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Six months ago, Hurricane Sandy brought floods and standing water to huge swaths of New York City. Sandy’s Mold Legacy: The Unmet Need Six Months After the Storm –a joint report by members of the Alliance for a Just Rebuilding ALIGN, Community Voices Heard, Faith in New York, Make the Road NY, New York Communities for Change, and VOCAL NY—finds that many of the estimated 70,000 to 80,000 homes affected by water damage have also been hit with mold infestations that threaten the health and safety of New Yorkers across the city. The report also provides an analysis of the inadequacies of the City’s current approach to mold remediation through the privately funded Neighborhood Revitalization NYC program and offers constructive solutions based on community feedback.
Key Findings
After conducting a survey with nearly 700 storm-damaged households in the Rockaways and Staten Island, the authors found:
- Almost two-thirds (61%) of households were contaminated by mold;
- More than 90% of homeowners attempting to remediate mold themselves have seen mold return;
- Households with elderly residents and children were much more likely to contract mold-related illness; and
- Less than 20% of households reported even knowing about the City’s Neighborhood Revitalization NYC mold remediation program.
Recommendations
Given the pressures Sandy victims face as they struggle to make their homes habitable and healthy, we outline the following recommendations:
- The City of New York should take full responsibility for proactively assessing where mold infestation has gone unrecognized or has been inadequately remediated. The NRNYC has engaged in substantial outreach in partnership with CBOs and otherwise, but the fundamental requirement for families to proactively opt-in to the program limits the efficiency and scope. We recommend an expanded program with systematic outreach that does not rely solely on individual families to opt into the program.
- The City should specifically appropriate a portion of Community Development Block Grant home rehabilitation funds to use exclusively for mold remediation. Other structural damage should not be a requirement for accessing these funds, nor should it be bundled with money awarded for other repairs.
- The City should create a clear pathway to protect tenants’ right to a home free from toxic mold and take proactive steps to remove mold from rental housing where landlords have failed to act. In the immediate aftermath of Sandy, city officials proposed sending notices of intent to put a lien on the properties of landlords who had tenants without heat or electricity, and who were not signing up for the Rapid Repairs program. Additionally, the city has programs in place that can serve as models: the Alternative Enforcement Program and emergency repairs programs, for example, allow HPD to proactively make repairs or handle mold remediation where landlords have failed to act, and to collect funding afterwards. Similar approaches should be implemented to gain compliance from landlords who have tenants struggling to get rid of mold.