by Nancy Kane
Brooklyn-based Halstead broker Kris Sylvester brings eco-consciousness to his community with Green Living NYC (facebook.com/greenlivingnyc), a blog he founded to promote sustainability by offering tangible, easy-to-adopt ways New Yorkers can live a greener life. “We cover everything from biking, composting, parks, replacing incandescent bulbs, recycling, repurposing, and swapping to electric cars,” he says, calling from the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. “We waste way too much.”
Sylvester, a vegetarian for 28 years now (the last three of which he’s been vegan), was raised in Trinidad and grew up green. “We were always taught to conserve, that you shouldn’t waste things, like food,” he says. “My family reused, recycled and repurposed. It really stayed with me.”
The broker with an eye on the big picture has driven electric cars for four years: the first, a BMW i3, then a Chevy Bolt. He now has his eye on an Audi e-tron, and can’t wait to try their all-electric SUV.
He’s quick to recommend a sustainable junk removal service called “Junk Luggers” who will remove your unwanted possessions and donate or recycle them, in order to reduce landfills.
Naturally, Sylvester likes to show prospective homeowners properties “with a green component”—be it a private outdoor terrace, something near a park or in an eco-converted building. “I offer clients,” he says, “a more holistic approach to finding and selling a home.”
