At this year’s Spring/Summer New York Fashion Week, the most unexpected accessory was a planting list. After Ulla Johnson staged her spring 2027 show outdoors at Gotham Park on Sept. 14, she pledged to work with the park’s landscape architects on 750 native plants and 12 trees for the public space beneath the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. No installation date has been announced, but the timing was hard to miss: Climate Week begins Sept. 20, bringing the fashion and climate calendars into the same patch of Lower Manhattan.
Beyond the event calendar, the city’s climate work is changing the texture of an ordinary day. The MTA says 27 million fewer vehicles entered Manhattan south of 60th Street during the congestion-pricing program’s first year, an 11 percent drop. The shift reaches home, too: since October 2024, New Yorkers have been required to separate compostable waste at home, with fines in effect since April 1, 2025. Along the harbor at The Battery, a raised section of the wharf opened in June, giving visitors a waterfront walk and the city more protection from coastal flooding. Builders brought some materials by barge and used low-carbon and reclaimed materials. The city says those choices cut the project’s embodied carbon by more than half, with the final phase due in 2027.
For a visitor, the payoff comes at street level: a Lower Manhattan that is easier to navigate and a waterfront better prepared for higher water levels. The guide follows that practical streak indoors, where a greener New York becomes something a visitor can touch and taste.
The NYC Green(er) Guide
Take the Bottle Back to Le Labo’s First Lab
233 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10012
Long before Santal 33 became the olfactory equivalent of a downtown ZIP code, Le Labo opened its first lab on Elizabeth Street in 2006. The counter blends each refill to order, provided the empty, undamaged bottle comes back for the same scent and size. It leaves with a fresh personalized label and refill date, for roughly 20 percent less than the price of a new bottle, according to Le Labo. The original lab turns 20 this year, while its latest refill labels carry 2026 beneath the customer’s name.
Le Labo.
Le Labo
The Closet Gets a Second Look at The RealReal
80 Wooster St., New York, NY 10012
Bring the bag you stopped carrying to The RealReal’s SoHo store for a free valuation. Specialists inspect luxury handbags, watches and fine jewelry, while clothing and shoes can be submitted for consignment. On the sales floor, condition and rarity matter more than the season printed on the original receipt. The company’s 2026 Resale Report says Gen Z and millennials account for more than half its customers. Shoppers considering a piece priced at $2,000 or more can reserve it for a private viewing.
The RealReal.
The RealReal
The Whole Ingredient at Cynthia
32 Jones St., New York, NY 10014
Opened in spring 2026, Cynthia seats about 30 diners in a West Village room with an open kitchen, close enough to watch chef-partner Sherry Cardoso finish each course at the pass. From that close, the low-waste work begins in the bread basket: one summer service used carrot and ramp trimmings to tint the loaf, with lemon pith returning as kosho butter. The restaurant says other scraps are preserved or folded into later menus. Tables made from recycled or antique materials sit alongside repurposed plates and fixtures in the dining room.
Cynthia.
Kodi Najm
Three Hours at FabScrap
Brooklyn Army Terminal, 140 58th St., Building B, Unit 5H-3, Brooklyn, NY 11220
During a three-hour shift at FabScrap’s Brooklyn Army Terminal warehouse, volunteers pry staples and paper headers from sample-room swatches, then sort the material for reuse or fiber recycling. Before leaving, they may carry home up to five pounds of fabric. FabScrap turns 10 during Climate Week, and the nonprofit says its volunteers sort roughly 2,000 pounds a week.
FabScrap.
FabScrap
Taste the Farm in a Lab Coat
625 Bergen St., Brooklyn, NY 11238
Farm.One’s Botanical Tasting Tour in Prospect Heights starts with a lab coat, hairnet and shoe covers. Beyond the sanitation line, rare herbs and microgreens rise in hydroponic trays beneath grow lights, headed for restaurant kitchens across the city. Guides offer tastes of the herbs and microgreens along the way, and afterward, the adjacent Brew Lab pours craft beer and farm-inspired cocktails.
Farm.One’s Botanical Tasting Tour.
Farm.One
Rhodora’s Long-Lived Pantry
197 Adelphi St., Brooklyn, NY 11205
At Rhodora, conservas and pickled vegetables accompany the natural wine list, choices the bar says help cut spoilage between orders. The Fort Greene bar describes itself as zero-waste and carbon-neutral. According to its published mission, Rhodora neither uses nor accepts single-use plastic, and food partners pledge to use compostable or recyclable packaging. The bar says some delivery vessels return to suppliers to be filled again.
Rhodora.
Liz Clayman
Sleep Among Timber From the Domino Sugar Factory
60 Furman St., Brooklyn, NY 11201
At 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, the most memorable environmental detail is heavy enough to knock on. According to the hotel, heart pine salvaged from the former Domino Sugar Factory was recut as lobby tables and guest-floor benches, and regional or reclaimed materials make up more than half the building. The building earned LEED Gold in 2018. Upstairs, a dedicated tap fills cups and carafes made from recycled wine bottles, while clothing left beneath the wooden “1 Less Thing” block can be donated to Housing Works. The hotel says roof runoff is collected for Brooklyn Bridge Park’s irrigation system.
1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge.
1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge