New York City’s policy efforts in the first two decades of the twenty-first century emphasize the potential for local governments to materially improve their local environments. During the mayoralty of Michael Bloomberg (2002-2013), the city government sought from the top to remake the city’s physical environment to appeal to postindustrial elites to promote local economic development. Under Mayor Bill de Blasio (2014-2021), the administration explicitly prioritized equity alongside economic growth and this commitment was reflected in environmental policy in a focus on investing in community parks. Under both mayors, environmental policy came from community groups, as well as city leaders. For example, across the two administrations, prominent environmental justice advocates prompted the city to adopt measures to address longstanding inequities in the allocation of responsibility for solid waste management, although the injustices persisted at the end of the de Blasio administration. Overall, the history of New York City’s efforts to address problems such as lack of greenspace, contaminated lands, and solid waste management underscores that change can come from the top and the bottom, but that there are legal, fiscal and other constraints on the ability of cities to address even paradigmatically local environmental problems.