Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Water availability and potential implementation of clean air centers
1:01:35
ยท
3 min
Council Member Schulman inquires about water availability at library cooling centers and the potential implementation of clean air centers in NYC. Christina Farrell and Carolyn Olson provide responses on these topics.
- Cooling centers are required to have water available as part of their agreement
- The city is open to addressing specific issues with water availability if reported
- Clean air centers, as implemented in some western states, are discussed but raise concerns:
- Difference in risk between heat and air quality emergencies
- Potential increased risk from encouraging travel during poor air quality events
- Focus on clear messaging for reducing outdoor exposure during air quality emergencies
Lynn C. Schulman
1:01:35
Okay.
1:01:36
So public access oh, public access to water has been an issue at library cooling centers.
1:01:43
Has any work been done to coordinate that and make water available to people at the libraries?
Christina Farrell
1:01:51
If if a library or something is having specific issues, they could reach out.
1:01:55
When you sign up to be on cooling center, part of what you promise is that you will have water available.
1:02:01
But if there are some specific issues that we can help with, we're happy to to see those through.
Lynn C. Schulman
1:02:06
California, Washington, and Arizona, and Oregon all have clean air center initiatives.
1:02:12
Clean air centers are areas with air filtration systems or portable air cleaners and provide safe places to go during wildfire smoke and other air pollution events similar to cooling centers.
1:02:24
Has the city considered this as an option and the bill aside in light of the increase in air pollution and wildfire smoke in New York?
Mercedes Narcisse
1:02:34
You wanna start?
Carolyn Olson
1:02:35
So I'll start just by by talking from a from sort of a public evidence base for public health.
1:02:45
So we we definitely are always looking at ways we can protect New Yorkers' health and protect folks and reduce their exposure to poor air quality.
1:02:55
But I really want to draw a distinction between what we know about heat emergencies and what we know about air quality emergencies.
1:03:01
So for heat, we have this acute risk, right?
1:03:05
We have data that show us very clearly as the temperature rises, we see that increase in illness and in death.
1:03:12
We have hundreds of deaths every summer.
1:03:14
But for quality, we're more concerned about chronic exposures and there isn't the same type of exponential risk for these short term exposures.
1:03:24
And so what we've always leaned on and what we have really worked on with the city, with emergency management and others is developing clear messaging around reducing your time outdoors, and if you're outdoors, reduce the intensity of your activity and potentially wear a mask if that's appropriate for you.
1:03:42
And so opening a clean air center here for the very few circumstance I mean, we're all thinking about 2023, right?
1:03:50
We all were here, was very, very frightening.
1:03:53
But the idea of opening a clean air center, we don't want to be introducing a potential increase in risk for individuals from leaving an indoor environment, which by definition is going to be better than that air outside, and travel, which we know all New York, right, we're all going to have to go outside, we're going to take a walk to the subway, whatever it is.
1:04:16
And so that's our concern and what we're really focused on is leaning into the evidence base, providing clear messaging to New Yorkers in an air quality emergency around reducing their time outdoors.
1:04:31
And then for heat emergencies, we lean into cooling centers because that is a proven evidence based way to to support an emergency response as part of our larger response.