NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodríguez announced in Times Square that this year’s Car-Free Earth Day will expand across the five boroughs for the first time ever.

Saturday April 23 will also be the largest Car-Free Earth Day ever with 150 participating partners.

Car-Free Earth Day is an international event that encourages pedestrians to travel without using their cars for a day.

It urges people to use other forms of transportation such as bikes, scooters, or walking to their destination in order to reduce the carbon emissions within NYC’s atmosphere.

During the event, selected streets will be closed off and turned into plazas for people to walk, as well as do other various activities.

The activities include art, cultural activities, dancing, music performances, educational workshops, and bike programs.

“Earth Day is when we can all commit to protecting our earth; and one way we can do that is by repurposing our roadways,” said the DOT Commissioner. “Car-Free Earth Day is a growing tradition that allows New York City’s car-free streets to come alive.”

This year’s event will expand to over 100 open streets, 22 plazas, as well as over 1000 miles of NYC’s bike networks throughout the five boroughs.

The list of neighborhoods for each borough are as follows:

• Bronx, Roberto Clemente Plaza, 3rd Avenue, 148th Street to 149th Street
• Bronx, Southbound Mosholu Parkway, Van Cortlandt Avenue East to Bainbridge Avenue
• Brooklyn, Tompkins Avenue, Gates Avenue to Halsey Street
• Manhattan, Avenue B, East 6th Street to East 14th Street
• Manhattan, Broadway, East 17th Street to West 42nd Street
• Manhattan, St. Nicholas Avenue, 181st Street to 190th Street
• Queens, 34th Avenue, 69th Street to 94th Street
• Staten Island, Minthorne Street, Bay Street to Victory Boulevard

The event is held the day after Earth Day, which has been held world-wide since 1970 to educate people about the importance of fighting for a clean and green environment and to combat climate change.

Car-Free Earth Day started in NYC in 2016, however, was discontinued for two years because of COVID-19.

“This is Earth Day and I encourage New Yorkers to join us in making the world a greener place by going car-free and taking alternative transportation,” said State Senator Brad Hoylman. “Our streets are one of the largest public spaces in the city. Together, we can create a better future and more equitable use of this public space for all to enjoy.”

Rodríguez wants to use this day to reimagine the city’s streets with fewer cars and more pathways for pedestrians and cyclists.

When asked how this may affect minority neighborhoods in the long run, he explained that this can be a good thing because plazas can bring together people, and they bring a sense of community.

He also said he hopes the day educates people on how important it is to reduce carbon emissions.

“I applaud the New York City Department of Transportation’s commitment to a greener and more sustainable city with Car-Free Day,” said Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. “New York City must be a leader in the global fight to combat climate change, and this important event can act as the template for a more sustainable future.”

A couple of people shared their thoughts on this day and the future implications of the event if it was to become a permanent initiative.

“That is a good idea,” said 29-year-old Ricardo Manuel. “For less cars, there’s less fuel emissions.”

A couple sitting near him shared the same sentiment.

“I think it’s a great idea because it’s less of a negative impact on the environment,” said 24-year-old Darrell Elliot.

His girlfriend, Nicole Blake, agreed with his statement.

“I think that this is going to impede on people’s ability to park their cars,” the 22-year-old said. “But it’s for the betterment of the environment.”

However, one man disagreed.

“I think it’s a bad idea because it will cause more traffic,” Brandon Kennedy said. “It doesn’t solve the issue. It will make things worse as more cars will be stuck in one area, causing more toxic fuels to be in the air.”

There are one billion children who live in areas where the climate is considered at “extremely high risk” according to a report from UNICEF.

According to ECPAT-USA, an anti-human-trafficking organization, this can cause many children to migrate alone to cities, leading them to be caught in the human trafficking market.

On March 8, ECPAT-USA held a virtual discussion about the multiple ways in which climate change can lead to children being trafficked and solutions to prevent human trafficking.

The panel consisted of six people from across the world that are from organizations that prioritize migration, child-safety, and climate change.

Laura Healy is a human rights lawyer and is a program lawyer and program specialist working on migration and displacement at UNICEF.

“Children and young people impacted by climate change often have few opportunities to move safely,” she said. “So trafficking can be an unintended but quite direct consequence.”

The harsh climate in certain areas can cause people, especially children, to move to areas in search of resources. There are 820 million children who are highly exposed to heat waves, 400 million children who live in areas that face high risks of cyclones, and 850 million are exposed to four or more climate related shocks, according to Healy.

Northern Ghana is an example of a harsh climate because it has four months of rain and that leads to flooding.

“A large number of young people in the streets are children who have migrated from the northern part of Ghana, and it’s reported that there are over 60,000 children that are living on the streets of Ghana,” said Olivia Umoh, director of Safe-Child Advocacy. “Increased poverty, migration, and lack of protection, exposes them to the risk of trafficking.”

She then went into depth about what happens to the trafficked children.

“Ghananian youth and women are trafficked internally and externally for domestic servitude for the girls,” she said. “Farm labor, illegal mining, and fish labor for the boys. Some of the children work as fishermen and are at risk of drowning. And there is sexual exploitation.”

Globally, about 20% of human trafficking victims are children, however, 79% of human trafficking incidents are for sexual exploitation, according to the United Nations.

Panelist suggested ways to counter climate change-caused human trafficking. One proposal to help solve this issue was to focus on children’s rights laws.

“Children’s rights law provides a mandate for a comprehensive response,” said Jonathan Todres, a professor of Law at Georgia State University College of Law. “There’s a breadth of law, including children’s rights law, that requires governments to take steps to prevent trafficking of children. It requires that governments ensure access to healthcare, to ensure that every child has a right to an education, to housing, to basic nutrition, and more.”

Another approach is to invest in collecting more data on children affected by climate mobility and child trafficking. This would help organizations, advocacy groups, and governments analyze future displacement risks for the youth and perhaps lead to better protection services in countries and cities to address incidents of trafficking, violence, or abuse against children.

The most important solution that was agreed upon by the panel is to listen to the voices of those children.

“We need to partner with children and young people impacted by climate change and most at risk of trafficking and exploitation,” said Healy. “This means listening to them and actually amplifying their voices in support to translate [their concerns] into concrete action.”

Kiana Joy Yabut is a representative for the University of Guam in the Guam Youth Congress, a governmental body that allows the youth (between ages 14-23) to create and pass bills that then goes on to the Guam legislature where they debate and possibly pass these laws.

She said it best in terms of human trafficking and climate change.

“One of the biggest misconceptions about climate change is that it’s really viewed by policy makers as solely an environmental issue,” said the 21-year-old representative. “The truth is that climate change is an everything issue.”