NYPIRG Friends Fall 2025 Happy Hour Event
THANK YOU SO MUCH! We are deeply grateful to everyone who attended and supported our happy hour in Lower Manhattan on Thursday, October 16, 2025.
Dear Friends,
I want to extend a warm thank you to everyone who came out to our fall 2025 happy hour! It was wonderful to connect — and reconnect — with so many friends and alumni from years past. For those who were not able to attend, but showed your support by being part of the Host Committee or making a donation, I extend my sincere thanks and appreciation. We look forward to seeing you next time!
I am grateful for this community, especially now, when the work that we do to protect the environment, promote democracy, and demand accountability from our leaders is more urgent than ever.
We will be in touch with updates on our work throughout the fall and winter. In the meantime, help us take action to counter federal attacks on our nation’s bedrock environmental and consumer protections today!
Thank you again for your support. As always, NYPIRG will keep fighting — and winning — in the public interest.
Sincerely,
Megan Ahearn
Executive Director
Special Thanks to Our Host Committee
Liz Barrett
Charles Bell
Elisabeth Benjamin
Patricia Ceravole
Jaqi Cohen
Ben DeAngelis
Joanne Doroshow
Doug Forand
Pete Grannis
Elizabeth Moran
Andrew Morrison
Michael O'Loughlin
Neal Rosenstein
Brittania Smead
Theodore Traver
Rachel Wissner
Alexandria Wojcik
Event Photos
'Gaslighting governor' - Hundreds protest Hochul climate law proposal (LoHud.com, March 26, 2026)
NYC Conflicts of Interest Board declines to clarify electioneering rules (City Limits, March 26, 2026)
Senator Shelley Mayer, Assemblymember Chris Burdick, Colleagues, and Advocates Urge the Final State Budget Include Critical Funding for SUNY and CUNY Capital Needs (Yonkers Times, March 25, 2026)
Legislators say SUNY, CUNY face $7B maintenance backlog (ABC News 10, March 24, 2026 )
Hochul Unveils 11th-Hour Push to Defang New York’s Climate Law (City Limits, March 23, 2026)
Long Island climate activists rally against Hochul plans to revise climate protections (LI Herald, March 22, 2026)
Hochul Unveils Eleventh-Hour Push to Defang New York’s Climate Law (New York Focus, March 20, 2026)
Hochul says NY can’t meet its own climate targets, so she wants to change them (Syracuse.com, March 20, 2026)
After weeks of public teasing, Hochul outlines proposals to roll back climate law mandates (City & State, March 20, 2026)
Medicare pricing must be reformed to save money (Daily News, March 19, 2026)
Albany casts a dark cloud over “Sunshine Week” (WAMC, March 18, 2026)
NYS looks to filtration systems to address lead in school drinking water (Newsday, March 17, 2026)
How a Fee To Fight Insurance Fraud Became a Cash Cow for Police (New York Focus, March 11, 2026)
200+ Groups and Indigenous Nations Tell NY Gov. Hochul: No New Nuclear Reactors (Yonkers Times, March 14, 2026)
Buffalo advocates warn Gov. Hochul not to compromise CLCPA (Buffalo Toronto Public Media, March 6, 2026)
Local environmentalists call for NY climate law implementation (The Buffalo News, March 6, 2026)
Republicans in New York continue to call for the repeal of state's climate law (WAMC, March 4, 2026)
Students Rally for Higher Education Funding in Albany (The New Paltz Oracle, March 4, 2026)
As New York Energy Costs Surge, Attention Turns to Landmark Climate Law (The New York Times, March 4, 2026)
Governor Hochul threatens N.Y.'s climate laws (WAMC, March 3, 2026)
Release: NYPIRG Reacts to Governor Hochul’s Proposal to Secretly Negotiate Rolling Back the Nation’s Leading Energy Affordability Climate Law During the Budget Process
Release: New York Shortchanges Independent Colleges by Tens of Millions of Dollars: NYPIRG Urges Lawmakers to Boost Aid as Part of Final Budget
Release: As the Largest Oil Companies Continue to Reap Massive Profits, NYPIRG Urges Repeal of $350 Million in Annual Fossil Fuel Subsidies to Help Address New York’s Affordability Crisis
Advocates and Legislators in Syracuse Urge Lawmakers to Protect Historic NY Climate Law
Environmental Groups and Government Watchdogs in Buffalo Urge Lawmakers to “Say No” to the Hochul Administration’s Effort to Gut Climate Law in Budget Negotiations
Climate and community groups join with lawmakers to “Say No” to the Hochul administration’s effort to gut climate law in budget negotiations
Release: As Energy Bills Skyrocket, Sen. Harckham and Advocates Debunk Gov. Hochul's Manufactured Crisis and Faulty Math
NYPIRG and over 300 groups today called on New York lawmakers to include modernization of the state returnable container law (aka “The Bottle Bill”) in the final budget plan.
NYPIRG Statement on the U.S. House of Representatives Passage of the Save America Act
Over 100 organizations, statewide, express collective opposition to alarming trends in New York’s energy policies
NYPIRG applauds U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s recent public statement and submitted amicus brief challenging the efforts by the oil industry and its allies to overturn New York’s Climate Superfund law.
Straphangers Campaign Releases Best &
Worst Moments in NYC Transit List for 2025
On the two-year anniversary of New York’s “Solid Waste Management Plan,” a broad coalition of over 300 groups today called on Governor Kathy Hochul to include modernization of the state returnable container law (aka “The Bottle Bill”) in her executive budget plan, scheduled to be released next month. The groups say it makes sense for the bill to be in the budget since it would both increase revenue for the state and track one of the recommendations of the state’s “Solid Waste Management Plan.”
VICTORY! NYPIRG’s Statement on Governor Hochul Signing the Bill to End the “100-Foot Rule”
NEWS RELEASE: NYPIRG’s Statement on the House Passage of the SPEED Act (H.R. 4776)
A coalition of community and environmental organizations today released emission data on the air pollution impacts of the use of gas-powered lawn equipment like leaf blowers. State lawmakers, NYPIRG, Environment America and the Clean Quiet Alliance released county-by-county data showing how much climate pollution is created by gas-powered lawn mowers, weed whackers, leaf blowers, chainsaws and other garden equipment. The groups also released information on the dozens of New York localities that have placed restrictions or bans on the use of some gas-powered lawn equipment. Over 100 organizations urged Governor Hochul to act to establish an incentive program to help local governments and landscaping companies shift from gas to battery powered lawn equipment.
NYPIRG’s Statement on Governor Hochul's Delay of the All Electric Buildings Act
NYPIRG NEWS RELEASE: 2025 “Trouble in Toyland” Toy Safety Report Release
NYPIRG Releases PIRG's 40th Annual Trouble In Toyland Report
Bill McKibben, Advocates, Legislators Report $1.2 Trillion in Profits
for Big Oil Companies from 2021-2025 Year-to-Date,
Call on Governor Hochul to
Stop Climate Polluter Handouts in her Executive Budget.
As the Largest Oil Companies Continue to Reap Massive Profits, Bill McKibben Joins
Lawmakers and NY Advocates Arguing for Repeal of $350 Million in Annual Fossil Fuel
Subsidies to Help Address New York’s Affordability Crisis