“Extreme heat is not an isolated problem. It is intertwined with other injustices like urban development and racist infrastructure,” said Rami Dinnawi, a representative of the Williamsburg Bridge community human rights organization. “We need to support community-led initiatives to mitigate the effect of extreme heat.”
CLARIFY News
Advocates gathered at City Hall Park Thursday calling on the city to come up with a plan to address the extreme heat.
This story was produced by student reporters at the City Limits Accountability Reporting Initiative for Youth (CLARIFY).
By Shanyll Nunez, Alana Allen, Sangeeta Chakraborty, Fatoumata Conde, Kayla Hall, Soleil Hendy, Zion Irvine, Hamna Kanwal, Teron Lewis, Ilana Livshits, Maleea Mcphatter, Jillian Peprah-Frimpong, Emma Sweeger, Robert Vanterpool, and instructor/editor Abigail Savitch Lew
On Thursday in City Hall Park, environmental groups, community organizations and political representatives held a rally demanding action to address the impacts of extreme heat, while across the street other politicians announced a package of bills aimed at regulating indoor air quality. .
The two outdoor meetings took place on another sweltering and humid day in the city, with “moderate” weather. air quality index rating. Advocates and concerned legislators say the city must do more to protect New Yorkers from the worsening effects of climate change, whether it’s blistering temperatures or smoke from distant forest fires.
“This is a legacy issue, this is a public health emergency, and we are counting on the mayor to help us in this fight,” Councilman Lincoln Restler said at the extreme heat rally.
Councilman Keith Powers, who was about to introduce legislation to improve indoor air quality, proclaimed, “We’re here today to help New Yorkers breathe a little easier.”
Extreme heat is an equity issue
Dozens of people, with many more gathered in the audience, raised their voices in City Hall Park to chant: “What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it? Now?”
Many were members of WE ACT, a long-standing Harlem-based environmental justice organization. WE ACT was joined by other community organizations including GOLES, New Yorkers for Parks, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), El Puente, Red Hook Initiative and South Bronx Unite, according to a press release.
Speakers expressed concern about inadequate infrastructure and lack of access to cooling resources. They also emphasized that extreme heat affects communities of color and low-income communities differently.
According to statistics from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH), black New Yorkers number more than twice as likely to die from extreme heat. Aggravating factors—the history of divestment and redlining, lack of access to healthcare, lack of green space, and more—mean that neighborhoods in the South Bronx, Harlem, East Brooklyn, and Jamaica score highest in the “heat vulnerability index.”
“Extreme heat is not an isolated problem. It is intertwined with other injustices like urban development and racist infrastructure,” said Rami Dinnawi, a representative of the Williamsburg Bridge community human rights organization. “We need to support community-led initiatives to mitigate the effect of extreme heat.”
Bronx advocates agreed.
“In the Bronx, we need urgent and immediate action,” said Leslie Vasquez, clean air program coordinator for South Bronx Unite, adding that the Bronx has one of the highest asthma rates in the country. “Our communities can no longer suffer!”
Last week, WE ACT launched its Extreme Heat 2023 Policy Agendaa roadmap with eight goals to protect vulnerable communities from extreme heat, and the organization also announced the formation of a extreme heat coalition.
In an online press conference on July 6, WE ACT noted that New York City is especially vulnerable to rising temperatures due to dense concentrations of pavement, buildings, and other surfaces that absorb heat rather than reflect it ( what is known as the “urban heat island” effect). They also described their advocacy for a variety of policies and bills at the federal, state, and municipal levels.
Screenshot
A recording from WE ACT’s 2023 Extreme Heat Briefing shows a chart from the World Health Organization illustrating the health impacts of exposure to extreme heat.
Among many other recommendations, WE ACT calls for increased state funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to make it easier for low-income households to use air conditioners. They also want to pass legislation in City Hall to put strict limits on how hot it can get inside buildings.
In addition, they ask for resources to cultivate and maintain urban forests and advocating for the expansion of green infrastructure, such as cool pavements, cool roofs, green roofs, and renewable energy, both to help cool vulnerable neighborhoods and to naturally decrease New York’s carbon footprint. Various parts of his roadmap have been proposed as bills by the City Council.
Advocates are also calling on the City Council to hold New York City Mayor Eric Adams accountable for meeting the extreme heat goals his administration set in PlanNYC.
“We need the mayor to make this one of his priority issues,” said Eric Goldstein, environmental director for the NDRC in New York City.
Michael Appleton/Mayor’s Office of Photography
Smoke from the major fires in Canada blurred the New York City skyline on Tuesday.
Smoke behind closed windows
Meanwhile, Councilman and Majority Leader Keith Powers and Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine held a press conference to announce a package of indoor air quality legislation consisting of four bills.
Introduction 1127 would require the Department of Health to set standards for air quality in schools and that the Department of Education (DOE), with the help of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), monitor and report real-time air quality in schools on the DOE website, as well as issue annual school air quality reports. It would also require DOH and DOE to participate in indoor air quality education and outreach activities in schools.
Introduction 1130 would make similar requirements but for buildings owned by the city, while Introduction 1128 and Introduction 1129 would create pilot programs to monitor indoor air quality in certain commercial and residential buildings, respectively.
“Personally, I think this is a nationwide issue that we’re ignoring,” Keith Powers said, noting that both the recent wildfires and the COVID-19 pandemic have made us all more aware of indoor air quality. “The data collected … will help us inform best practices,” he added, saying he envisions New York City becoming a national leader in regulating indoor air quality.
Borough President Levine described working in his office on the 19th floor of 1 Center Street and smelling smoke, despite all the windows being sealed, during the recent air quality crisis caused by the wildfires in Canada. “What we’re doing with this bill package is a great first step,” he said.
Others who spoke in support include Councilwoman Lynn Schluman, Chair of the Health Committee, Councilwoman Rita Joseph, Chair of the Education Committee, and Councilwoman Mercedes Narcisse, Chair of the Hospital Committee, who stressed the importance of protecting communities. vulnerable and ensuring “community alert” to changes in air quality as they occur.
