NYC Orders
Spraying in the Streets as Citizens Protest
(Beyond Pesticides, October 4, 2006) The New York City
Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene sprayed the dangerous pesticide “Anvil”
in sections of Brooklyn last month and continues to fog Staten Island,
purportedly to kill mosquitoes which may or may not be carrying West Nile
virus. City officials also ordered spraying in Queens and the Bronx.
The first spraying of the year in Brooklyn took place on the evening of
August 21. The spray truck – now driven by unionized NYC workers
wearing DOHMH insignias – recklessly spewed pesticides in a thick
cloud down crowded 5th Avenue in Sunset Park and in the surrounding area
in utter disregard of the hundreds of people walking the streets. The
truck blasted pregnant women and many, many little children with the spray,
and fogged people in dozens of restaurants – their doors wide open
– without warning as they ate.
According to Brooklyn's No
Spray Coalition, the City put up no signs in the neighborhoods announcing
the spraying. They made no public warnings about the dangers of pesticides,
the links between pesticides and asthma – which is epidemic throughout
New York City -- childhood cancers, lymphomas, neurological disorders,
chemical sensitivities . . . nothing.
This year, City officials have put forth even less information than in the past as to why they decide to spray pesticides. In addition, they have started spraying earlier in the evening, even though people are more likely to be on the streets and directly affected by the spraying.
The NoSpray Coalition
learned about the plan to spray in Brooklyn earlier that same day and
set up a literature table near at the “F” train exit on the
corner of McDonald Avenue and Albemarle Rd. in the residential Kensington
section shortly before the spraying began. Around a dozen participants
distributed hundreds of flyers, spoke with local store owners, and held
a Speak-Out right there on the corner.
The No Spray Coalition has called for people throughout the City to protest
the spraying, Some may block the spray trucks. Others may do theater,
write to their local government officials, hand out flyers in their neighborhoods
and schools, or take other actions deemed necessary to save our lives
from the dangerous sprays the City is using.
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