scholarly journals Compounding Risks Caused by Heat Exposure and COVID-19 in New York City: A Review of Policies, Tools, and Pilot Survey Results

2021 ◽  
pp. 2150015
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bock ◽  
Palak Srivastava ◽  
Sonal Jessel ◽  
Jacqueline M. Klopp ◽  
Robbie M. Parks
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
York City ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Heat Exposure ◽  
Pilot Survey ◽  
Survey Responses ◽  
Effective Component

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic changed many social, economic, environmental, and healthcare determinants of health in New York City (NYC) and worldwide. COVID-19 potentially heightened the risk of heat-related health impacts in NYC, particularly on the most vulnerable communities, who often lack equitable access to adequate cooling mechanisms such as air conditioning (AC) and good quality green space. Here, we review some of the policies and tools which have been developed to reduce vulnerability to heat in NYC. We then present results from an online pilot survey of members of the environmental justice organization WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT) between July 11 and August 8, 2020, which asked questions to evaluate how those in Northern Manhattan coped with elevated summer heat in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We also make some policy recommendations based on our initial findings. Results of our pilot survey suggest that people stayed indoors more due to COVID-19 and relied more on AC units to stay cool. Survey responses also indicated that some avoided visiting green spaces due to concerns around overcrowding and did not regularly frequent them due to the distance from their homes. The responses also demonstrate a potential racial disparity in AC access; AC ownership and access was highest amongst white and lowest amongst Latino/a/x and Black respondents. The impacts of COVID-19 have highlighted the need to accelerate efforts to improve preparedness for extreme heat like the City of New York’s AC and cooling center programs, heat ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) retrofitting, equitable green space expansion, and stronger environmental justice community networks and feedback mechanisms to hear from affected residents. Conducting a survey of this kind annually may provide an additional effective component of evaluating cooling initiatives in NYC.

scholarly journals Adapting to Extreme Heat: Social, Atmospheric, and Infrastructure Impacts of Air-Conditioning in Megacities—The Case of New York City

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Gamarro ◽  
Luis Ortiz ◽  
Jorge E. González
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Heat Exposure ◽  
Extreme Heat ◽  
Extreme Heat Events ◽  
Heat Events

Abstract Extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense. In cities, the urban heat island (UHI) can often intensify extreme heat exposure, presenting a public health challenge across vulnerable populations without access to adaptive measures. Here, we explore the impacts of increasing residential air-conditioning (AC) adoption as one such adaptive measure to extreme heat, with New York City (NYC) as a case study. This study uses AC adoption data from NYC Housing and Vacancy Surveys to study impacts to indoor heat exposure, energy demand, and UHI. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with a multilayer building environment parameterization and building energy model (BEP–BEM), is used to perform this analysis. The BEP–BEM schemes are modified to account for partial AC use and used to analyze current and full AC adoption scenarios. A city-scale case study is performed over the summer months of June–August 2018, which includes three different extreme heat events. Simulation results show good agreement with surface weather stations. We show that increasing AC systems to 100% usage across NYC results in a peak energy demand increase of 20%, while increasing UHI on average by 0.42 °C. Results highlight potential trade-offs in extreme heat adaptation strategies for cities, which may be necessary in the context of increasing extreme heat events.

scholarly journals On the Drag and Heat of Washington, D.C., and New York City

2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1454-1470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce B. Hicks ◽  
William R. Pendergrass ◽  
Christoph A. Vogel ◽  
Richard S. Artz
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
York City ◽  
Air Conditioning ◽  
Sensible Heat Flux ◽  
Wind Component ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Surface Boundary Layer ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Air Conditioning Systems

AbstractData from a network of micrometeorological instruments, mostly mounted 10 m above the roofs of 12 buildings in Washington, D.C., are used to derive average values and spatial differences of the normalized local friction velocity u*/u ≡ ()1/2/u (with u being the wind speed reported at the same height as the covariance is measured, w being the vertical wind component, primes indicating deviations, and the overbar indicating averaging). The analysis is extended through consideration of two additional sites in New York City, New York. The ratio u*/u is found to depend on wind direction for all locations. Averaged values of u*/u appear to be best associated with the standard deviation of local building heights, with little evidence of a dependence on any other of the modern building-morphology indices. Temperature covariance data show a large effect of nearby activities, with the consequences of air-conditioning systems being obvious (especially at night) in some situations. The Washington data show that older buildings, built largely of native limestone, show the greatest effects of air-conditioning systems. The assumption that the nighttime surface boundary layer is stable is likely to be most often incorrect for both Washington and New York City—the sensible heat flux resulting from heating and cooling of building work spaces most often appears to dominate.

Race, class, and space: an intersectional approach to environmental justice in New York City

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel G. McKane ◽  
Lacee A. Satcher ◽  
Stacey L. Houston ◽  
David J. Hess
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
York City

The Sustainability Myth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Checker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
York City ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Sustainable Cities

Are today’s sustainable cities built on their own undoing? This book uncovers the hidden costs of sustainable policies and practices in an era of hyper-gentrification. From state-of-the-art parks to rooftop gardens, LEED-certified buildings, bike lanes, and organic shops and restaurants, industrial waterfronts are transforming into eco-friendly urban oases. But how sustainable is this green wave? Will it lift all boats? In New York City, Melissa Checker finds that sustainable initiatives have fostered resource-intensive, high-end development in some areas and left others overburdened with polluting facilities and under-protected from climate change. Checker weaves together ethnographic and historic detail to tell the story of local activists who struggle to improve the environmental health of their neighborhoods while maintaining their affordability. For over a decade, Checker’s research on “environmental gentrification”—the use of environmental improvements to drive high-end redevelopment—has exposed the paradoxes of urban sustainability. This book develops an intricate and comprehensive account of environmental gentrification, from its historic roots to the different forms it takes. Extending this analysis, Checker also challenges popular myths about civic engagement: her work alongside environmental justice activists reveals how institutional mechanisms meant to foster public participation and community empowerment have actually undermined both. And yet Checker finds hope in surprising places. Across the country, sustainability’s broken promises have given rise to new, nonpartisan political formations. Borne of crisis, these grassroots coalitions are crossing racial, economic, and political divides to create new possibilities for our collective future.

scholarly journals Neighborhood safety and green space as predictors of obesity among preschool children from low-income families in New York City

2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gina S. Lovasi ◽  
Ofira Schwartz-Soicher ◽  
James W. Quinn ◽  
Diana K. Berger ◽  
Kathryn M. Neckerman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York City ◽  
Preschool Children ◽  
Low Income ◽  
York City ◽  
Green Space ◽  
Neighborhood Safety ◽  
Low Income Families
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