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Bad Air Days

Our air pollution may be 20 times worse than we think.  And that’s BEFORE the city cuts down 1,000 trees!

The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance has published an important new report on a two-year study of hyperlocal air quality in three “Environmental Justice” neighborhoods in New York City (CAMP-EJ). The coalition of EJ groups used mobile monitors that showed much higher levels of pollution than the government’s stationary monitors just blocks away.

The report has serious implications for the Lower East Side and East Village especially if the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan succeeds in razing East River Park.

“Air quality in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods like Hunts Point and the south side of Williamsburg is much worse than previously thought,” reported Danielle Muoio in Politico, writing about the report. “The concentration of fine particulate matter in environmental justice neighborhoods is up to 20 times higher than previously captured by air quality monitors set up by state officials. The new data, collected over a two-year time period, is raising alarms about the health risks posed by poor air quality in primarily Black and brown neighborhoods — particularly as residents with preexisting respiratory conditions are more vulnerable to adverse outcomes from Covid-19.”

Figure 4: Williamsburg, Brooklyn CAMP-EJ Mobile Monitoring Map.
Figure 4: Williamsburg, Brooklyn CAMP-EJ Mobile Monitoring Map, from the report: Camp-EJ Community Air Mapping Project for Environmental Justice. That’s right across the river from East River Park. What does our high-traffic neighborhood look like? What will it look like when heavy construction ravishes East River Park?

“Even before Covid-19, Black and Latinx communities were suffering and dying because of the disproportionate amount of polluting facilities,” Jalisa Gilmore told Politico. She’s a research analyst at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, one of the groups that worked on the study.

Called “The CAMP-EJ Report: The Community Air Mapping Project for Environmental Justice,” the study was carried out by an alliance of community groups in neighborhoods deemed “EJ areas” including South Williamsburg in Brooklyn and Hunts Point in the Bronx. NYC-EJA.org

These are “communities that are disproportionately exposed to PM2.5 pollution” (fine particulate matter), says the report, “and as a result, suffer from higher rates of respiratory illness, heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, negative birth outcomes, and other life-threatening conditions associated with breathing dirty air on a daily basis in NYC.”

Asthma rates high for Lower East Side and Chinatown
NYC Department of health 2016. Like the neighborhoods studied, the Lower East Side and East Village have high asthma rates.
Covid toll in March 2020 was high. Even a small increase in particulate matter in the air increases the death rate from Covid.
Covid-19’s toll – March 2021. LES ranks high on NYC DOH’s map.
 Even a small increase in particulate matter in the air increases the death rate from Covid.

Where the dirty air comes from

Major findings include that local facilities (such as, in our neighborhood, the ConEd plant at 14th St. and the East River) and expressways (for us, the FDR Drive) are big polluters.  Traffic congestion fouls the air twice a day.

The EJ Alliance teams used Airbeam monitors to measure PM2.5 in the air in hyperlocal areas. They were able to collect more data and show fluctuations much greater than the state sensors. Airbean sensors showed dramatically higher Particle Matter readings–as much as 20 times higher than state-run fixed monitors. Our LES Breathe team is experimenting with these types of Airbeam sensors

In both the South Bronx and Southside Williamsburg, data collection for the study indicated that air pollution varies throughout the day, spiking in the morning and evening in correspondence with higher traffic volumes. CAMP-EJ data highlights how vehicular traffic congestion and poorly planned and sited transportation infrastructure is a significant contributor to air pollution in environmental justice neighborhoods. That resonates for us.

What the high readings mean for our Lower East Side and East Village 

This report bolsters LES-Breathe’s concerns regarding ESCR’s entirely predictable health impacts on our local air and our health. Our Lower East Side and East Village are considered EJ neighborhoods.  EJ neighborhoods that were studied and included in the report already suffer disproportionately from elevated PM2.5 levels that contribute to asthma, and other pollution-related illnesses, like Covid-19. 

Environmental Justice Areas--Lower East side
The Lower East Side and East Village are Environmental Justice neighborhoods.

While it is well known that planting trees in cities is ever more important to mitigate Covid and climate change, ESCR will instead decimate groves of 80-year-old trees that keep our air cleaner than it would otherwise be. Without those thousand trees (as well as the hundreds already cut down on neighboring NYCHA campuses for FEMA’s Sandy repair and resiliency work), our local air pollution will be worse than ever. Dumping, distributing and leveling eight feet of fill evenly over this 45-acre park with approximately one million tons of fill will further increase harmful particulate matter in our air in a project that will take years.

The CAMP-EJ report is highly relevant to the city’s plans to bulldoze East River Park for ESCR, underlining that the concerns of the surrounding Environmental Justice community regarding worsening air pollution and loss of green space are real and valid.  At a time when the city’s own agencies promote increasing our tree canopy to improve our air and health, a plan to deliberately eradicate almost 1,000 mature trees in an area with high air pollution is irresponsible and will actively hurt our most vulnerable.  We call for our elected officials and city agencies to read the full CAMP-EJ report, and implement its call for ADDED green infrastructure and green space. 

There are options that will give us flood control without spending a fortune killing our trees, burying East River Park, and adding particulate matter that will make our air more dangerous.

Voice Your Concerns

The Mayor’s Office has convened an Environmental Justice Advisory Board which held its first Town Hall on February 25, 2021. The group is full of renowned Environmental Justice warriors (several were among the authors of the CAMP-EJ report). This new advisory board is working with the Mayor’s Office of Climate Policy and Programs to create the City’s first comprehensive study on Environmental Justice.  There is a public comment period through April 30, 2021. The advisory board is full of Environmental Justice warriors (several were among the authors of the CAMP-EJ report). Please do voice your concerns about ESCR!

You can fill out their survey here: nyc.gov/ejstudy

You can also email your comments to EJ@climate.nyc.gov or leave a voice message at 212-788-4144. Comments must be received by April 30, 2021.

– Deborah Mills, Lower East Side

Another good article from Brooklyner focusing on the Williamsburg part of the study: COMMUNITY-LED AIR QUALITY STUDY IN WILLIAMSBURG UNEARTHS POLLUTION HOT SPOTS by Rose Adams, March 5, 2021, Brooklyn Paper

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Our Air Quality Now

We have three air quality monitors on the Lower East Side. See them at Purple Air.

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You can use the dropdown menu to choose:
* LES Breathe (air monitoring and environment)
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Be There!

Visit our ACTIONS NOW! page to find out what you can do to help the health and livability of our Lower East Side.

The Latest

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This Lenapehoking Land

East River Park is forever Indigenous land of Lenapehoking. We  honor and respect the land of this park by advocating for its renewal as a biodiverse, healthful ecosystem. 

NYS Constitutional Amendment for Environmental Rights: "Each person shall have a right to clean air and water, and a healthful environment.”

  • Home
    • Who We Are and Our Goals
  • News, History, Resources
    • East River Park News 2023/2024/2025
      • East River Park News 2022
      • East River Park News 2021
      • East River Park News 2020
      • East River Park News 2018-2019
    • History and Resources
      • History and Resources
      • Videos/Photos
        • Videos/Photos
        • Endangered Environs
      • Whaddya Want Anyway?
      • Cover the FDR
      • Legal
        • Alienated, reasons we sued, 2019
          • Alienation Lawsuit denied 8/20
          • Alienation denied, reasons for appeal
          • Alienation Lawsuit Appeal documents
          • Court orders, defied
          • Lawsuit Filed for Unredacted Value Engineering Report
      • Value Engineering
        • Value Engineering, Redacted
        • Resolved: No Value No Plan
      • Not One Sandbag
        • Not One Sandbag Part 2
      • The Rivers Beneath the Streets
    • Resiliency News from Everywhere
      • Resiliency News from Everywhere
      • East Side Coastal Resiliency Alternative Resources
  • Breathe
    • Breathe
    • LES Breathe
    • Sensors
    • Bad Air Days
    • Open Air Quality
    • Soil Foil
  • Synthetic Grass
    • Synthetic Grass
    • Synthetic Turf News
    • Research links on Artificial Turf
    • Proposed Real Grass Legislation in New York
    • Artificial Turf spills into East River, Lower East Side
    • Unnatural fields installed, East River Park, 2024
    • Temperatures of Artificial Turf, Lower East Side,
  • DONATE
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