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Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Chief Service Officer Diahann Billings-Burford and Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri today applied a reflective, white coating to the one millionth square foot of rooftop as a part of the NYC °CoolRoofs program. Over the past year, more than 1,500 volunteers organized by NYC Service’the Mayor’s comprehensive initiative to target more volunteers towards areas of need—and assisted by the Department of Buildings added white, reflective coating to 1 million square feet of rooftop to help reduce cooling costs, energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions. The program is one of the original initiatives of NYC Service and will help the City—s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030, a primary goal of PlaNYC, the City—s comprehensive sustainability plan. The Mayor was also joined by First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris, Director of the Mayor—s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability David Bragdon, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman John B. Rhea, Department of Citywide Administrative Services Acting Commissioner Donald P. Brosen, and nonprofit partners Richard Cherry, Executive Director of Community Environmental Center and Lisbeth Shepherd, Executive Director of Green City Force at the announcement on the roof of NYCHA—s Betances Development in the South Bronx, where the one million square foot of white rooftop was coated.

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