Rep. Ed Towns Addresses Hundreds of Brookdale Hospital Workers & Supporters at 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers Rally

On Friday June 10^th, Rep. Edolphus ‘Ed” Towns addressed Brookdale University Hospital workers (1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers),at a rally outside of the facility. The dispute between the union and Brookdale is over the failure of Brookdale Hospital management to make payments for health coverage. In a statement released last week the Congressman put his support behind the workers. “These workers entered into a good faith contract and it is the responsibility of the State Department of Health to see to it that every effort is made to resolve this dispute in favor of the workers and the community”, said Towns.

Senator Addabbo: "Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite!"; Sponsors Free Seminar with Assemblyman Mike Miller on Preventing, Eliminating Pests

Senator and Assemblyman Mike Miller Sponsor Free Seminar

with Experts on How to Prevent or Eliminate the Growing Menace

On Thursday, February 17 at 7 p.m., NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. and Assemblyman Michael Miller are sponsoring a free seminar providing important information from the experts on how to prevent, identify, or get rid of, the spreading problem of bedbug infestations. If you or someone you know is concerned with the issue of bedbugs, come to the event at Emanuel United Church of Christ, 93-12 91^st Avenue (off Woodhaven Blvd., near Atlantic Avenue) featuring speakers from the NYC Department of Health, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and local pest control business owner William Puricelli of Advanced Pest Management Services.

Addabbo notes, “I want to thank these experts for providing timely information to my constituents -- homeowners, tenants or landlords -- who are afraid that the city’s bedbug plague will hit their buildings.” The Senator points out that it has been reported that the city had logged 12,768 bedbug complaints for 2009, with bedbug violations issued by HPD inspectors exploding from 82 in 2004 to 4,808 in that same year. In 2010, exterminators were extremely busy, as the nasty critters temporarily shut down businesses, forced residents to move, and left beleaguered New Yorkers suffering from red welts and bites. Some local movie theaters, offices and hotels also reported being visited by the bugs.

Adds Miller, “The citywide fight against bedbugs will be won one home at a time. Winning the battle can save you thousands of dollars, and information is your best weapon.”

According to local certified entomologists and exterminators, bedbug removal is one of the most difficult and costly tasks in the pest control industry. Landlords have been known to spend up to $80,000 to get large buildings bedbug free. Adding to landlords’ woes of dealing with these pests is the “Bedbug Disclosure Act,” a new citywide law that took effect August 30, 2010, which requires landlords to notify prospective tenants about any infestations in the building within the previous year. The law’s stated goal is to suppress the bedbug epidemic by giving “landlords an incentive to comply with their legal obligations to eradicate” infestations. However, the disclosure act fails to include any legal or financial penalties for landlords who do not comply.

For more information about this free local event, please call Senator Addabbo’s Howard Beach district office at 718-738-1111, his Middle Village satellite office at 718-497-1630, or Assemblyman Miller’s Woodhaven district office at 718-805-0950.

Health Department Shuts Down Dunkin Donuts on 63rd Drive by Erika Usui - Queens Chronicle

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Dunkin’ Donuts on Woodhaven Boulevard was shut down briefly this week for sanitary violations. PHOTO BY ERIKA USUI

The establishment, at 63-65 Woodhaven Blvd. on the corner of Woodhaven Boulevard and Penelope Avenue, was cited with 40 violation points by the Health Department. It reopened on Wednesday morning.

According to inspection reports, three major sanitary violations were made: Food was found to be contaminated or not discarded properly, evidence of mice were present and the facility was not vermin-proof.

Since July 2010, the department has required restaurants to post letter grades showing the result of their sanitary inspections. A score of 0 to 13 recieves an A grade, 14 to 27 points a B and 28 points or more a C.

If a restaurant scores 28 or more points, inspections continue roughly once a month until the score drops or the facility is closed for persistent violations.

An inspection earlier in the month, on Jan. 19, cited Dunkin’ with 26 violation points. Two 2009 inspections, in March and December, cited 12 and 20 points, respectively.

A reinspection date for the establishment is not yet set, Health Department spokesman Erin Hughes said on Monday, but the store reopened less than 48 hours later.

Many neighbors say the doughnut shop is the busiest in the borough, and that the shut-down created an irritating detour in their coffee-run routine, especially in the snow.

Though a 40-point violation is major, “I'll come back here for munchies once things are cleaned up,” said Susan Press of Rego Park.

Inspections conducted in summer of 2010 gave the two nearest Dunkin’ Donuts in the area better scores.

The establishment at 96-37 Queens Blvd. near 63rd Drive was cited with 5 points, but has not yet received a grade. The establishment at 95-56 Queens Blvd., near the other leg of 63rd Drive, was cited with 6 points and an A grade.

Roach Map - Where are the Roaches in NYC? - The Great Urban Hack

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Click on image to enlarge...

Cockroaches are gross. They spread germs. They defecate on our silverware. They live in our kitchens, our bathrooms. They thrive on our garbage, our leftover food. And in a city of 8 million, they can be anywhere. But where are they exactly?

Right now there's no up-to-date way to track roach infestations. But restaurant inspectors are on the look out for the 6-legged bugs all the time. This map shows where city health inspectors are reporting roach sightings on any given week.

Check back each week to find out the neighborhood with the highest number of roach infestations.

Sign up here to be emailed a monthly snapshot of where the roaches are.

New Bill Would Require City to Trap Raccoons Anywhere in Five Boroughs by Lisa L. Colangelo - NY Daily News

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A new bill has been introduced that would require the city to trap and remove raccoons anywhere in the five boroughs at the public's request.

A new bill has been introduced that would require the city to trap and remove raccoons anywhere in the five boroughs at the public's request.

New Yorkers fed up with the antics of the city's furry masked bandits could get some relief under a bill that makes it easier to capture and release raccoons.

The bill, being unveiled today by Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, requires the city to trap raccoons anywhere in the five boroughs simply at the request of the public.

And in a conciliatory nod to the raccoons, the city Health Department would be encouraged to humanely release the critters. Under current guidelines, most trapped raccoons are euthanized because they can carry rabies.

"People have been calling my office complaining that they are seeing a lot of raccoons," Crowley said. "But the Health Department will only come if the raccoon is injured or sick. People are told to hire someone to trap them."

Dozens of raccoons in Central Park have tested positive for rabies, prompting the city to conduct an aggressive trapping and vaccination program.

"I have made reports and no one will listen to me," said a Queens woman, upset that a family of raccoons moved in behind her Ridgewood home. "I have two young daughters and I'm afraid. I was told if I called about a coyote, the city would come right away."

Health Department officials were mute on Crowley's bill, saying they don't comment on pending legislation.

But they encouraged any New Yorker who sees an aggressive or sick raccoon to call 911.

Wildlife experts encouraged New Yorkers to seal up their trash and leave healthy raccoons alone.

"You can't pick up and relocate every animal you see," said Bobby Horvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. "They are in the city, and you have to learn to live with them. They will have less contact with us if we don't invite them."

Queens Hospitals Resemble "Third-World Country" by Jaya Saxena- Gothamist

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New data from the American Hospital Association shows that Queens' hospitals are some of the most overcrowded in the country. A combination of hospital closings, a growing population and a high percentage of elderly residents have put the 10 remaining hospitals in the borough in a dangerous position. Kenneth E. Raske, president of Greater New York Hospital Association, told the Wall Street Journal, "They have the lowest bed-to-population ratio of any of the boroughs. It could precipitate a public-health crisis if one of them were to go down."

The recent closing of St. Vincent's hospital has brought to attention the risks of hospital closing, with other downtown Manhattan hospitals becoming crowded after picking up ex-St Vincent's patients, but Manhattan still has the highest bed to resident ratio of any borough, with almost 6 beds per 1,000 residents. Queens has the lowest, with only 1.7 beds per 1,000 residents. Queens has lost almost 700 beds in the past two years with the closings of Parkway Hospital, St. John's Hospital and Mary Immaculate Hospital. The closings have put an unnecessary strain on hospitals like Elmhurst Hospital, and many residents prefer schlepping to Long Island for treatment. Emil Silberman of Jamaica Hospital said, "We were designed for tops 60,000 patients a year. We're seeing 135,000. So unfortunately, it's challenging."

However, the Department of Health claims this is the first they've heard of any problems in the past few years, with spokeswoman Claire T. Pospisil saying, "We don't feel that there are not enough beds. We're in contact with many of the hospitals on a regular basis. I'm not aware that there's an issue here." Many of the borough's hospitals are in the process of adding new beds, with New York Hospital Queens adding 80 beds next month. But emergency medicine Diane M. Sixsmith said it would only be an "adequate" addition.

Details Emerge of Anthony Seminerio’s Close Ties to Hospital by Colin Moynihan - NYTimes.com

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The relationship between a longtime assemblyman from Queens and a hospital in his district for which he had sought state funding was so close that in the early 1990s, the head of the hospital promised him a job if his political career faltered, according to testimony on Tuesday.

That assertion was made at a pre-sentencing hearing for Anthony S. Seminerio, who represented the 38th Assembly District in Queens for 30 years until June, when he resigned a day before pleading guilty to fraud. Mr. Seminerio, 74, admitted that he had promoted the business interests of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center before state agencies and fellow legislators without divulging that the hospital was paying him — in essence, he was pocketing money for his services as a legislator.

At the hearing, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, a prosecution witness, Arlene Pedone, who had once worked with Mr. Seminerio, testified that during a difficult re-election contest in 1992, David P. Rosen, the chief executive of Jamaica Hospital, sought to calm Mr. Seminerio.

“David Rosen assured Assemblyman Seminerio that if he lost the election,” she said, “there would always be a place at the hospital for him.”

The conversation Ms. Pedone described took place years before any formal relationship between the assemblyman and the hospital, but the anecdote highlighted their close ties. Prosecutors said the hospital paid Mr. Seminerio more than $300,000 to act as an advocate with legislators and lobby executive branch officials. The money was channeled through a consulting company that Mr. Seminerio had set up.

Jamaica Hospital has not been charged in the case. On Tuesday, a spokesman said, “The hospital has cooperated with the government’s investigation.”

The hearing afforded a revealing view into some particulars of the case that had been a mystery, and included evidence, like witness testimony and recordings of wiretapped phone calls, that often comes to light only during a trial.

Parts of the wiretap transcripts had been released previously by the United States attorney’s office, but on Tuesday, entire conversations were made public. In some instances, the identities of the people speaking on the phone with the assemblyman were made public for the first time.

A federal prosecutor, William Harrington, told the judge, Naomi Reice Buchwald, that the recordings showed that Mr. Seminerio had often improperly used his clout as a member of the Legislature to benefit clients of his consulting firm, from whom he received payments he did not disclose.

For instance, on June 20, 2008, prosecutors said, investigators recorded a conversation in which Mr. Rosen complained to Mr. Seminerio that he was facing a hurdle with an employee in the State Health Department.

According to the transcript, Mr. Seminerio offered to intercede, then a moment later said, “Uh, I’m due for a payment.”

Later, a lawyer for Mr. Seminerio, Perry Krinsky, called as a witness a former colleague of his client’s, who suggested that not every connection between Mr. Seminerio and Jamaica Hospital was tainted.

The witness, Serphin R. Maltese, a former state senator, wrote in a 2002 letter that he and Mr. Seminerio had arranged for a $25,000 grant for the hospital. But on Tuesday, Mr. Maltese testified that Mr. Seminerio had played no role in securing the money.

“Then why did Mr. Seminerio’s name appear in this letter?” Mr. Krinsky asked.

“I guess it was to make him look good,” Mr. Maltese said.

New Investigation: NYC Women Waiting Up To 4 Months for Mammograms...

Weiner, Maloney Push for Increasing Reimbursement Rates

Brooklyn women can wait up to four months just to access basic, cancer-detecting mammograms, a new investigation from Representative Anthony Weiner (D – Brooklyn and Queens), a member of the House Commerce Subcommittee on Health, and Representative Carolyn Maloney (D – Manhattan and Queens) showed.

The investigation of mammogram accessibility surveyed 33 randomly selected public and private health clinics and found that 14 screening facilities had at least a month of wait time – despite the fact that some breast cancers can more than double in size in that time.
Highlights of the Study:

• Citywide average wait for a mammogram is 1 month.
• Wait time for Queens hospitals averaged 4.3 weeks.
• Bronx facilities posted the longest average wait time for a screening – 5.4 weeks.
• Facilities in Manhattan had the shortest time, with an average 1.2 weeks.
• Wait times increased by 1 week at Staten Island facilities since 2008 – from 4.2 weeks to 5.2 weeks.
• Wait times decreased by two weeks at Brooklyn facilities – from 7.4 weeks to 4 weeks since 2008.
• Two facilities posted same day wait times while Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn had over a four-month wait for a mammogram – up 9.5 weeks from 2008.

While the current nationwide average costs for a film mammogram screening is around $125, the 2009 Medicare reimbursement rate is only about $81.51 – leaving health centers to cover a $44 gap. That rate is down from $83.03 in 2008. For a digital mammogram screening, the current average cost is around $175, while the 2009 Medicare reimbursement rate is only $129.84 – leaving health centers to cover a $45 gap.

From 2006-2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reduced Medicare reimbursement rates by 4.8 percent as a result of a 2005 bill passed by the Republican-controlled Congress. The projected 2010 reimbursement rates are at approximately $79 for film screening and $127 for digital screening, leaving facilities with a $46 to $48 overrun.

Rep. Weiner, who passed legislation to increase the Medicare reimbursement rates in 2003, plans to re-introduce legislation to increase reimbursement rates 15 percent in 2010 to $95 for film screenings and $150 for digital screenings – and index the rate in later years. The step will help financially burdened health clinics.

“New Yorkers have the second highest rate of breast cancer in the country – but some of the longest waits for mammograms. Early detection makes all the difference. If you catch breast cancer early, you have a greater chance of living. It’s that simple,” said Rep. Maloney. “I thank my friend Congressman Weiner for releasing this vital report and for his advocacy for increasing mammogram reimbursement rates. When providers lose money performing mammograms, we all lose.”

Rep. Weiner said, "Increasing access to mammograms clearly saves lives. Raising the reimbursement rate will ensure that women have increased options to protect their most important asset – their health.”

To calculate wait times, Rep. Weiner’s staff called 33 mammogram facilities to inquire the earliest appointment for a mammogram.

Statement from Council Member Crowley on St Johns Closing and Health Care in Queens

March 2, 2009; Queens, NY – Council Member Elizabeth Crowley released this statement:

"To my great sadness, I was among the crowd of former St. John’s employees at the midnight Vigil on Saturday for the closing of the hospital," said Council Member Elizabeth Crowley.

"I heard their fears and I share their outrage that Governor Paterson and the Department of Health could not allocate the necessary funds to keep this hospital open. The consequences of its closure are devastating: thousands of people are out of work during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression; local businesses will take a tremendous hit; and access to health care for Queen’s residents has become an even greater challenge. While I continue to support the staff and their families through city agencies, I will pressure Governor Paterson to find a solution that meets the needs of the people of Queens."

$18M Won't Save Doomed Hospitals by Ben Hogwood - Queens Chronicle

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(photos by Michael O’Kane)

The state will hand out $18 million for Queens health-care — but two hospitals begging for money won’t see a penny of it.

The state announced on Tuesday that it will provide $14.5 million to expand capacity at eight borough health-care facilities to offset the closure of St. John’s Queens Hospital in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate Hospital in Jamaica. The facilities are set to close permanently on Feb. 27.

It will also make up to $3 million available to help retrain, counsel and find jobs for employees being displaced.

The announcement dashed the hopes of some workers, who have been hitting the pavement and going to civic meetings this past week in an attempt to convince anyone they can that the hospitals are worth saving.

St. John’s nurse Kim Zambrotta has been a leading figure in the effort to save the hospitals. Now, she said the process is too far along to stop it.

Zambrotta believes the state could have funneled some of the $18 million to the hospitals to keep them open, at least long enough for the state to receive its share of the $787 billion economic recovery package that recently passed in Congress.

“They could have trickled that money back to us,” she said. “They could have put a little band-aid on our hemorrhage.”

Zambrotta was returning with a bus full of other hospital employees that traveled to Gov. David Paterson’s Manhattan office on Wednesday for a peaceful protest. No one from the governor’s office came down to speak with the workers. Instead, the police read them their rights and they soon disbursed.
Police made no arrests.

The two hospitals are operated by Caritas Health Care, a subsidiary of Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn. Caritas filed bankruptcy and closure plans in early February, but the closing process went into high gear Saturday morning when all admissions were terminated.

In an attempt to prevent that from happening, workers, community leaders and supporters rallied outside St. John’s, begging, pleading and even attempting to shame Paterson into keeping the hospitals open just a little longer.

“We need help from the governor and we need it immediately,” said Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village). “Lives are in danger.”

It didn’t work. On Tuesday, the front doors were locked; visitors and workers had to use a side door for entrance.

The hospitals have also laid off a large number of their staff. Carlos Quiles, a nurse at St. John’s, was one of those contacted over the weekend and told not to show up to work anymore. “We weren’t even allowed to come in and clear out our lockers,” Quiles said.

Some don’t see how the borough could handle the shutdown. Keith Chiu, a Caritas paramedic, said the situation wasn’t dire over the weekend because people were out of town due to a federal holiday. Still, it was bad enough. “I worked this weekend and it was crazy around the hospital,” Chiu said, expecting it only to get worse.

But State Health Commissioner Richard Daines said in a prepared release that the $18 million in grants will go a long way to preparing the borough for the fallout.

“These grants will help other health-care facilities in the area expand their capacity to absorb the patients previously handled by these two Caritas hospitals and assist workers in finding new employment,” Daines stated.

The money is broken down as follows:

• — $3.6 million to Health and Hospitals Corporation of New York City to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Elmhurst and Queens hospital centers.

• — $4.5 million to Medisys to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Jamaica and Flushing sites.
• — $3.5 million to North Shore LIJ to expand inpatient capacity and emergency room services at its Forest Hills and Valley Stream sites.
• — $2.7 million to Wyckoff Medical Center to expand inpatient and emergency room services.
• — $650,000 to the Joseph P. Addabbo Family Health Centers to maintain primary and preventative services at the St. Dominic’s Health Care Center.

State Senator Klein, Mayor Bloomberg and Health Commissioner Frieden Announce New Resturant Inspection Program

Public Posting of Sanitary Grades Gives Customers More Information Up Front

Klein and Bloomberg unfurl new initiative to implement a letter grading system whereby diners may easily access the results of an establishment's latest health inspection.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Deputy Senate Majority Leader Jeff Klein announced on Saturday, January 31st, that New York City is updating its restaurant inspection system to improve sanitary conditions and give consumers more information. Under the new model, the Health Department will increase inspections for less sanitary restaurants and require all establishments to conspicuously post letter grades – a measure championed by Senator Klein to keep the public better informed about inspection results. The new system will be phased in over the next two years. This approach will concentrate city resources on the restaurants that pose the greatest risk to public health and place no additional burden on establishments that maintain sanitary conditions. Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, New York City Health Commissioner, and State Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz joined Mayor Bloomberg and Senator Klein at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge for today's announcement.

"We know New York City's restaurants are the best in the world and we want them to also be the cleanest," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This new system will encourage the less sanitary restaurants to clean up – and won't punish the good guys. As sanitation improves, so will business. The more residents and tourists can trust the food they buy in New York City restaurants, the more likely they are to patronize them."

"Today's announcement is a great step forward toward improving the overall public health of all New York City residents," said Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester). "As someone who has spent years advocating for a more consumer friendly system, I am thrilled that New York City diners will finally have easy access to the latest inspection results of their favorite restaurants. Having a letter grade posted for all diners to see will provide a real incentive for restaurants with a 'C' hanging in the doorway to clean up their act."

Senator Klein will again introduce legislation in the 2009 Legislative Session to require local departments of health state-wide to implement a letter grading system. "Whether New Yorkers are dining out for a routine meal or to celebrate a special occasion, their only reservations should be to book a table. I applaud the Mayor and the Health Department's outstanding efforts to improve the well being of all New Yorkers," said Senator Klein.

Food-related illness is a source of growing public concern in New York City. Complaints about food-borne illness have increased in recent years, and rodent infestations are a common problem in restaurants. The Health Department reports signs of rodents in 25 percent of the establishments inspected. Food poisoning causes missed work and school, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and even deaths. In fact, based on national estimates, more than 11,000 New Yorkers are treated in emergency departments each year for restaurant-related food related illnesses, and thousands of people are hospitalized as a result. The cost of these hospitalizations and emergency room visits is more than $130 million annually.

"By requiring restaurants to publicly post grades, the new food safety initiative will help consumers make more informed choices about where to eat, while increasing restaurant operators' motivation to stay clean," said Dr. Frieden. "New York City will have safer restaurants and fewer cases of food poisoning."

Senator Klein has been releasing regular reports, Enough to Make you Sick, on the sanitary conditions of supermarkets and New York City restaurants since 2000. Senator Klein's 2008 report studied a subset of New York City's 20,000 restaurants with the 100 worst inspection reports, with violation point scores ranging from 69 to 600 – far exceeding the 28 points that prompt re-inspection. Of the bottom 100 restaurants, 87 percent had at least one category of pest cited in their most recent inspection.

Research from other jurisdictions suggests that public posting of inspection findings has the following outcomes:

Business improves at restaurants with higher grades. When sanitation grades are conspicuously posted at food service establishments, customers use the information to seek out establishments with higher grades. Among Los Angeles restaurants, improvements in grades are associated with increased sales.

Restaurants improve their sanitary standards. When Los Angeles County started posting grades in 1987, only 40 percent of its food service establishments received "A" grades. By 2006, 83percent were meeting that standard.

Fewer people get sick. Although the association is not proven, Los Angeles has recorded a 20 percent decline in hospitalizations for food-borne illnesses since it started posting sanitary grades in food service establishments.

The new model will also bring New York City closer to the FDA recommended schedule of at least three full inspections every year for full service restaurants. At present, most New York City restaurants receive only one.

Fake Turf Heat Alert - City Posts Warnings of Health Risks to Those Playing on Scorching Fields by Patrick Arden - metro

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Children swarmed the artificial-turf soccer field at Asphalt Green yesterday, but a sign at the gate might have raised a red flag for their parents.

“This field can get hot on warm, sunny days,” said the posting by the city’s Parks Department.

“If you experience symptoms of heat-related illness, such as dizziness, weakness, headache, vomiting, or muscle cramps, move to a shaded area. Drink water, rest, and seek medical attention if you do not feel better.”

This sign will soon appear at all of the city’s 94 artificial turf fields — as well as at the 68 fields planned for the future — to warn the public about the risks of overheating and dehydration.

After a decade of installing artificial turf, the city’s Parks Department is finally acknowledging what’s long been known: Fake grass get hot.

One day last month, the artificial turf at Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza was 165.5 degrees, while a nearby plot of grass measured just 83 degrees. Waves of heat rose from the field.

“It’s outrageous,” said Josh Srebnick, a pediatric neuropsychologist who was playing with his five-year-old son, Jake.

One study cited by the Health Department in a recent report on the turf said, “At temperatures above 120 degrees, it only takes 3 seconds to burn a child’s skin severely enough to require surgery.”

The Parks Department has never taken surface temperatures, but this summer it will begin to conduct its own tests of “air quality” on hot days, said a spokesperson. It’s also “exploring” alternatives to rubber-infill turf “to make fields cooler.”

Watchdog group NYC Park Advocates has discovered the carpet-style alternative gets as hot as 160 degrees.

--

“At temperatures of 120 degrees, it only takes 3 seconds to burn a child’s skin severely enough to require surgery.”

Toxin Turns Up in School Buildings, but Officials Say There's No Danger by Bill Egbert - NY Daily News

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Window sills and door frames in dozens of city public schools contain a toxin that can lower IQ scores, causes asthma and is linked to cancer, a Daily News investigation has found.

Polychlorinated biphenyls are common in window and door caulking found in 266 New York City schools built or renovated in the 1960s and 1970s, officials concede.

Random tests, conducted in February and last month for The News, found the PCBs in eight of nine schools. Six of the nine contained levels of PCBs deemed unacceptable.

Last week in response to The News' findings, the Department of Education performed its own air and wipe tests in the affected schools. In all but one test, the PCBs in the caulking had not leaked into the air or surrounding environment.

At Public School 199 on the upper West Side, low levels of PCBs were detected in the first-floor cafeteria in both air and wipe samples. City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden said the levels were below those deemed unsafe by the federal government.

View Frieden's statement...

View Complete List of Schools...

"The independent consultant's findings resolve the central question raised by your investigation: Do PCBs pose a health risk in the schools where they're present in intact caulk sample? ... The findings clearly indicate they do not," Frieden said in a letter to the Daily News.

The buildings where PCB caulking at unsafe levels was detected by The News included five elementary schools and one middle school in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Besides PS 199, the other five were: PS 30 in Harlem; PS 86 in Jamaica, Queens; PS 160 and PS 178 in Baychester, the Bronx, and Intermediate School 131 in Soundview, the Bronx.

Brooklyn has 88 public school buildings built in the 1960s or 1970s; The Bronx has 61, Manhattan 53, Queens 39 and Staten Island 25.

Of the tested schools with unsafe PCB levels, the lowest level found was nearly four times the federal threshold of 50 parts per million.

City Department of Education officials insist the caulking poses no threat as long as it is left alone.

Spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said state regulations "permit the caulk to remain in place" and that the material is removed only when renovations take place. The department has no plan to remove all the material.

Experts say PCBs left undisturbed can still leach out of the caulking into surrounding material or become airborne.

From the 1950s through most of the 1970s, PCBs were added to caulking to keep it flexible, but that changed in the late 1970s when scientists discovered possible adverse health effects caused by exposure to PCBs.

By 1978, the Environmental Protection Agency listed PCBs as a probable carcinogen and issued standards for removal and disposal of materials like PCB-tainted caulk, now considered a hazardous substance.

Since then, owners of buildings with unacceptable PCB concentrations of 50 parts per million or more in caulking are liable for federal fines of $3,000 and $25,000 per day until the material is removed.

Even under its own policy, the Department of Education only removes window caulking during renovations, leaving tainted caulking in place in door frames and masonry joints. For example, the department's policy would have no effect at PS199, where caulking obtained from an outside door frame contained PCB concentrations more than 4,000 times the recommended acceptable threshold.

Over the weekend, after low-level PCBs were detected in air and wipe samples in the cafeteria, activities in the school were canceled and a cleanup crew was sent in.

"I'm concerned about the welfare of my child," said Bill Hawthorn, whose daughter attends kindergarten at PS 199. "If a child plays with this caulking or gets it in their system, what does that do to a 6-year-old? This may be the kind of thing where you don't want to take a chance."

Daniel Kraft, who heads the EPA enforcement and compliance division's toxics section in this area, said, "Wherever we find [PCB contamination] in high concentrations, we usually see it in adjacent materials."

Kraft suggested the education department's policy violates federal law.

"The notion that 'As long as we don't disturb it, we're in compliance with the regulations' is not an adequate interpretation," Kraft said.

Chemical hits children much harder

When the Environmental Protection Agency warns that PCB-tainted window caulking is a potential hazard, they're talking about the effect the toxins could have on grownups.

The ramifications for children, experts say, are even more alarming. Regulations still ignore the harm PCBs can do to growing children as so-called "developmental' toxins — even in low concentrations, they say.

"The picture is becoming clearer that PCBs are potent developmental toxins," said Robert Herrick of Harvard's School of Public Health.

David Carpenter of the Institute for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany said PCBs interfere with thyroid hormones and testosterone, both important to growth and adolescent development.

Lab tests also show that even low-level exposure inhibits growth of brain cells, and several recent studies led Carpenter to conclude, "The higher the child's exposure to PCBs in early life, the lower the IQ and the more the child exhibits anti-social behavior, depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-type symptoms."

A 2004 German study of children in schools with PCB-laden caulk found the compounds accumulated in students' blood.

Of the 377 pupils tested, 95% had low-level concentrations in their blood. The authors could not link the PCB concentrations to specific adverse health risks.

Japanese researchers have even suggested a link between widespread childhood PCB exposure and the spike in diagnoses of attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities.

Tainted caulking an 'emerging problem'

PCB caulking in public schools sparks special concern, but the problem isn't limited to schools.

Any building built between 1960 and 1977 that has not had all its caulking replaced is most likely still contaminated with PCBs at levels many times the threshold for recognized health dangers.

"The caulking issue is something the agency is looking at as an emerging problem," said Daniel Kraft, head of the Environmental Protection Agency enforcement and compliance division's toxics section in this area.

Daniel Lefkowitz, head of Westchester County's task force dealing with PCBs in schools, discovered the problem in caulking at his son's suburban school. That inspired the state's new protocol, requiring an aggressive response to remove tainted caulking.

Lefkowitz said contamination also has been found at Mount Sinai Medical Center and at the sprawling Co-op City in the Bronx.

wegbert@nydailynews.com

NYC Is Asked to Test for Drugs in Water by Colleen Long - The Associated Press:

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The city's drinking water must be tested to determine whether trace amounts of pharmaceuticals are flowing from residents' faucets, City Council members insisted Thursday in an emergency hearing called in response to an Associated Press investigation.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection tests its drinking water for hundreds of contaminants daily but doesn't inspect for pharmaceuticals, despite research showing minute concentrations of 16 drugs or byproducts in its watershed in upstate New York, including medications for infections, seizures and high blood pressure.

As part of its five-month PharmaWater investigation, the AP surveyed 62 major water providers nationwide; pharmaceuticals were detected in the drinking water of 24 of those systems, serving 41 million Americans.

Officials at 34 major water providers, including New York — which has the world's largest unfiltered water supply — said tests have not been conducted.

"To protect health, we need to be informed about what is in our drinking water," said council member James Gennaro, the head of the Environmental Protection Committee, who called the hearing.

Tests that detected pharmaceuticals in the upstate source waters were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of Health.

The city's Department of Environmental Protection, which operates the system providing water to 9 million, continues to resist calls for testing, contending there's no regulator-approved test or regimen for detecting pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies.

"It is far too early for DEP to make any predictions about the long-term need for any particular treatment technology as a response to the presence of pharmaceuticals," said Paul Rush, deputy commissioner for water supply.

The agency has a public awareness campaign asking residents near the upstate watersheds not to flush drugs down the toilet but hasn't created a protocol for testing drinking water, Rush said. The DEP also is participating in a city and state roundtable about disposal issues related to pharmaceuticals in water supplies, he said.

But Gennaro said the city cannot wait for the federal government to act and suggested legislation to require testing and to develop a plan to filter the drugs from the water, if necessary.

"At the end of the day, it's not the USGS that has to drink the water, it's not the state (Department of Environmental Conservation) that drinks it up in Albany; we drink the water," he said.

Gennaro and other members of the committee criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Health for declining to appear at the hearing.

Though measured in concentrations of parts per billion or trillion, it is unknown how much of the drugs found in the city's watersheds lingers by the time 1.1 billion gallons reaches the city and northern suburbs daily via a century-old network of aqueducts and tunnels.

The drugs reached waterways through human activity along the vast and mainly rural watershed, which stretches almost from Pennsylvania to Connecticut. Human and veterinary medicines are excreted or discarded and eventually enter source waters mostly through residential sewage or farm runoff.

And while these waters are processed at wastewater treatment plants upstate, much of the pharmaceutical residue passes right through, studies show.

As in other cities, human health risks from trace pharmaceuticals are uncertain, since concentrations in New York source waters are way below medical doses and further diluted with fresh water en route to the city.

Though New York does not filter its water, it does disinfect and add chemicals. It also is building a new filtration plant for water from its Croton watershed — its smallest and closest source.

Gennaro also cited studies mentioned in the AP series that indicate traces of pharmaceuticals may be harming fish in New York City's Jamaica Bay, within sight of Manhattan's skyscrapers. Researcher Anne McElroy at Stony Brook University has found feminized male flounder there and has linked them to high levels of the female hormone estrone or other estrogenic chemicals discovered in the waterway.

City Lawmakers Find 'Alarming' Report of Drugs in Water by Christopher Faherty- March 10, 2008 - The New York Sun

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Elected officials and environmental advocates are poised to ask the city tough questions in the wake of a news report asserting that New Yorkers are likely consuming trace amounts of pharmaceuticals when they drink from the local water supply.

The report contends that traces of at least 15 pharmaceuticals or their byproducts — including hormones and mood stabilizers — have been discovered in the upstate watersheds that provide drinking water to the city, and that New York's drinking water has never been tested for pharmaceuticals.

"This is very alarming," a member of the City Council's Committee on Environmental Protection, Peter Vallone of Queens, said. "Rather than sit back and be informed about this, New York City should have been proactive. I would hope we institute some sort of testing as soon as possible."

Following requests for comment regarding the report by the Associated Press, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection released a statement yesterday afternoon acknowledging concerns about the issue: "Though nothing in the information we've seen presents a risk to this water supply, we understand and take very seriously public concerns about pharmaceuticals in drinking water and continue to closely monitor this emerging national issue, in cooperation with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. DEP and DOHMH are working together to develop an education program about the best disposal methods for medications, targeting both watershed communities and city residents, and to consider appropriate next steps."

The chairman of the council's Committee on Environmental Protection, James Gennaro of Queens, said the federal government and the state government should first address the issue by undertaking a risk assessment.

"Once we have an understanding of the risks, than we can figure out how to deal with the problem," he said.

The report points out that while the quantity of pharmaceuticals found in the watersheds is minute and has not been proved to be harmful to humans, a study found that feminized male flounder in Jamaica Bay were likely affected by discharged pharmaceuticals containing forms of estrogen.

A state senator who is a member of the state Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation, José Serrano of the Bronx, said he was especially concerned about how pharmaceuticals could affect young people drinking the water supply. The policy director for Riverkeeper, an environmental organization that advocates for protecting the city's drinking water, Lisa Rainwater, said that with more people using increasing amounts of pharmaceuticals, the issue is likely to become one of the country's most important environmental concerns moving forward.

NYC: Traces of Sedatives in NYC Water - The Associated Press

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NEW YORK (AP) — Locals say this city makes the world's best bagels from the best water, piped in from rustic reservoirs up to 150 miles north. Yet few know of a secret ingredient in their source water: a dash of pharmaceuticals.

Research studies have turned up minute amounts of more than 15 drugs or their byproducts in several pristine-looking rivers, a reservoir, and aqueducts feeding the country's biggest water system.

Though barely measurable, these pharmaceuticals are present in a variety worthy of a medicine cabinet: drugs for aches, infections, seizures and high blood pressure; hormones for menopause; the active ingredient in a popular sedative; and caffeine — all bound for the city that never sleeps.

How did they reach waterways? The vast watershed, while mainly rural, stretches almost from Pennsylvania to Connecticut and encompasses lots of human activity. Human and veterinary medicines are excreted or discarded, and eventually enter source waters mostly through residential sewage or farm runoff.

And while these waters are processed at wastewater treatment plants upstate, much of the pharmaceutical residue passes right through, studies show.

It's unknown how much lingers each day by the time 1.1 billion gallons reach the faucets of more than 9 million people in the city and northern suburbs via a century-old network of aqueducts and tunnels.

The New York City Department of Environmental Protection, which runs the city's water system, responded to an Associated Press survey of water utilities, saying it has not tested its drinking water for pharmaceuticals, despite the findings in its watershed.

The tests that detected pharmaceuticals in the upstate source waters were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and New York State Department of Health.

City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview and issued only a brief general statement: "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" — regulations that do not address pharmaceuticals in trace amounts.

As in other cities, human health risks from trace pharmaceuticals are uncertain, since concentrations in New York source waters are way below medical doses and undergo dilution as they mix with fresh water en route to the city.

Already, though, troubling studies indicate that traces of pharmaceuticals may be harming fish in New York City's Jamaica Bay, within sight of Manhattan's skyscrapers. Researcher Anne McElroy at Stony Brook University has found feminized male flounder there, and she links them to high levels of the female hormone estrone or other estrogenic chemicals discovered in the waterway.

Estrogen also has been found in the city's watershed in recent years. Upstate, the geological survey and state health agency also detected the heart medicine atenolol; anti-seizure drugs carbamazepine and primidone; relaxers diazepam and carisoprodol; infection fighters trimethoprim, clindamycin, and sulfamethoxazole; pain relievers ibuprofen, acetaminophen and codeine; and remains of caffeine and nicotine.

Despite all that, the federal government considers the New York City system to be so clean that it need not filter most of its water, as most big cities are required to do. When the filtering waiver was extended last year, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg exulted: "I've always thought that New York City has some of the best water around, and now we've got confirmation from Washington."

However, filtration is meant mainly to remove germs, and the federal government hasn't required any testing of pharmaceuticals in source or drinking water. Though it lacks conventional treatment plants with filtering processes, New York City does disinfect and add chemicals to its drinking water. Plus, it is building a filtration plant for water from its Croton watershed — its smallest and closest source.

Patrick Phillips, a geological survey hydrologist who has studied drugs in the city's watershed, says recent sewage treatment upgrades probably catch some, though the systems aren't designed to. The city also is building a plant to disinfect with ultraviolet radiation the water taken from the major, upstate sectors of the watershed. Research shows that ultraviolet can degrade some pharmaceuticals.

"I think both the state and the city are aware that these things could be an issue and you could be proactive about it," Phillips says.

Few New Yorkers seem aware of their possible presence. The AP contacted more than two dozen water-testing companies across the metropolitan area, and none had ever been asked to check for pharmaceuticals.

Douglas LeVangie, a sales executive at Simpltek, says even the company's home water tests for disease-causing germs sell modestly in New York City, with its global reputation for wholesome water.

National Writer Martha Mendoza and writer Justin Pritchard also contributed to this report.

Schools Construction Project Nixes Use of Artificial Turf Made from Ground Tires by Adam Lisberg - NY Daily News

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At Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem Wednesday, a group of 13-year-olds playing football said they had no idea they were tackling each other on groundup tires.

A controversial type of artificial turf made of pulverized tires will no longer be used in a $25 million city school playground construction project because of concerns about possible health hazards.

The Trust for Public Land has used "crumb rubber infill" turf at 18 city playgrounds, but will switch to a different turf at the next seven it builds.

"We're moving away from the crumb rubber," the group's Troy Farmer told the Daily News. "There's really no firm evidence that there's anything to be frightened of, but as long as people are concerned, better safe than sorry."

The move puts new pressure on the Parks Department, which insists the turf is safe despite growing concern from parents and health advocates that the true risks are unknown. A bill in Albany would put a six-month moratorium on its use.

Crumb rubber infill turf uses tiny bits of recycled tires to cushion the spaces between blades of green artificial grass, with tens of thousands of pounds being used in an average field.

"There are millions of these [tiny bits]," said critic Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates. "They are flying up in people's faces. People are eating them. They wind up in the wash."

The tires contain heavy metals like lead and cadmium as well as volatile organic compounds and other chemicals, but there is no consensus about whether they are unsafe.

The city Health Department contends that "health risks are unlikely from exposure to the levels of chemicals found in the turf," but is sponsoring a review of scientific studies about it. The $100,000 report, paid for by the New York Community Trust, is expected to be released in the spring.

Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe has repeatedly said the department has no plans to stop using crumb rubber infill turf, citing the Health Department's position.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, who unsuccessfully pushed Benepe last year for a scientific analysis of the groundup tires, said the city needs to change course.

"Even as evidence began to suggest that artificial turf may pose health risks, the Parks Department continued to make plans to install dozens more artificial turf fields," Gotbaum said. "The city has a responsibility to protect children from harm."

At Thomas Jefferson Park in East Harlem Wednesday, a group of 13-year-olds playing football said they had no idea they were tackling each other on groundup tires.

"That makes me not want to play here anymore," said Michael Valentin.

Not everyone was as concerned at Brooklyn's Cadman Plaza, though, where several parents said the turf was better than the ripped-up grass it replaced.

"I have no problem with my kids playing here," said Andrew Cribb, 50, who was playing soccer with 13-year-old Esme and 6-year-old Vivian. "It's a great improvement over the mud puddle it used to be."

alisberg@nydailynews.com

With Amanda Coleman and Lindsay Greene

Chancellor & Health Commissioner Community Letter on MRSA (Staph Infections)

If only the school bathrooms had soap...

THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Office of School Health

Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor

Joel I. Klein
Chancellor Commissioner

Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.
Department of Education Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene

Dear School Community Member:

If you have heard the recent news about drug-resistant Staph infections, you may be understandably concerned – especially after the recent, tragic death of a 12-year-old child in Brooklyn. We are writing to tell you what you can do to help keep your family healthy, and what the Health Department and Department of Education are doing about the problem.

Staph infections, even resistant Staph infections known as MRSA (Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus), are very common, usually minor, and can be cured. More than 20% of healthy people have Staph bacteria on their skin and will never get any illness from them; less than 1% of healthy people carry MRSA. The most common symptoms, if any, are skin sores. Staph and MRSA infections can be spread by skin-to-skin contact with an open wound or by sharing personal items such as towels or razors. Although MRSA is resistant to some antibiotics, there are other antibiotics that can be used if treatment is necessary.

MRSA is a serious problem in hospitals, where it can spread rapidly. On the other hand, lifethreatening infections are extremely rare in our schools. Although hundreds of schoolchildren and staff develop these infections every year, very, very few develop serious complications. Spread of the infection within schools is rare and has been documented mainly among sports teams, e.g.wrestling, who have direct physical contact.

MRSA does not generally spread through a shared environment such as a classroom. It is not necessary to keep a student home from school, or to close the school, if a student has a Staph or MRSA infection. There is no health-based reason to disinfect a school building after a single case is diagnosed.

To reduce further risk, we are redoubling efforts to ensure that school bathrooms are equipped with soap and paper towels. We will also work to promote good hygiene in sports teams and locker rooms, and to increase education about hand-washing. We have also ensured that our cleaning procedures are effective against MRSA and other germs. When evidence suggests risk of spread within a school, the Health Department will notify your principal and work with the
school to address the issue.

Here are some things you and your children can do:

1. Keep hands clean by washing thoroughly with soap or an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

2. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.

3. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and, during school activities, covered with a bandage.

4. Consult your doctor if you’re concerned about a skin infection that isn’t getting better.

Staph infections, even MRSA infections, are not a general health risk in schools. If you have questions, please contact your Parent Coordinator or 311.

Joel Klein, Chancellor, Department of Education

Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Commissioner, Health Department