New Asthma Proposal Targets Negligent Landlords

Crumbling buildings, apartment mold, and overwhelming pests may be well-known city asthma triggers, but a comparatively high concentration of asthma cases in northern Manhattan has prompted Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and City Council members to zero in on a new target: negligent landlords.

The Asthma-Free Housing Act, co-sponsored by council members including Rosie Mendez (D-Lower East Side) and Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Spanish Harlem), would require landlords whose tenants suffer from asthma, emphysema, or lung cancer to inspect their buildings at least once a year for indoor allergens. If landlords do not properly address the problems, the proposal states that the Department of Housing Preservation and Development will assume charge of the failings and fix the violations themselves.

West Harlem’s WE ACT for Environmental Justice, an environmental justice organization, helped to produce the bill as part of the Coalition for Asthma-Free Homes. According to Julien Terrell, housing and health campaign coordinator for WE ACT, what distinguishes the bill from previous legislation is its initiation of an official protocol for mold and pest control.

“There is currently nothing in place that ensures that, one, the job will be done, and two, that the job could be done,” Terrell said. Whereas the New York State Department of Health only provides guidelines for landlords, the new system would establish mandates for landlords and the city in order to tackle the underlying causes.

With the ever-present possibility of development in Harlem, many point out that construction projects could be asthma threats. But Terrell said that organizations frequently overlook the triggers lurking within the confines of people’s homes.

“We try to raise awareness around threats to indoor air quality,” Terrell said. “Ninety percent of time is spent indoors ... and there needs to be a dedicated type of remediation.”

While representatives of Harlem—including council member Mark-Viverito and WE ACT—support the plan, the issues and solutions are citywide. The city’s Department of Health reports that the percentage of asthmatics throughout the five boroughs ranks high by national standards.

“These problems have serious health consequences and our bill will force landlords and inspectors to take them seriously,” Gotbaum said in a press release.

The bill would hold landlords legally responsible for slipshod apartment maintenance. According to Gotbaum’s office, residents experience worsened respiratory health from in-apartment pesticides as well as mold-infested walls, which landlords sometimes paint over.

Currently, pollution and poor housing conditions have made Harlem one of the most affected neighborhoods in the nation in terms of respiratory disorders. Aside from Mark-Viverito, council member Robert Jackson (D-Morningside Heights and West Harlem) has also signed onto the bill, according to a City Council spokesman.

While council member Inez Dickens (D-Morningside Heights and Harlem) has yet to submit paperwork to endorse the proposal, her office said that does not indicated a lack of concern about the state of her constituents’ respiratory health.

“She is very focused on the 125th Street rezoning,” Lynette Velasco, special assistant to Dickens, said of the councilwoman. “Of course we have raised concerns about the rise of asthma, the effects of the asthma. We need more time to refocus and look at things.”

Susan Russell, Jackson’s chief of staff, said that in West Harlem, factors of carpeting, leaks, and vermin can endanger residents’ welfare. Though Jackson favors the plan, Russell said from an attorney’s standpoint, she was curious as to how the protocol would successfully mediate disputes between clients, landlords, and the city.

“What does it mean when it’s put into practice?” Russell asked. “They [the disputes] might just happen in housing court.”

scott.levi@columbiaspectator.com