JUST BREATHE: A Community Forum on Brooklyn’s Health, Energy and Environment

Saturday, May 17, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

Currently, New York City stands in violation of federal Clean Air standards.

As a result, asthma rates in some of New York City’s communities of color are four times the national average.

We invite you to come hear first hand from medical, environmental, academic and civil rights experts how to reverse this disturbing trend and to become stakeholders in New York’s environmental and energy future.

An event brought to you by:

SHARE (Safe Healthy Affordable Reliable Energy), Brooklyn Branch NAACP and Medger Evers College

Location:

Medgar Evers College
Presidential Conference Center, Room B1008
1650 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn

RSVP to Craig Wilson at rsvp@shareny.org

So our air got WORSE last year? How did that happen? Not good.

According to State of the Air: 2008 — the American Lung Association’s annual report on air quality country-wide — NYC is now the 8th most polluted city in the country in regards to ozone, aka smog.

We are now the 13th most polluted city in the country for short-term particulates, aka soot. Soot!

We used to be the 10th-worst and 17th-worst polluted in those categories respectively, but we seem to have actually gotten worse and not better in the course of 2007.

People at risk from poor air quality in King’s County alone:

Pediatric Asthma: 60,806
Adult Asthma: 156,821
Chronic Bronchitis: 78,575
Emphysema: 33,462
Cardiovascular Disease: 615,491
Diabetes: 141,024

That is over 1 million people who are at risk of poor health every single day due to pollution in King’s County. That is a whopping 43% of the population that is at risk. It deserves the “D” grade that it gets.

Read the report’s key findings to read some pretty shocking stats about the state of the air in this country, but also some positive plans for action on how we can improve our air quality.

Read the whole post, and find out how you can take action, by clicking below…

He was against it before he voted for it. Sounds awfully familiar, right? This, at least, is a flip-flop that makes some sense, unlike John Kerry’s inexplicable comments in the lead-up to the 2004 Presidential election.

City Councilman Kendall Stewart; who represents Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands; opined in a Brooklyn Daily Eagle op-ed this past Tuesday — Earth Day — that based on the evidence presented him, including facts brought to his attention by the Campaign for New York’s Future, he could not and would not oppose congestion pricing.

This is absolutely absurd:

Neighbors of the tallest building proposed for Brooklyn are already worried.

…

“I know things must change, but I don’t want them to change at the expense of my child’s health,” said parent Jessica Welch, whose ninth-grader daughter, Evadnie Lewis, 14, suffers from allergies and had asthma as a young girl.

Renderings of the City Tech Tower - a New York City College of Technology project to be built by Nets Arena developer Forest City Ratner - were published last week.

…

Westinghouse parents, students and staff listed the full gamut of woes associated with construction including dust, noise and vibrations, worrying particularly about air quality.

The school is located near the busy intersection of Flatbush Ave. and Tillary St., so it already has air pollution problems, they said.

“Parents are up in arms,” said PTA President Jerome Lykes, noting that his daughter Shaeeta, 17, suffers from asthma.

“She doesn’t need any more dust going into her lungs.”

The school’s only outdoor space, used mainly as a parking lot for teachers, may also be handed over to City Tech, said members of the school community.

…

“We don’t want all that noise,” said senior Andy Brutus, 17.

…

“Our school is going to be looking like a little old hut. Next, we’re afraid they’ll scrap the school,” said Patricia Joseph, mother of ninth-grader Kadeen, 14.

How can the Mayor, DOE, and FC Ratner get away with this?

In today’s day and age, this article should be an embarrassment to the Mayor and all New Yorkers. We have to do much better than this with our kids. I mean, c’mon, really. I don’t see anywhere in PlaNYC2030 where it says build the largest building in Brooklyn directly on top of an under-served school. Must have missed that.

As someone who suffers the occasional bout of allergies, I can certainly empathize with these kids. Plainly put, indoor air quality has a pronounced effect on the quality of life of all people, but children particularly.

Asthma and allergies keep kids out of school when they should be learning and running around with other kids. Poor air quality from mold, roaches, rats, mice, and other sources really do a number on our kids’ respiratory health; and when poor indoor air quality is coupled with diesel exhaust and smog, you have an asthma epidemic and other major respiratory illness and death.

Watch the NY1 video.

From the NY1 article:

The protestors gathered outside the Department of Health office in Manhattan, saying they want the agency to better control asthma triggers, such as mold, cockroaches, and rats, in their homes.

They say without that enforcement, they’re getting sick and missing school.

“We have been meeting with the Department of Health on and off for a year,” said Santy Zambrano of Make the Road New York. “There has been very little progress working with them. They just don’t see asthma as a priority.”

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) remarkably had this to say in response:

The Health Department says it understands the groups concerns, but says, “there is not sufficient scientific consensus to justify the specific policies the group is demanding.”

Scientific consensus?!?!

What, did the DOHMH hire George Deutsch? This old, tired rhetoric is as demeaning as it is TOTALLY UNTRUE.

FACT: Some of the most common indoor asthma triggers include secondhand smoke, dust mites, mold, cockroaches and other pests, household pets, and combustion byproducts. [USEPA: Asthma Triggers]

FACT: Cockroach allergens likely play a significant role in asthma in many inner-city areas. [USEPA: Indoor Environmental Asthma Triggers - Cockroaches and Pests]

FACT: For people sensitive to molds, inhaling mold spores can cause an asthma attack. [USEPA: Indoor Environmental Asthma Triggers - Molds]

FACT: Body parts and feces from dust mites can trigger asthma in individuals with allergic reactions to dust mites, and exposure to dust mites can cause asthma in children who have not previously exhibited asthma symptoms. [USEPA: Indoor Environmental Asthma Triggers - Dust Mites]

FACT: Asthma leads to 2 million emergency room visits and 5,000 deaths per year in the U.S. [USEPA: About Asthma]

FACT: Asthma accounted for more than 14 million missed school days in 2000. [USEPA: About Asthma]

FACT: Asthma costs (health care costs and lost productivity) totaled $14 billion in 2002. [USEPA: About Asthma]

FACT: Asthma is a leading cause of missed school among children and is the most common cause of hospitalization for children 14 years and younger. [...] we do know that asthma can be controlled both by avoiding exposure to triggers and by taking anti-inflammatory medicines. [NYC DOHMH: Asthma Initiative]

FACT: In 2000, children in New York City were almost twice as likely to be hospitalized for asthma as children in the United States as a whole. [NYC DOHMH: Asthma Facts, Page 7 (pdf)]

FACT: In 2000, children 0-4 years of age from low-income areas were more than four times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma than children from high-income areas. [NYC DOHMH: Asthma Facts, Page 7 (pdf)]

So honestly, let’s cut the crap about “scientific consensus” and help these kids by enforcing better housing conditions as they have asked.

What YOU can do:

• Write a note to Mayor Mike
• Write a note to the NYC DOHMH Commissioner
• Write a note to Bonita Henry at NYC Asthma Partnership (NYCAP)
• Write a note to EPA Region 2 (NY, NJ, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and 7 federally recognized Indian Nations)

You can copy and paste the following message into any of the contact forms or email addresses linked above:

To Whom It May Concern,

I read an article that was published on NY1.com on November 6th, 2007 regarding NY children and their protest of poor indoor air quality in their homes. As you know, asthma is triggered by several environmental problems that occur from unsanitary conditions or air pollution. Asthma is a very very serious problem in New York City, and I am concerned that the NYC DOHMH’s response to the protest was that there is “not sufficient scientific consensus” to justify enforcement of existing health and environmental regulations.

It is scientifically-accepted knowledge by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that asthma is triggered by indoor environmental problems such as cockroaches, rats and mice, dust and dust mites, and pollution from diesel exhaust.

Please help these children and protect public health from asthma and respiratory illness as required by NY State law:

Title 10 Section 7-1.14 Housing; maintenance; location; grounds.

(a) A building or structure shall be structurally safe, free from fire, health and safety hazards, adequate in size for its use, and easy to keep clean. It shall have watertight roof and sides, except that a structure occupied by people such as a lean-to or an open recreational facility shall be so constructed and maintained as to exclude rain from the portions of the structure used as shelter.

Title 10 Section 7-1.35 Insect and rodent control.

Grounds, buildings and structures shall be maintained in such a manner as to control noxious insect and rodent infestation. Extermination methods and other measures to control insects and rodents shall conform with the reasonable requirements of the permit-issuing official or other agency having jurisdiction.

The NY1 article can be found here:

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=9&aid=75352

Thank you, and I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

_______________________

More resources and must-read articles:

• Asthma Information Outreach Project
• AIOP NY Asthma Statistics
• AIOP News and Publications
• NYC Asthma Map By Zip Code (Gotham Gazette)
• A Study Links Trucks’ Exhaust to Bronx Schoolchildren’s Asthma (NYT, 10/29/06)
• Asthma: Issue of the Week (Gotham Gazette, 5/14/01)

Image c/o NYC DOHMH Asthma Initiative and Asthma Information Outreach Project