Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Air Quality

Senator Decries Bronx Asthma Crisis Then Rejects Pricing

nytimes_westside.jpg


It turns out that pollution-related heart and lung problems aren't just for poor kids in the Bronx anymore. From yesterday's New York Times:

A study that used the mass of data included in the Women's Health Initiative found that women who lived in communities with relatively high levels of air pollution in the forms of tiny particles -- aka soot -- were far more likely to die because of heart attacks than women who lived in cleaner air. Results were published in February in The New England Journal of Medicine.Cars, trucks, and diesel buses - the main culprits in the creation of particle pollution - spew untold millions of the microscopic pollutants into the air daily. Exercisers should take precautions against particles, experts said, by not exerting themselves near traffic, or, if they must use a path next to a highway, staying a few hundred yards away from vehicles.

Meanwhile, in related news, Bronx State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. and Richard Lipsky's Neighborhood Retail Alliance are holding a press conference on the steps of City Hall this Sunday, 11:30 am to protest "the failure" of Mayor Bloomberg's congestion picing plan "to address the air quality in those neighborhoods that are experiencing a severe asthma problem." Diaz, Sr. says:

With all due respect to environmentalists, I cannot understand how these plans can be made without an environmental impact study being conducted first. There are many questions that have been left unanswered, and we need to have a thorough review of the matter before implementing any plan of action.

Photo: Richard Perry/The New York Times

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Wednesday’s Headlines: Big Game Edition

Super Bowl Tuesday lived up to the hype. Plus more news.

March 4, 2026

The Mamdani ‘Streets Master Plan’: Big! Bold! No Mileage Benchmarks!

Benchmarks? They don't have to show you any stinking mileage benchmarks.

March 4, 2026

Lawmaker Pushes FDNY To Get On Board With Protected Bike Lanes

FDNY brass recently claimed bike lanes impede emergency responses.

March 4, 2026

Mamdani’s DOT Endorses Adams’s ‘Unacceptable’ Opposition To Universal Daylighting, Stunning Abreu

The new mayor said he wants "streets that are the envy of the world" — yet he continues his predecessor's flawed policy on daylighting.

March 3, 2026

Federal Judge Rules Trump Can’t Kill Congestion Pricing

Trump does not have the power to toss out the Biden administration's decision to authorize the tolls, Judge Lewis Liman ruled.

March 3, 2026

Today in Placard Abuse: The ‘Lieutenant’s Girlfriend’ Who Parks Illegally

Meet a driver who gets the gold medal for placard corruption.

March 3, 2026
See all posts