Thread by @essayolumhense

Though the level of lung-aggravating particulate matter in NYC air has mostly declined, air over the Cross Bronx Expressway still contains high levels of PM 2.5. We wrote about how this affects resident health, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

thecity.nyc/2020/9/28/2149…

Preliminary research suggests exposure to air pollution is associated with higher COVID-19 death rates. Nationally, this link is most apparent in The Bronx, according to a new peer-reviewed study out of SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry and ProPublica.

Using U.S. EPA data and local mortality figures, scientists found the Bronx ranked the worst for COVID-19 death rates and respiratory hazards of the more than 3,100 other counties in the country. (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens placed second, third and sixth, respectively.)

Months before this study came out, myself and a team of reporters working on @THECITYNY's MISSING THEM project had noticed clusters of COVID-19 deaths along the Cross Bronx Expressway. Many of those who died lived in Morris Heights, right between the Cross Bronx and the Deegan.

When we looked at EPA data on traffic-related pollution at the most granular level, a possible cause became clearer: residents of some west BX neighborhoods, like Morris Heights, breathe some of the most polluted air in the borough.

(Thank you @willcwelch for the great graphic.)

Reporting this story I spoke with multiple parents with kids who have asthma or other respiratory issues. One mother, who has two sons, told me that the one who grew up closest to the highways has asthma. The other does not. "We all know someone with asthma," someone told me.

Anyway, please take some time to read this today. And make sure to check out the amazing work @THECITYNY Missing Them team is doing to document the lives of the New Yorkers who died from COVID-19. The project is the reason this story exists.

thecity.nyc/2020/9/28/2149…