1. Lindsey Konkel, “Kids Stuggle to Breathe in This Neighborhood on Pope’s Tour,” National Geographic, September 24, 2015.
Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
The author, Lindsey Konkel, is a Science, helath, Environmental Journalist. She has reported for online and print publications, including National Geographic, Science, Environmental Health Perspectives, Reuters and Everyday Health. She is currently based in Mommouth County, New Jersey.
What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The main argument of the article is that children in East Harlem are facing awful issues and threats to their health due to their socioeconomic standing. The biggest point made by the article is that the biggest and most detrimental effects of “all attack on the environment are suffered by the poorest.”
Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
“In East Harlem every year, 73 of every 1,000 kids under the age of 15 are treated by emergency room doctors for asthma attacks, compared with 27 of every 1,000 citywide.” This shows that children are clearly being impacted disproportionately.
“The wealthy Upper East Side has recorded some of the city’s highest levels of air pollution, but kids there are nine times less likely to be hospitalized for an asthma attack than children growing up just blocks away in East Harlem.” The fact that two locations, which are only a couple blocks away, have such differences in asthma rates of children suggests that the poor are definitely more susceptible to environmentally induced asthma. This suggests that the poor people in this area cannot obtain preventative health care obtained by the Upper East Side and that they don’t always receive the medications that they need for their children.
“Every year in New York City alone, nearly 40,000 children suffer asthma attacks so serious they are treated in emergency rooms.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
“In her neighborhood of East Harlem, kids are sent to emergency rooms for asthma nearly three times as often as kids in the rest of the city.”
“The pope’s entreaties about poverty and the environment are especially relevant in East Harlem, where families are disproportionately harmed by air pollution because mold, cockroaches, and other poor housing conditions exacerbate the health hazards inside their homes.”
“The wealthy Upper East Side has recorded some of the city’s highest levels of air pollution, but kids there are nine times less likely to be hospitalized for an asthma attack than children growing up just blocks away in East Harlem.”
‘ “Housing in New York City is stressful for everyone, but the poor put up with so much more.” ’
“Perera’s research team found that being poor increases the effects of air pollution on children’s developing brains. Mothers in northern Manhattan and the Bronx who had been exposed to toxic pollutants in car exhaust and also struggled through pregnancy to pay for food, clothing, and shelter had children with lower IQs at age seven than kids whose moms didn’t face financial hardship.”
‘“All of us, not just those of us living above 96th Street,” Smith says, “need to come together to advocate for better living conditions for all New Yorkers.”’
What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Arguments were made by: Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman, director of environmental health for the advocacy group West Harlem Environmental Action.
Frederica Perera, director of Columbia University’s Center for Chidlren’s Environmental Health.
Jim McCormick, a housing attorney for Legal Services New York City, a nonprofit law office
How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The article heavily discusses the health disparities with regards to race and socioeconomic class. It talks about the fact that it is the poor, Hispanic and blacks that are suffering the most from the impact of pollution. It also talks about these people living in poorly kept buildings with cockroaches, mold, and other hazardous things that trigger asthma; even worse, when making requests that the city fix these issues in their homes, very little is done. The article also strongly implies that had these people been wealthy, as in the upper east side, they would not be dealing with these issues.
Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
The article was included in National Geographic.
Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
The article tells me that the author is very honest and passionate about the health disparity issues in Harlem, as that seems to be a reoccurring theme in her article.
What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
I followed up on WE ACT, read the content of their website, and looked into exactly what their idea of healthy affordable housing is. I found that their healthy affordable housing consists of a home where low and moderate income New Yorkers live, which is has no health or safety threats, and also supports physical, mental, social and environmental well being.
- Full citation and abstract?
1. Lindsey Konkel, “Kids Stuggle to Breathe in This Neighborhood on Pope’s Tour,” National Geographic, September 24, 2015.- Where do the authors work, and what are their areas of expertise? Note any other publications by the authors with relevance to the 6Cities project.
The author, Lindsey Konkel, is a Science, helath, Environmental Journalist. She has reported for online and print publications, including National Geographic, Science, Environmental Health Perspectives, Reuters and Everyday Health. She is currently based in Mommouth County, New Jersey.- What are the main findings or arguments presented in the article or report?
The main argument of the article is that children in East Harlem are facing awful issues and threats to their health due to their socioeconomic standing. The biggest point made by the article is that the biggest and most detrimental effects of “all attack on the environment are suffered by the poorest.”- Describe at least three ways that the argument is supported.
“In East Harlem every year, 73 of every 1,000 kids under the age of 15 are treated by emergency room doctors for asthma attacks, compared with 27 of every 1,000 citywide.” This shows that children are clearly being impacted disproportionately.“The wealthy Upper East Side has recorded some of the city’s highest levels of air pollution, but kids there are nine times less likely to be hospitalized for an asthma attack than children growing up just blocks away in East Harlem.” The fact that two locations, which are only a couple blocks away, have such differences in asthma rates of children suggests that the poor are definitely more susceptible to environmentally induced asthma. This suggests that the poor people in this area cannot obtain preventative health care obtained by the Upper East Side and that they don’t always receive the medications that they need for their children.
“Every year in New York City alone, nearly 40,000 children suffer asthma attacks so serious they are treated in emergency rooms.
- What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the article or report?
“In her neighborhood of East Harlem, kids are sent to emergency rooms for asthma nearly three times as often as kids in the rest of the city.”“The pope’s entreaties about poverty and the environment are especially relevant in East Harlem, where families are disproportionately harmed by air pollution because mold, cockroaches, and other poor housing conditions exacerbate the health hazards inside their homes.”
“The wealthy Upper East Side has recorded some of the city’s highest levels of air pollution, but kids there are nine times less likely to be hospitalized for an asthma attack than children growing up just blocks away in East Harlem.”
‘ “Housing in New York City is stressful for everyone, but the poor put up with so much more.” ’
“Perera’s research team found that being poor increases the effects of air pollution on children’s developing brains. Mothers in northern Manhattan and the Bronx who had been exposed to toxic pollutants in car exhaust and also struggled through pregnancy to pay for food, clothing, and shelter had children with lower IQs at age seven than kids whose moms didn’t face financial hardship.”
‘“All of us, not just those of us living above 96th Street,” Smith says, “need to come together to advocate for better living conditions for all New Yorkers.”’
- What were the methods, tools and/or data used to produce the claims or arguments made in the article or report?
Arguments were made by:Ogonnaya Dotson-Newman, director of environmental health for the advocacy group West Harlem Environmental Action.
Frederica Perera, director of Columbia University’s Center for Chidlren’s Environmental Health.
Jim McCormick, a housing attorney for Legal Services New York City, a nonprofit law office
- How (if at all) are health disparities or other equity issues addressed in the article or report?
The article heavily discusses the health disparities with regards to race and socioeconomic class. It talks about the fact that it is the poor, Hispanic and blacks that are suffering the most from the impact of pollution. It also talks about these people living in poorly kept buildings with cockroaches, mold, and other hazardous things that trigger asthma; even worse, when making requests that the city fix these issues in their homes, very little is done. The article also strongly implies that had these people been wealthy, as in the upper east side, they would not be dealing with these issues.- Where has this article or report been referenced or discussed? (In some journals, you can see this in a sidebar.)
The article was included in National Geographic.- Can you learn anything from the article or report’s bibliography that tells us something about how the article or report was produced?
The article tells me that the author is very honest and passionate about the health disparity issues in Harlem, as that seems to be a reoccurring theme in her article.- What three points, details or references from the text did you follow up on to advance your understanding of how air pollution science has been produced and used in governance and education in different settings?
I followed up on WE ACT, read the content of their website, and looked into exactly what their idea of healthy affordable housing is. I found that their healthy affordable housing consists of a home where low and moderate income New Yorkers live, which is has no health or safety threats, and also supports physical, mental, social and environmental well being.