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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Shelby Lester, Resiliency Planner at UPROSE, on Cooling Centers and Extreme Heat
1:22:36
ยท
115 sec
Shelby Lester, Resiliency Planner at UPROSE, testifies about the inadequacies of New York City's current cooling center program and the disproportionate impact of extreme heat on environmental justice communities, particularly Sunset Park in Brooklyn. She urges the city council to pass legislation that establishes a minimum number of cooling centers, extends their hours, and improves communication about their services.
- Sunset Park experiences temperatures 6-8 degrees higher than the citywide average due to industrial infrastructure and limited green spaces.
- Extreme heat claims about 580 New York lives annually, with environmental justice communities most affected.
- UPROSE recommends establishing a minimum number of cooling centers, focusing on environmental justice communities, and providing real-time information in multiple languages.
Shelby Lester
1:22:36
Good morning council members.
1:22:38
My name is Shelby Lester and I'm the resiliency planner at UPROWS.
1:22:42
UPROWS is Brooklyn's oldest Latino community based organization serving Sunset Park since 1966 and working at the intersection of racial and climate justice.
1:22:50
The Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn is a frontline working class environmental justice community of over a 30,000 with a population of over 80% people of color.
1:22:58
Sunset Park's industrial infrastructure and limited green spaces contribute to heat retention in the neighborhood, making it particularly susceptible to high ambient heat levels.
1:23:07
Waterfront districts such as ours often experience temperatures that are six to eight degrees higher than the citywide average.
1:23:13
Extreme heat is the deadliest natural disaster worldwide, claiming the lives of around five hundred eighty New Yorkers each year and disproportionately impacting the health of environmental justice communities.
1:23:22
According to the New York City panel on climate change, the frequency and intensity of heat waves in New York City will only continue to rise as climate change worsens, making cooling centers a critical lifeline.
1:23:31
In my work at UPROWS, my primary focus has been filling in the gaps in the city's current cooling center program by establishing our own safe havens in the community spaces around our neighborhood.
1:23:40
Our community has made it clear that the currents the city's current cooling center program is inadequate to address the immediate threat of extreme heat.
1:23:46
The program does not actively engage with the communities it serves leading to lack of awareness and trust.
1:23:51
We recommend that this bill establish a minimum number of cooling centers in the city with clear operational set by the New York City Office of Emergency Management particularly focused on environmental justice communities that experience high heat index scores.
1:24:04
Cooling centers and environmental justice communities should be hyper hyperaccessible and operate beyond the typical nine to five hours.
1:24:10
They should provide real time information about heat related health impacts and cooling center operations in the top 10 most spoken languages in city throughout the year.
1:24:17
We urge city council to pass legislation that addresses the heat lethal outcomes of our city's most devastating natural disaster and prioritize the safety and health of our communities, especially those that are disproportionately burdened by extreme heat and climate injustice.
1:24:30
Thank you for your time.