New York City Joins PSR and ICAN in the Movement For Nuclear Weapons Abolition December 16, 2021

Photographed by Brendan Fay

On December 9, New York City Council passed a monumental package of legislation with sweeping support (41-5 was the final vote count) — that endorses nuclear weapons abolition and moves New York City toward divesting from the nuclear weapons industry. Not only does the legislation package call on the city to divest completely from nuclear weapons, but it also calls on the U.S. government to join the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) and calls for the formation of a committee responsible for ensuring the city is complying with its status as a nuclear weapons free zone since 1983. Ellen Ferranti, MD — a New York City native and PSR New York member — has been part of this effort from the start.

This effort is part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons’ (ICAN) Cities Appeal, an initiative to get cities around the world to call on their governments to join the TPNW and work toward a world completely free from nuclear weapons. New York joins a long list of cities around the world that are part of the Cities Appeal, such as Los Angeles, Baltimore, Washington, Boston, Montreal, Toronto, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Melbourne and Geneva.

Resolution 976 notably calls on the NYC Comptroller to have pension funds of public employees divest from companies involved in the production and maintenance of nuclear weapons. If these funds are stripped of funding by companies involved in the nuclear weapons complex, then $475 million of the city’s pension fund would be re-allocated to other investments. For comparison, New York City residents pay  $2.2 billion in taxes, annually, toward the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.

PSR congratulates NY-CAN and is proud to have been a part of this amazing victory. We look forward to celebrating more wins with ICAN!