Good NYC Civic Membership Groups

A starter list for a better NYC

In my previous post, I mentioned joining organizations representing causes you care about. Surprisingly, those are hard to find with a quick Google search, so I wanted to list a few by category as examples.

These groups generally focus on pushing legislative action, and supporting candidates that are aligned with the group priorities. They also tend to have a membership or social component to them, as well as an educational piece, to inform both their members and the general public with facts. Joining them should be fun! Local politics should be a good time.

• Housing: Open New York advocates for more housing — both market-rate and affordable, as well as tenant protections, with the goal of having a newer, safer, and cheaper housing stock in NYC.

• Streetscape: Open Plans is pushing for safer, more livable and people-friendly streets, so we all can enjoy the city we live in.

• Public Transit: Riders Alliance believes in reliable, affordable, world-class public transit in New York.

• Bicycling: Transportation Alternatives stands for safer biking but also safer streets in general.

• Abundance: somewhat encompassing many of the ideas above, the abundance agenda envisions a city with better infrastructure and public spaces. Abundance New York is my recommendation there.

Non-event groups

Whereas the above groups all host events, I did want to mention a few worth following that aren’t necessarily active in-person.

• Quality of Life: Coalition for New York’s Future envisions a safer, cleaner NYC.

• Helicopter reduction: Stop the Chop wants to make our city quieter and less polluted by restricting the number of helicopters flying around.