New York’s young climate organizers call on state and city legislators to follow their lead. Photo via Getty Images
April 1, 2025 By Brianna Abad, TREEage’s Queens Borough Organizer, with Assembly Member Claire Valdez (AD-37)
This op–ed from Queens-based TREEage climate organizer Brianna Abad speaks to the need for bold investments and climate action at the state level to protect young people from the worst effects of pollution and the climate crisis—and to the power of New York’s next generation of climate organizers to advocate for the future they deserve. I am proud to stand with them and help build a New York where our state’s young people have what they need to live and thrive.
—Assembly Member Claire Valdez
If one thing binds New Yorkers together, it is that our commutes across the city are chaotic. As a 12th-grade student at Bard High School Early College Queens from College Point, I’ve learned to shrug off the occasional mysterious droplets from the subway ceiling on rainy days and even brush off near-daily heat waves in subway stations during summer.
Last year, I learned what to do when flood water reaches my knees—the trick is to keep it moving, even if it means swimming through the streets to get to school. That day, my classmates entered with soaking shoes. When I opened my backpack, I discovered my computer had water damage. I couldn’t ignore it, as I’d often shrugged off the droplets on my commute. As Bard shares our building with two other high schools, we eventually heard from other students how water dripped from the eighth-floor ceiling, interrupting their exams.
That day, I felt angry and completely disconnected from learning. I could no longer ignore the droplets on my commute. But the Bard Queens student experience is not unique. Over 1.1 million students across New York City are feeling the effects of worsening climate change, a crisis compounded by the city’s deteriorating infrastructure.
On my way home from school at 33 Rawson Street, a station where all Western Queens students converge, I saw others’ frustration with the flooding mirror my own. These experiences—from my commutes to my time at Bard Queens—have taught me the power and necessity for New York City students to unite their climate stories.
Climate change is no longer a distant threat we sometimes experience in subway stations. It exists in every corner of our lives. It crept into my daily commute and is now seeping into my education.
Serving as TREEage’s Queens Borough Organizer for almost two years, I want students to find resilience in unpredictable climate moments and connect with other students through these shared challenges.
On March 5, TREEage and NY Renews hosted its fourth annual Albany Day of Action to demand the passage of the Solar for Schools Act, a bill that would provide $500 million in funding for renewable energy projects in NYS public schools. We also called for the just implementation of the Cap-and-Invest program with strong regulatory guardrails and the allocation of Governor Hochul’s $1 billion climate commitment into the Climate Action Fund.
Hearing progressive legislators at the Million Dollar Staircase say, “We are the many and they are the few. And we will win” gave me and my schoolmates confidence in our climate stories. I observed my schoolmates embrace marching with over six hundred New York students to chant We are unstoppable, another world is possible.
When meeting with representatives, we shared how Bard Queens’ proximity to the Queens Midtown Expressway exacerbates asthma, the struggle of unaffordable energy bills on families, the reality of orange wildfire skies, the shortage of green spaces, and the urgent need to improve school infrastructure for a clean, more energy-efficient future. Through our climate stories, we advocated not as the leaders of tomorrow, but as today’s leaders.
As a TREEage organizer, I want fellow students to feel empowered to share their climate experiences in every space they enter. Going from just nine Bard Queens students joining us for the first time last year to over 30 students, including a staff member, at Albany is a testament to students’ growing call to climate action. We can no longer wait for false promises.
Our city is growing, but our commitment to climate justice must grow even faster, ensuring a healthy and sustainable future for all. We, New York City students, call on city leaders to invest actively in our present and future. By supporting bills like the Solar for Schools Act, GAP Fund, and the Cap-and-Invest Program Guardrails, our schools can transition to cleaner energy that protects thousands of students and educators. We are the future generation of workers. These bills will protect the workforce of tomorrow by creating sustainable, green jobs in an economy that benefits both our environment and communities. But to attain this, we must first prioritize transforming our schools into green, healthy, thriving spaces.
As a Queens native, student, and climate organizer with TREEage, I grew up hearing phrases like “Queens is the world’s borough.” However, to truly represent that title, we must take decisive steps to create a climate movement where youth can voice their stories, whether through their commutes to schools or in their neighborhoods, to build a greener New York. The future is bright, and it’s one where we can all thrive on the planet we deserve.
- *Brianna Abad (left) is a Queens native, student, and climate organizer with TREEage. Assembly Member Claire Valdez (right) represents the 37th Assembly District in Queens, which includes Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth, and Ridgewood.
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She should read a book on the virtues of nuclear power. That is the only practical solution to our energy crisis and climate change (if it is a thing).