Nyleen Euton

Nyleen Euton (she/her) completed her MS in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management in 2019 after completing her BA in Biology at SUNY Genseo in 2018.

While in the Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management program, Nyleen studied the impacts of the rezoning of 15 neighborhoods on community-based struggles over displacement, community engagement, and housing for her master capstone project, titled Rezoning and Community Displacement: Case Study of the Bay Street Corridor in Staten Island, NY. In her project, Nyleen looked at the neighborhood rezoning proposal for the Bay Street Corridor, on the North Shore of Staten Island, focusing on the issue of displacement, as 1,753 North Shore residents in unregulated housing were estimated to be at risk. She concluded that rezoning strategies must include affordable housing as well as tighter rent regulations for homeowners and recommended a community land trust model and the implementation of a community benefits agreement to prevent displacement.

The skills Nyleen acquired in the program, supplemented with more than three years of experience working as a program coordinator for day and community habilitation at City Access New York, a 501c3 nonprofit dedicated to identifying barriers to participation of people with disabilities in schools and in the community, helped her land a position as a Green Infrastructure Grant program manager at the New York City Department of Environmental Protection, a city agency responsible for managing the city’s water supply and for regulating air quality, hazardous waste, and noise pollution. In this position, she advances the department's mission by coordinating the grants program for green roof retrofit funding for private property owners in New York City and providing incentives for private property owners to manage stormwater runoff.

Learn more about the DEP Green Infrastructure Grant program and the impact it has had on The New School.