"Just before 3 p.m. at the Community Center at O'Dwyer Gardens, a NYCHA public housing complex in Coney Island, a dozen small kids run in and drop their backpacks. A few greet staff with knee-high hugs as they enter the main room, where after-school programming is about to begin. Behind the door of a maintenance closet near the foosball table, dark mold has been spreading across the walls and ceiling for almost a year."
""We're all hesitant to go in the closet," said Chyanne Cooper, who has worked at the center for seven years and participated in its programs before that. "A lot of us have kids as well, so we don't want it to affect us or affect these kids.""
"Exposure to mold can cause or worsen asthma and other respiratory illnesses, conditions that disproportionately affect Black and brown children living in low-income households, where environmental triggers, including mold, are common. Coney Island has struggled with persistent mold outbreaks since flooding from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and many residents experience ongoing respiratory issues."
A maintenance closet at a NYCHA community center in Coney Island has harbored dark mold for almost a year. Staff, many of whom also live in NYCHA housing, keep the closet door closed to limit exposure for children, seniors, and themselves. Multiple repair tickets have been filed with NYCHA, but repairs have not been completed. The smell has made staff feel sick. Mold exposure can cause or worsen asthma and other respiratory illnesses that disproportionately affect Black and brown children and low-income households. Coney Island has faced persistent mold issues since Hurricane Sandy in 2012, with elevated asthma rates among NYCHA residents.
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