REMARKS
Council Member Restler emphasizes the scale of the cooling access problem in NYC
1:42:37
·
58 sec
Council Member Restler makes remarks emphasizing the significant scale of the cooling access problem in New York City, putting the numbers into perspective.
- He compares the number of people without access to air conditioning in NYC to the total populations of several major U.S. cities.
- Restler highlights that the 10% without access plus the 16% not using their air conditioners amounts to about a quarter of NYC's population.
- He stresses the large number of people at risk and the urgency of addressing the issue, despite the seemingly high percentage (90%) of households with access to cooling.
Lincoln Restler
1:42:37
Just to give a sense, the number of people who don't have access to air conditioners in New York City, that's more than the total populations of Washington, DC, Nashville, Denver, Seattle, San Francisco.
Pierina Sanchez
1:42:46
Yes.
Lincoln Restler
1:42:47
Those whole cities are less than 10%.
1:42:49
Their total population of those cities is less than 10% of New York.
1:42:52
So these are large numbers of people that are hurting and struggling and at risk.
1:42:56
So I I know it can seem like when we say 90% of New Yorkers, it's like, oh, well, most people are okay.
1:43:01
But there are lots of people that are struggling and hurting and are at extreme risk if we fail to act.
1:43:05
And I know you're not saying otherwise.
1:43:06
I know you I I'm really I'm not trying to
Lucy Joffe
1:43:08
And it's another 16% that we have identified that are not using their air conditioner.
1:43:13
So when you talk about the scale, absolutely, what we're talking about is a very significant, Right.
1:43:19
Impact.
Lincoln Restler
1:43:20
Yeah.
1:43:20
No.
1:43:21
20 I mean, that's a quarter of New York City.
1:43:23
We're talking about Brooklyn.
1:43:25
Right?
1:43:26
Period.
1:43:26
Not quite, but close.
1:43:27
Brooklyn's more than a quarter.
1:43:28
The, Brooklyn's the best.
1:43:30
Chair Sanchez, thank you so much for the extended time, and thank you to the panel from HPD for your thoughtful answers.
1:43:35
We appreciate it.
