Residents in The Bronx’s “Asthma Alley,” ask the New York Power Authority to commit to transition off of costly fossil fuel-burning power plants.
Facilities that provided assistance for people with asthma before the pandemic have continued to operate by offering pre-recorded medical advice by phone, and have never returned to in-person services, families told El Diario.
‘Cleaning up our buildings in the decades to come isn’t just about creating thousands of good jobs, or combating environmental racism, or fighting climate change. It’s also about improving public health.’
‘In New York, the transportation sector alone is responsible for 36 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions, and that number is growing.’
‘Recent research shows that long-term exposure to particulate-matter air pollution increases the likelihood of severe COVID-19 outcomes. And people of color are disproportionately affected.’
Too many New Yorkers who rely on Medicaid are not being diagnosed and treated in a timely manner due to the lack of blood allergy testing—in part because our state Medicaid program severely limits access to those tests.
Health outcomes–and things that depend on them like school performance–are shaped by housing quality. Housing quality is shaped by segregation. And segregation reflects policies that separated Americans by race.
In 2001, two gas-burning plants were located in the South Bronx with the promise that they would be temporary. Now, 14 years later, the New York Power Authority wants to extend the facilities’ lifespans.