Senator Brian Kavanagh, District 2 includes the Brooklyn Waterfront, Battery Park City, Chinatown, the East Village, the Financial District, Little Italy, the Lower East Side, SOHO, the South Village, Tribeca, and Two Bridges – as well as Hudson Square, Greenwich Village, the West Village, Washington Square Park, and the area immediately south of Union Square.
Kavanagh currently is the Chair on the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development also previously served on the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee since his first term, in 2007, and he founded and currently chairs the New York State Caucus of Environmental Legislators, which is affiliated with NCEL. He has sponsored legislation and worked with colleagues to commit New York to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources and greater efficiency, to achieve and maintain a statewide ban on high-volume fracking for fossil fuels, and to prevent people from being exposed to toxic chemicals, among other environmental concerns.
In and around his district on Manhattan’s East Side, Kavanagh has worked on increasing resiliency–especially in the years since Hurricane Sandy caused extensive flooding, displacement of thousands of residents, and massive damage to critical infrastructure–and improving community access to the East River and green spaces. He commissioned the East River Blueway Plan, a long-term, sustainable community-driven vision for several miles of Manhattan waterfront
In 2021 Kavanagh established a Carpet Stewardship Program (S2872) to phase out PFAS in carpet production and create goals for carpet recycling and currently he plans to help pass legislation in line with environmental goals including the All Electric Building Act as well as S2366 to require accident prevention plans for oil spills.
Kavanagh’s environmental work has earned him the League of Conservation Voters Eco-Star Award and top ratings each year from Environmental Advocates of New York. His work also focuses on affordable housing, economic and social justice, gun violence prevention, and government and election reform.