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Cooling Centers Should Offer Refuge on Bad Air Days, New Legislation Says

By Jeff Mays | March 11, 2015 10:23am
 Under legislation proposed by Queens Councilman Costa Constantinides and Manhattan Councilman Corey Johnson the Department of Health would be required to open cooling centers when the air quality index is poor and to conduct an annual air quality survey.
Under legislation proposed by Queens Councilman Costa Constantinides and Manhattan Councilman Corey Johnson the Department of Health would be required to open cooling centers when the air quality index is poor and to conduct an annual air quality survey.
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Flickr/Atomische * Tom Giebel

NEW YORK CITY — The city normally opens its cooling centers on the hottest days of the year, but two city councilmen are pushing for them to be open during bad air days as well. 

When the air quality in the city dips to dangerous levels, people with asthma and the elderly are put at risk and shouldn't be outside — which is why Councilmen Costa Constantinides and Corey Johnson introduced new legislation Wednesday that would require the Department of Health to provide refuge during those days.

"We have so many vulnerable populations," said Constantinides. "We are the 12th worst city in the country in terms of air quality, and 1 in 8 children have asthma, which increases in high poverty areas."

Fine particle pollution such as ozone and sulfur dioxide cause 2,000 deaths per year, 4,800 emergency room visits for asthma, and 1,500 hospitalizations for respiratory illnesses and cardiovascular disease, according to a DOH report released in 2013.

Under the new law, the DOH would be required to develop a specific set of criteria to determine when the air quality index is poor enough to open the cooling centers.

The agency would also have to implement 150 street-level monitors that will measure air quality in all five boroughs, 20 percent of which must be located near streets with high traffic. The findings would then be compiled into an annual survey, which currently doesn't exist, Johnson said.

The Health Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The city already opens dozens of cooling centers in community spaces across the city, including libraries and senior centers, during heat emergencies. But high heat index days don't always match with days of poor air quality, Constantinides said.

"Last Aug. 27 the air quality index was so bad that it was bad not only for the vulnerable population with respiratory issues, it was bad for the general population," Constantinides said. "But there were no cooling centers open because it was only 88 degrees and not a heat index day."

Air quality has improved because fewer buildings are using boilers that burn No. 4 and No. 6 heating oil, which produce harmful thick black smoke, the DOH said. But the city still had a long way to go to reduce the health impact from dirty air, the department's report found.

Last year, Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced a plan to reduce 80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by retrofitting the heating and cooling systems at more than 3,000 publicly owned buildings and incentivizing private landlords to do the same.

“We must use all tools at our disposal to protect the health of New Yorkers,” said Johnson, who is chairman of the Council's health committee.

“Children and seniors in particular are vulnerable to environmental pollutants. ‎These ‎measures will save lives by helping to prevent the development of serious respiratory and cardiovascular diseases," he added.