PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Andrew Van Brisker on the Citizens Air Complaint Program
3:27:05
·
128 sec
Andrew Van Brisker, a cancer survivor, provides emotional testimony against proposed changes to the Citizens Air Complaint Program. He emphasizes the importance of clean air laws and the effectiveness of the current program in deterring vehicle idling.
- Shares personal story of battling cancer to highlight the impact of air quality on health
- Questions who benefits from proposed changes, such as extended idling times for school buses and reduced reporting windows
- Argues that the proposed changes would weaken the program's effectiveness and not benefit children or citizens
Andrew Van Brisker
3:27:05
Thank you.
3:27:05
Andrew Van Risker.
3:27:07
Chair, you know from your long environmental legacy.
3:27:10
Our clean air laws weren't gifts.
3:27:13
They were bought with blood.
3:27:14
They're stained with the stories of children struggling for air.
3:27:17
Of lives cut short by pollution induced illness.
3:27:20
Of communities fighting for their very right to breathe.
3:27:24
I know this fight firsthand, you see, I'm not here as just a concerned citizen or parent today.
3:27:29
I'm here as someone who's scared death in the face.
3:27:32
I know the cost of dirty air.
3:27:34
4 years ago, Doctors told me you have cancer.
3:27:39
My first thought was, I'm going to die.
3:27:42
How do I tell my kids?
3:27:44
It shattered my world, put my career on hold, I entered grueling treatment.
3:27:49
Side effects were brutal.
3:27:51
Simple tasks became monumental challenges.
3:27:54
I missed work, fell behind, and watched my life unravel.
3:27:59
I told bill collectors, I know I owe it.
3:28:02
I'll pay it when I can.
3:28:04
It opened my eyes to how fragile our health is and the precious nature of the air we breathe.
3:28:10
Toxic emissions from idling trucks and buses serve no purpose.
3:28:15
This program is our frontline defense.
3:28:17
Last year, ordinary New Yorkers brought 77193 deterrent penalties.
3:28:24
Wow.
3:28:25
The city, 210 with its 65 air inspectors.
3:28:30
As we consider this bill, we must ask ourselves, Who stands to benefit?
3:28:36
Who stands to benefit if you let school buses idle 18 minutes near our schools?
3:28:41
Not our children.
3:28:42
Who stands to benefit if you slash the citizen reporting times from 90 to 5 days, but double the department's time to 90, institutionalizing inefficiency, as miss Warren discussed, as others have discussed today.
3:28:55
Not evidence quality, not new participants, not English language learners, not working parents.
3:29:02
Who stands to benefit if you break the program's enforcement backbone by slashing citizens and incentives to take part?
3:29:09
Who stands to benefit if you give the department unchecked powers to create vague
