Christmas, the most joyous of times, is around the corner. But thousands of Far Rockaway residents will have little to celebrate. Seven weeks after Hurricane Sandy ravaged New York, 11,000 of them still lack heat, hot water, electricity and effective public assistance.
Nothing has changed for Far Rockaway residents Jorge Gonzalo, 66, an Army veteran, and his mother, Pura Gonzalo, 89, one week after we first told their story: they are still enduring darkness, cold weather and official indifference. Their main concern is not that they have to light candles at night or turn on the stove to fight the cold, but that their basement has become infested with mold.
“I am worried we are coughing,” Pura said. “Jorge tried to clean as much as he could with Clorox, but the mold is now all over the house. He is not in good health and I am afraid he will get worse.”
And that is a real possibility for the Gonzalos and thousands of others whose homes are mold infested and who can neither afford to pay for its removal or get assistance from the city.
In fact, mold has become one of the biggest health hazards after Sandy.
Volunteers working with the Met Council, a social service agency, found that only one in five families is hiring professional mold cleaning services, not surprising given that mold remediation can cost several thousands of dollars.
The rest are either painting over the mold or purchasing cheap and ineffective cleanup kits. Until local and federal relief agencies come up with a solution, people who, like the Gonzalos, can’t afford to have the mold removed are being left to live in toxic homes.
Religious leaders and elected officials are calling on Mayor Bloomberg to add mold remediation to the city’s Rapid Repairs program, which was established to help residential property owners affected by Sandy make emergency repairs including restoration of heat, power and hot water.
“Faith leaders are calling on Mayor Bloomberg to commit to a series of action steps to make his Rapid Repairs program live up to its name,” said Joseph McKellar, executive director of Queens Congregations United for Action, an advocacy group.
A report put out by QCUA says the administration’s relief response has been “slow and inadequate” in Queens: As of December 5 only 174 homes (out of 38,000 homes and businesses on the Rockaway Peninsula) had received help through Rapid Repairs. Over 8,000 more were still waiting to be inspected. Also, QCUA found that health conditions have deteriorated dangerously: “Contamination of homes and air caused by microbial growth due to flooding and a mold epidemic has led to pulmonary problems dubbed the ‘Rockaway Cough.'”
Even worse, the mold problem is not limited to the Rockaways, says Met Council CEO Willie Rapfogel.
“It’s the unspoken issue, a huge health concern, not only in Far Rockaway, but in South Brooklyn and Staten Island as well,” Rapfogel said. “We talk all the time about obesity and the need to control it and how expensive a health problem it is, but if nothing is done now about mold remediation in two years we are going to spend many millions to treat thousands of people with serious breathing problems.”
Those who can afford to pay for cleaning the mold should do it, he added, but it makes sense to immediately help the many New Yorkers who cannot, many of them seniors or families with children.
“We have an obligation to do so,” said Rapfogel who is urging people to call Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to demand that mold remediation be included in the Rapid Repairs program.
“If enough people call, they will pay attention,” he said.
aruiz@nydailynews.com
