling and simplifying it by 2020 it with a single bin, instead of two.
• Nearly eliminating trash being sent out of the city on trucks and barges. The city spends $350 million a year sending garbage upstate and out-of-state.
• Offer tax rebates and economic incentives to encourage New Yorkers to buy into OneNYC.

The mayor did not endorse the City Council push to slap a 10 cent tax on plastic bags but his office reportedly does want to work with the council to reduce their usage — 10 million a year.

Also missing from the plan was a push by many environmentalists to have tolls slapped on the East River bridges to encourage the use of public transit.

De Blasio did, however, push for an expansion of subway service. In addition to the new Second Avenue Subway now underway in Manhattan, the mayor wants a new line in Brooklyn.

The mayor wants the state-controlled MTA to build a subway along Utica Avenue to “provide a new transit option to residents of Crown Heights, East New York, and Jamaica.”

Utica Avenue “is one of the densest areas in the city not directly served by the subway,” according to a copy of the full plan obtained by Capital New York .

Neighborhoods along Utica Avenue are currently served “by the second busiest bus route in the City, the B46.”