| Releases
& Statements
**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
April 21, 2008
Contact: Gia Storms
212.669.4813; 917.626.6757
Gotbaum Releases New Videocast on NYC Mold
Watch video
MANHATTAN -- Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum today released a new videocast, “Fighting Mold in New York City Homes” to promote a new bill she introduced on Wednesday that would reduce and regulate indoor asthma allergens in New York City apartments, specifically mold hazards and pest infestations.
The video tells the story of an upper Manhattan resident who has developed health problems as a result of the mold in her apartment. Her landlord continues to paint and plaster over the water damage in her apartment, even though mold experts identify penicillin mold in the walls and floors. Public Advocate Gotbaum’s new law would require agencies to establish a minimum standard for the prevention and clean-up of mold to reduce asthma.
A full transcript of the videocast is below; the video can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVJ_a8YGkVc.
**TRANSCRIPT**
[Text: Public Advocate Gotbaum: Fighting Mold in New York City Homes]
Jill de Domenico, Upper Manhattan resident: “So I’ve been getting sick…I caught the flu, I had bronchial asthma… and so it was like, I was telling my mom, I was like: Something’s wrong.”
[Text: Toxic mold grows in thousands of homes in New York City]
Jill: “So then I find out, a week and a half later, that it’s a penicillin mold. And I’m highly allergic to penicillin.”
[Text: And many landlords just plaster over the problem.]
Jill: “And I know how they’re going to do it. They’re going to come in and not even paint the whole wall, they’ll be so cheap as, it’s like we’re just going to plaster the areas that need to be plastered...”
[Text: Gotbaum’s bill would eliminate mold in homes]
Gotbaum: “That’s why we are introducing the NYC Asthma-Free Housing Act of 2008. And we are compelling landlords and inspectors to take these complaints very seriously. You can’t do it with just a coat of paint. I’ve been to many apartments and seen where the landlord has come in and just put a coat of paint over the mold and that doesn’t do it.”
Connie Dellas: “We’re not asking for new plumbing, we’re not asking for, you know, them to redo the building, we’re not asking for anything outrageous. We’re just asking for a habitable situation that is healthy. No more, no less than anybody else would want.”
Jill: They’ve probably been painting and plastering over this wall for years and years now. This last leak was so damaging that you know the wall’s falling apart.”
[Text: To get help fighting mold in your home, and support the mold bill
Call the Office of the Public Advocate, 212-669-7250 or visit www.pubadvocate.nyc.gov].
End.
The bill was co-sponsored by Councilmember Rosie Mendez and drafted with the Coalition for Asthma-Free Homes.
The legislation, called the New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act of 2008, requires owners of multiple dwellings where a person with respiratory problems resides to prevent and immediately remove indoor allergen hazards. While the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) considers some mold conditions to be a violation of the HMC, there is currently no established and enforceable protocol for mold assessment and remediation. In addition, city policies rely on careless pest management services that create further health risks; the repeated use of pesticides can be especially hazardous to asthmatics.
Email to support the bill or get more information
###
|
