Plan To Cut Into Historic Ridgewood Reservoir Has Activists Fuming - Fears This Will Lead To Development

Flood Hazzard?  The New York State DEC has classified the Ridgewood Reservoir's three basins as a "Class C" High Hazard Dam, critics disagree.  (Photos: Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates) click on images to enlarge


The decommissioned Ridgewood Reservoir in Highland Park is a natural oasis on the Queens-Brooklyn border. Local activists are worried that a state-mandated plan to dig out culverts in the reservoir will destroy the natural beauty of the area. Park and State officials say it is necessary to prevent flooding, activists disagree. 

For years the community fought against Mayor Bloomberg's $50 million PlaNYC proposal to clear out 20 acres of one of the basins for ballfields and develop the area for active recreation. 

Community residents instead wanted the unique area as let along as a natural oasis.

Mayor Bloomberg finally got the message and cut funding for the project.

Critics of the culvert plan say the $ 6 million dollars would be much better spent clearing out the invasive species and providing facilities for educational programing and for security personnel.

Community members and envirmentailists have long advocated for the repurposing two of the existing gate house buildings located on the basin's perimeter for use as an environmental center and a Parks Enforcement Patrol/Ranger facility.  

These funds could play a vital role in the future success of a newly reclaimed natural area! 

 - Geoffrey Croft

Invasive species strangle heathy trees and dramically reduce bio-divercity. 



Queens/Brooklyn

Local activists are fuming over a city plan to cut culverts into the historic Ridgewood Reservoir in order to stave off the threat of future flooding. They say the $6 million plan — currently awaiting state environmental approvals — is unnecessary and wasteful of money, according to the New York Daily News.  

“It would have to rain 24 hours a day for months to reach capacity,” said Geoffrey Croft of New York City Park Advocates. 

Critics also worry the project will disturb the ecosystems in the defunct reservoir. 

“Construction will destroy the natural habitats within the basins, not to mention that it is also a colossal waste of taxpayer money,” said local civic activist Christina Wilkinson said. 

“Furthermore, if this weather event actually were to occur, allowing the basins to drain into a small catch basin on Vermont Place would be pointless as the sewer system would already be overflowing.” 


The reservoir, located on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1858 and supplied water to Brooklyn until 1959. 



But the Parks Department said it will face fines by the state if the work is not done, since the reservoir is considered a flooding hazard. 

The only other solution that would satisfy the state — which would involve extensive tree removal and ongoing maintenance — is more costly and intrusive, parks officials said.

The reservoir, located on the Brooklyn-Queens border, was built in 1858. It supplied water to Brooklyn until 1959.

Former Mayor Bloomberg announced 10 years ago that the site would be transferred from the city Department of Environmental Protection to the Parks Department as parkland.

         

The long abandoned gate houses along the reservoir basin's perimeter could be repurposed and used as an environmental center and a permanent station for Parks Enforcement Patrol officers and park rangers.


The Bloomberg Administration originally pegged the reservoir and surrounding Highland Park for renovations. But the $50 million proposal to clear out 20 acres for ballfields and develop the area for recreation died for lack of funds.   

A Tale Of Two Reservoirs? The community had also requested the fences in the redesign match the historical ones but Park Department officials said that could not be done for safety reasons.  The fence around the Central Park reservoir (left) however used the exact same design as in Ridgewood (right). (Save Ridgewood Reservoir) 

The city did complete a smaller project to repair pathways and lighting around the reservoir, and make the areas more handicapped accessible. Agency officials said the flood prevention project would not change the condition of the reservoir or reduce public access. 

But concerned citizens worried that the culverts could pave the way for future development. 

“It is my firm belief that (the Parks Department) crying crocodile tears when they say that they’d rather not breach the basins but are being forced to by the DEC,” said Rob Jett, who founded the Save the Ridgewood Reservoir website.

He and others worry that the city will revive old plans to clear parts of the reservoir to build the ballfields.   


Familiar bluet at the Ridgewood Reservoir. (Photo: Steve Nanz)

 Interpretive Sign.

Read More:

Parks Officials Say State Wants Ridgewood Reservoir Basins to Be Safer
NY 1 - July 10, 2014 - By Agnes Chung 
http://www.ny1.com/content/212041/parks-officials-say-state-wants-ridgewood-reservoir-basins-to-be-safer/

Plan to cut culverts in historic Ridgewood Reservoir has local activists fearful it will lead to development of the natural oasis   

New York Daily News -  June 4, 2014  - By Lisa L. Colangelo  

City Suspends Burning of Hurricane Sandy Debris In Floyd Bennett Field After Pollution Levels Exceeded Air Quality Standards

Locations of the eight monitors in Floyd Bennet Field in Brooklyn surrounding the air curtain burn device.  The media were denied access to the operation.  Since monitoring began on December 28,  EPA air monitors showed  the 24 hour standard had been violated on four days -  January 9, 28, 29 and February 5.  Air curtain incineration was shut down on February 14th.   

Brooklyn

By Geoffrey Croft

After repeated problems with smoke and high levels of air pollution, New York City has suspended the burning of downed trees and vegetative debris remaining from Hurricane Sandy," a coalition of environmental and health groups said in a statement today.

A federal contractor had been burning the debris in open air burners at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.  

Despite objections raised by environmental and public health advocates, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granted a variance from its own air pollution regulations last December to allow the burning to take place in so-called "air curtain burners." 

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) also issued a letter saying that for this operation it would not enforce the state's ban on open burning.  Under the conditions of the city's variance, the burning could have continued through mid-April. 

The group had called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for overseeing debris management from Hurricane Sandy, to aggressively pursue non-incineration options for the wood waste, which can be chipped and used for mulch and other purposes without emitting harmful pollutants.


On February 1, 2013,  the coalition sent NYC Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland  a letter informing him of the group's "strong opposition to the use of Air Curtain Burners (ACBs) at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn. 

"As you must be aware, to date there have been two exceedances of the 35 μ/m3 health-based 24-hour NAAQS for fine particle (PM2.5) recorded by the monitors EPA has set up to monitor the impact of the air curtain incinerators in use at Floyd Bennett Field," the letter stated. 

"DEP’s stated justification for granting a Variance in this matter was that the stockpiling of vegetative waste debris at Floyd Bennett Field and elsewhere was creating public safety risks. It is therefore unreasonable for DEP to substitute one set of public safety risks for another by only ordering the shut-down of one ACB during inversions, when the emissions from even one ACB unit may add enough additional exceedances to cause a violation of the 24-hour PM2.5 NAAQS. According to the conditions of the Variance, DEP may suspend or revoke the variance at any time for non-compliance. Therefore, DEP had the full authority to stop or suspend the process and failed to do so. "

The letter was signed by the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, NY Public Interest Research Group, American Lung Association and the Sierra Club – Atlantic Chapter.

"There were some exceedances," an EPA spokesperson confirmed to A Walk In The Park today and explained that the EPA had been conducting PM 2.5 air monitoring at the Floyd Bennett Field site. 

According to the EPA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at the request of New York City, were using two air curtain incinerators at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, NY to burn vegetative debris, largely from downed trees, gathered in the cleanup from Hurricane Sandy.

An air curtain incinerator is a self-contained system that reduces wood debris to ash. It is equipped with air blowers that circulate the air to improve combustion and minimize emissions of fine particles.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has eight fine particle monitors operating around the perimeter of Floyd Bennett Field to monitor for potential impacts of the air curtain devices. 

The major concern raised by advocates was that smoke and fine particulate matter from the debris burning would worsen air quality in an area that is already suffering from poor environmental conditions in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

These concerns proved to be well-founded.  According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which set up air monitors around the perimeter of the site, air pollution levels in the vicinity of the burners exceeded health-based national ambient air quality standards for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) on five separate days between December 28th and February 7th.

In a letter to the DEP dated February 1st, the New York Environmental Law and Justice Project (NYELJP), together with the American Lung Association of the Northeast, the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), and the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, strongly objected to the continued use of the air curtain burners given their demonstrated public health risks.  The groups urged an immediate cessation of burning in favor of an alternative method of waste disposal such as chipping the remaining wood for reuse.

In a separate petition to the DEC, the NYELJP challenged whether the air curtain burners should have been regulated as incinerators, rather than just open fires.  DEC's open fire regulations include a prohibition on the burning of waste products, but the regulations were intended to target "burn barrels" and backyard trash burning, not large-scale debris burning operations like those underway at Floyd Bennett Field.

"The Army Corps, DEC, and DEP all acted in the interest of expedience, without due consideration for public health and safety," said Joel Kupferman, Esq., NYELJP's executive director. 

"Despite the fact that environmental and public health advocates, community members, EPA Region 2 officials and City Council members all raised numerous health concerns about the use of air curtain burners beforehand, these concerns were ignored or overlooked by all other agencies involved until it was too late, and the burning had already caused numerous exceedances of health-based air pollution standards.  We need a proper, public discussion of why the Army Corps, DEC, and DEP all relied on the fact that a "public health emergency"  was declared after Hurricane Sandy to use "emergency" exceptions to air pollution regulations that are designed to protect public health."

"It was obvious from the start that burning massive quantities of wood 24/7 with virtually no pollution control was a bad idea," said Laura Haight, senior environmental associate.  

"These air curtain burners are little more than dumpsters with fans.  The city officials wanted to believe they would work, despite evidence to the contrary, and the Army Corps didn't want to change its practices.  We hope that a lesson has been learned here."

"The combustion of this debris led to high levels of particulate matter, a major lung irritant linked to asthma attacks, heart attacks and even premature death," said Jeff Seyler, CEO of the American Lung Association of the Northeast.  

"We are glad that the city has given up on this misguided plan and that residents downwind can now continue rebuilding from Sandy without this additional air quality concern."

"Burning woody debris has never been an effective or safe way to facilitate storm clean up in NYC," said Roger Downs, Conservation Director of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter. "We are encouraged that all parties now agree proper processing and reuse of tree limbs and vegetation, in the form of wood chips and mulch, is the best pathway forward to improve air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions."

The groups had high praise for the EPA for conducting air monitoring on the site and for posting the data on its webpage.  A description and timeline of the burning can be found at:  <http://www.epa.gov/sandy/response.html>

http://www.epa.gov/sandy/response.html.  "EPA's efforts to keep the public informed about the burning operations at Floyd Bennett Field, monitor their impact on air quality, and make all data public stands in stark contrast to the DEP," Kupferman said.  "We've had to send multiple Freedom of Information Act requests to access DEP's monitoring data, and still have not received most of it."

The groups also praised New York City Councilmember James Gennaro, chair of the City Council Environmental Protection Committee, for exercising his oversight responsibility.

Other groups that opposed the burning included Citizens' Environmental Coalition, New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Citizens Campaign for the Environment, Coalition Against the Rockaway Pipeline (CARP), New York Climate Action Group, and the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH).

Read/View More:

City Burns Debris From Sandy In Brooklyn, Some Residents Voice Concern
CBS - November 28, 2012 - By John Slattery 

Massive tree and limb burn after Sandy
WABC News - November 28, 2012 - By Stacy Sager

High Levels Of Methane Gas Repeatedly Found At Ferry Point Golf Course

Long a concern by area residents, high levels of dangerous methane gas have repeatedly been found at testing wells at the Ferry Point Golf Course which the city's taxpayers are building for Donald Trump. Instead of shutting down the site the State Department of Environmental Conservation has opted to increase the frequency of monitoring. The DEC did not explain how that would solve the problem. (Photos by Daniel Beekman/New York Daily News; Viorel Florescu for New York Daily News)  

Bronx

High levels of explosive methane gas have been discovered next to Bronx homes that abut a dump the city is turning into a golf course for Donald Trump, a Daily News investigation has found.

As construction of the $97 million links has accelerated this year, methane in quantities the state considers potentially volatile has been repeatedly detected in test wells just yards away from homes. Residents of this working-class neighborhood had no idea — and weren’t too pleased.

“That concerns me. What are we breathing?” asked Stephanie Machuca, whose Balcolm Ave. condo sits about 25 feet from a green-capped well that registered excessive amounts of methane in May. The Trump golf course is now under construction on top of a dump that was closed in 1963. The decomposing garbage that’s still underground creates methane, a highly volatile gas that’s been percolating under Ferry Point for years.  

Concerns that this methane could migrate into adjacent basements surfaced in 2000 when a proposal to turn the trash heap into a golf course first emerged. In response, the city installed wells on the site and around the edges of the course next to the neighborhood to measure the amount and track the location of the gas. 

Inspectors have since regularly checked the wells to make sure the methane doesn’t surpass what’s called a lower explosive level (LEL). They report the results to the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

“As a matter of practice of safety, if you have a basement that was 100% LEL and you turned on a light, you risk having an explosion,” said Ken Bresner, a DEC official tracking Ferry Point’s methane. 

Workers test for methane at Buttrick Ave. in the Bronx.  

Occasionally the test results showed higher levels of methane. But in recent months, the tests have regularly detected concentrations at the project’s edge far in excess of the LEL, records show. 

The state is aware of this rash of high methane levels. In response, it has decided not to shut down construction but to increase the frequency of monitoring. 

“We’re concerned about movement of landfill gas. This has been an ongoing concern,” Bresner said.

It’s not clear exactly why this is happening, but Bresner noted the recent construction at the site “could potentially disrupt gas under the surface.”   

In the last few months, construction of the links — which will be run by Trump on a 20-year lease — accelerated dramatically, with tons of soil dumped on top to shape the contours of the 18-hole course.  

(Photo: January 7, 2012. Geoffrey Croft/NYC Park Advocates)

Read More:

Bronx residents outraged as $97 million golf course planned by Donald Trump is belching dangerous levels of methane

High levels of gas repeatedly detected in test wells just yards away from Ferry Point homes

New York Daily News - September 23, 2012 - By Greg B. Smith and Daniel Beekman

Report: Methane Reaching Dangerous Levels Near Planned Bronx Golf Course

WCBS - September 23, 2012 By Gary Baumgarten

Donald Trump In Sweetheart City Tax-Payer Funded Golf Concession Deal

A Walk In The Park - January 9, 2012  By Geoffrey Croft

Trump Picked To Run Ferry Point Park Golf Money Pit Boondoggle

A Walk In The Park - December 24, 2011 - By Geoffrey Croft

St. Saviour’s Park Activists Want State To Release Funds

A rendering depicting the community's idea for a park at the St. Saviour's site. Last week the State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) released its list of projects to receive $7 million in mitigation funds in connection to the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment plant. The community in Maspeth is asking that $ 75,000 be released now to begin ULURP in order to acquire the property. The City Park Foundation is receiving a fee of $ 700,000. The site's owner recently began building warehouses. (Image courtesy Christina Wilkinson)

Queens

Advocates for a park at the St. Saviour’s site in Maspeth are hoping the state will change its mind and provide crucial funds for the project’s future, according to the Times Ledger.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation pledged to dish out $7 million in green projects to compensate for the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment plant’s role in polluting the waterway of the same name, and the winning suggestions were announced Friday.

The state budgeted $75,000 for one of two projects at St. Saviour’s, which is a lot where a church used to sit but where a developer is currently building warehouses. The project is about 1 percent of the total allocation money. But the DEC put it near the bottom of a list of other, more expensive projects that must be completed first, which means the money might dry up before St. Saviour’s’ number is even called.

“It’s just very strange how this all came about, and I hope our electeds get the DEC to make an adjustment,” said Christina Wilkinson, an advocate for the park.

The money — which pales in comparison to projects like a $3 million boathouse in Brooklyn and a $2 million park in Dutch Kills — would be used by the city to begin legal proceedings to acquire the land where the park would be built, know as the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure.

On Sept. 30, a group of 13 Queens lawmakers sent a letter to the DEC asking to release the funds before the final projects were selected from a list of 22 suggestions on how to use the money.

“The release of the funding is imperative, since delaying the start of ULURP further threatens the acquisition and increases the cost of the project,” the letter said.

On Friday they saw that the money had been set aside, but might never be released at all.

A spokesman from the DEC said the state finalized the projects in the order they were ranked by the community.

“The state’s review did not change how the projects are ranked, but provides an opportunity for the development of projects on the secondary list should funds become available after the priority list is exhausted,” said a DEC spokesman.

But the final ranking put St. Saviour’s fourth, not its current seventh.

The DEC is not the agency responsible for actually seeing that the projects are completed. That responsibility lies with the nonprofit City Parks Foundation, the group that released the list and order of the projects.

And the city Parks Department would be the agency responsible for implementing ULURP and has repeatedly pledged to begin the process as soon as the money is available.

Although there is $5.5 million in funds already allocated toward the park from various elected officials and sources, none of that capital money can be used for ULURP.

And the process will likely end in the city using eminent domain to seize the property, according to Geoffrey Croft, president of the nonprofit NYC Park Advocates, who said he had spoken with high-ranking Parks officials.

“The expectation is that the elected will continue to fund the acquisition for St. Saviour’s and by the time ULURP is complete we’ll have money to buy it,” he said.

But Parks has refused to make an official statement regarding the use of eminent domain.

A separate St. Saviour’s project was included in the winning entries, and would set aside $1.125 million for the park’s construction.

Read More:

St. Saviour’s activists want state to release funds

Times Ledger - November 4, 2011 - By Joe Anuta

Swimming Banned At Four Beaches - Spilled Sewage "Doesn't Have A Very Big Impact" - Mayor

July 20, 2011 - Smoke bellows from North River Wastewater Treatment Plant in Harlem. The Department of Health and the DEP have advised the public not to swim at four beaches - South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar Grove Beach on Staten Island and Brooklyn's Sea Gate Beach - due to the hundreds of millions gallons of raw sewage that spilled into the Hudson River after Wednesday's fire at the treatment plant. (Photo: phlpp7r/Twitter)

According to the The New York Times the DEP said it had succeeded in ending the flow of sewage into the rivers as of 9:30 p.m last night. No word yet however when the swimming ban will be lifted or when the plant will be operational. On Friday the City extended Parks Department pool hours by 2 hours due to the heat.

"Water quality modeling indicates that these beaches have been potentially impacted by the untreated sewer discharges from the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant," the DEP said in a statement on Friday.

"Though the beaches are not closed, the New York City Department of Health does not recommend swimming and bathing until this advisory is lifted, especially for people with underlying medical conditions, or young or elderly people who may be more likely to get sick if beach water is swallowed," the DEP said in a statement.

The swimming ban comes as the city is experiencing record temperatures across the five boroughs.

During his weekly radio talk show with WOR's John Gambling, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the sewage "doesn't have a very big impact, " according to DNAinfo.

Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River Program Director for Riverkeeper, a watchdog and advocacy group that monitors the waterway, disagreed. He said more city beaches will likely have to close if the city is unable to stem the tide of untreated sewage today.

"The main concern is public health exposure. If you are in the water and have a cut or scrape you are at risk for infection. If you ingest water that has a higher bacteria count, you are at increased risk of getting sick from gastrointestinal problems," he said.

"It's very serious, especially now that you have large numbers of people looking to utilize the rivers and beaches."

Raw sewage can have up to 200 times the recommended limit of bacteria, said Musegaas. Riverkeeper samples taken from the Hudson last week showed that bacteria levels in the river were well below established limits.

The group criticized the DEP for not doing enough to notify swimmers, kayakers and boaters to stay out of the water. While taking samples on Wednesday and Thursday, the group still found kayakers in the water not far from the plant.

Riverkeeper testers also found people swimming in the water near Dyckman Street yesterday afternoon, Musegaas said.

"They need to do more. If it's a real public health risk, every city agency should be coordinating to get people out of the water, not just saying don't go in," Musegaas said. "The better information we can get out to the public, the better off we are." – Geoffrey Croft

Read More:

Amid High Temperatures, Workers Stop Sewage Plant’s Flow Into River

New York Times - July 23, 2011 - By Sam Dolnick and Matt Flegenheimer

Swimming Banned at Some City Beaches After Sewage Spill

DNAinfo - July 22, 2011 - By Jeff Mays

New York Harbor Unfit For Recreational Activities After West Side Sewage Spill

A Walk In The Park - July 21, 2011

Advisories/Press Releases below

Friday, Jul 22, 2011

Advisory

The New York City Health Department has issued beach pollution advisories for the following locations to take effect Friday, July 22, at 10 a.m. through Monday, July 25:

• South Beach in Staten Island
• Midland Beach in Staten Island
• Cedar Grove Beach in Staten Island
• Sea Gate in Brooklyn

Water quality modeling indicates that these beaches have been potentially impacted by the untreated sewer discharges from the North River Wastewater Treatment Plant. Though the beaches are not closed, the New York City Department of Health does not recommend swimming and bathing until this advisory is lifted, especially for people with underlying medical conditions, or young or elderly people who may be more likely to get sick if beach water is swallowed. Signs will be placed at the beach entrances to alert the public of the risk. Alternative beaches, such as Coney Island Beach, Rockaway Beach, Orchard Beach, Manhattan Beach and Wolfe’s Pond Beach, remain open and unaffected based on current water quality modeling.

Additionally, based on recommendations from NYC Health, the Hudson River, the East River from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to Verrazano Bridge, the Harlem River and the Kill Van Kull to the Goethals Bridge will not be fit for recreational activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing or any other water activity that would entail possible direct contact now through at least Sunday. Also, consuming fish caught from these areas is not recommended for anyone until the pollution advisory is resolved. It is recommended that individuals catch and release fish back into the water.

The New York City Police Department Harbor Unit will be patrolling near the plant to ensure boaters keep a proper distance. The Parks Department is restricting access to the river at the 79th Street Boat Basin and placing signs prohibiting kayaking, canoeing and other recreational activities from all city boat launch sites along the Hudson River and other appropriate sites. The Hudson River Park Trust as well as the Battery Park City Authority are also installing similar signs at sites under their jurisdiction.

DEP and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene continue to take samples in the harbor and at permitted beaches that could potentially be impacted. For the most up-to-date information, go to the NYC Health website at www.nyc.gov/health, www.nyc.gov/dep, or call 311.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 22, 2011

No. 267

www.nyc.gov

MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES EXTENDED HOURS AT ALL NEW YORK CITYPOOLS

Pools Will Stay Open Until 8 PM Tonight and Will Be Open from 10 AM to 8 PM Tomorrow, and Spray Showers in Playgrounds Will Remain On Until 9 PM

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe today announced that due to the extreme heat, hours at New York City pools will be extended. Pools will close at 8 PM tonight and be open from 10 AM to 8 PM on Saturday. These hours will be in effect at all 54 pools across the City. To find the pool nearest you, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov. In addition, the 690 spray showers in the City’s parks and playgrounds, which are typically turned off between 6 and 7 PM in moderate temperatures, will remain on until 9 PM tonight and Saturday night.

“The City’s pools are great places to cool off and beat the heat,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “During this heat wave, New Yorkers should take advantage of the free places around the City that offer relief from the heat: pools, spray showers, beaches and cooling centers. Remember to stay out of the sun, drink plenty of water, and check on your friends and family who may be at risk for heat-related illnesses.”

Air-conditioned City cooling centers will be open through Saturday. Cooling centers are public places, such as Department for the Aging senior centers and New York City Housing Authority and Salvation Army community centers, where air conditioning is available. To find the cooling center closest to you, call 311 or visit www.nyc.gov.

Most City beaches, including Coney Island Beach, Rockaway Beach, Orchard Beach, Manhattan Beach and Wolfe’s Pond Beach, are open and unaffected by the fire at a wastewater treatment plant inManhattan, which caused untreated wastewater to be discharged into the Hudson River. However, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommends that, now through Monday, New Yorkers not swim at the following beaches: South Beach, Midland Beach and Cedar Grove Beach in Staten Island; and Sea Gate in Brooklyn. Also, the Hudson River, the East River from the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge to the Verrazano Bridge, the Harlem River and the Kill Van Kull to the Goethals Bridge are not fit for recreational activities such as swimming, canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing or any other water activity that would entail possible direct contact now through Monday. Fish caught from those waterways should not be eaten.

During this period of extreme heat, New Yorkers should take precautions including staying out of the sun as much as possible. When in the sun, wear sunscreen and a hat to protect your face and head. Remember to check on family and friends as heat can affect people differently. Seniors, young children, and people with chronic medical or mental health conditions and those who take certain medications have a higher risk of heat-related illnesses. If you feel sick from the heat, go to a cool place, rest and drink water. Call your doctor or go to the emergency department right away if you have these symptoms:

· Shortness of breath or trouble breathing

· Headache

· Dizziness or fainting

· Nausea or vomiting

· Weakness

· Confusion, irritability, hallucinations, disorientation

· Hot, dry skin or cold, clammy skin.

The risk for getting sick during a heat wave is increased for people who:

· Are younger than five, or older than 64

· Have chronic medical or mental health conditions

· Take medications, which can disrupt the regulation of body temperature

· Are confined to their beds or unable to leave their homes

· Are overweight