WE ACT For Environmental Justice studying heat disparities in NYC communities
NEW YORK -- Each summer, heat contributes to the death of around 350 people in New York City. Data shows most of those people died at home, and most of them were Black.
NYC health department research reveals heat kills twice as many Black people as white people. Harlem-based organization WE ACT for Environmental Justice is studying the data behind the disparities.
"The neighborhoods that are the most heat vulnerable now are neighborhoods that were previously redlined," said WE ACT resiliency coordinator Caleb Smith. "It's nearly a 1 to 1, if you look at the maps and overlay them."
The Heat Vulnerability Index
WE ACT worked with the city to develop the Heat Vulnerability Index, which indicates the correlation between tree coverage and temperatures, as well as access to air conditioning and average income levels. It turns out, parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx and Uptown's concrete jungles could use more Mother Nature.
Smith demonstrated the difference shade can make, using a heat gun to calculate ground temperatures in real time.
"On the concrete, under the sun, versus the shade," Smith said, "it's actually climbing a little bit still ... 107 degrees Fahrenheit, and then I'm just going to point it here in the shade, 86, so that's a huge difference."
Smith hopes to see solutions like water features and cooling centers available outside of city-wide designated heatwaves. The importance of these stations, especially for seniors, is not lost on the staff at Inwood's MJHS Isabella Center.
"To be able to beat the heat and get some cool air and some hydration is very important for their safety," said Loyola Princivil-Barnett, COO of MJHS Centers for Rehabilitation and Nursing Care.
Changes activists want to see
The activists are aiming for the activation of cooling centers below the 90-degree threshold.
"Now it's a matter of making policy decisions that will help remedy that need," Smith said.
With WE ACT's advocacy, the City Council is in the process of passing a proposal to ensure all apartments have air conditioning as well as heat.
The organization will be starting a series of free environmental justice classes for community members at CUNY at 55 W. 125th St., every Monday evening, Sept. 9 through Dec. 16. To learn more, click here.
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