The NYC DOT uses greenheart logged from the rainforests of Guyana for all the wooden bumpers and plings around the Staten Island Ferry terminals and for the pedestrian walkway and benches of the Brooklyn Bridge. Recycled plastic lumber could be used for all of these applications.

Rainforest Relief has been directly engaging NYC DOT since 1999. After giving DOT a chance to respond to our written demands, we have held numerous demonstrations in front of the DOT offices, on the Brooklyn Bridge and at the Staten Island Ferry.

DOT has so far refused to even meet with us, even though they stated an intention to meet at our second demonstration in 2001. Our last demonstration in 2002 involved a banner being hung on the DOT headquarters, leading to two arrests.

Since then, the new administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg has appointed a new DOT commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan. Recently, after generating over a hundred postcards to the Commissioner, we were informed that DOT would look into the issue and get back to us by early April of 2007. We did not hear back.

Send a message to NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan asking her to commit to an entire phase-out of destructive and often illegally logged tropical hardwoods.