Go Green East Harlem!

Launched in May 2007, Go Green East Harlem! is a collaborative initiative sponsored by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s Office. In addition to WE ACT, Go Green partners include North General Hospital, Mt. Sinai Medical Center, the City Department of Health, Manhattan Community Board 11, State Senator Jose Serrano, and the Little Sisters of the Assumption. WE ACT is part of the steering committee guiding Go Green, formed at the beginning of 2007 to create community sustainability from the ground up and working to address six environmental issues in East Harlem: public health and asthma, parks and open space, sustainable business, farmers’ markets and healthy eating, green building, and transportation.

An initiative of Go Green, the new storefront East Harlem Asthma Center of Excellence will include a walk-in asthma clinic, train medical providers in effective prevention and treatment of asthma, and offer assistance in reducing the indoor environmental triggers that exacerbate asthma – among other services. Go Green also recently launched a new East Harlem Green Market, open both Saturday and Sunday, to expand community access to healthy, fresh food. WE ACT co-chairs Go Green's parks and open space working group, where the first initiative is to tap into City funding to plant trees throughout East Harlem. WE ACT is also part of the transportation working group, where tasks include creating “green” uptown taxi and car service fleets through securing conversion grants. Finally, as part of the green building working group, WE ACT co-sponsored a Go Green East Harlem green building conference in fall 2007. More than 400 community members, government and nonprofit organizational representatives attended this conference.

Check out the new Go Green East Harlem Cookbook, featuring tasty, healthy recipes from community residents and local restaurants.