Asthma-Enabling Landlords Vs. City Council

I can't breathe in this thing!

New legislation introduced today by the City Council may help those who suffer from asthma by requiring landlords to make buildings more lung-friendly. The council would require owners of 175 buildings to attempt to reduce asthma factors like mold and garbage pileup, or risk liens from the city. Council Speaker Christine Quinn told the Times, "Not every landlord is a good landlord in the city of New York. We need to have stricter laws to deal with those bad apples."

The city will first focus on private buildings, giving landlords three months to make the changes, or doing it themselves and charging the landlords for the work. The legislation would also act as an experiment on successful asthma prevention methods, requiring different landlords to focus on different projects, and comparing the results for effectiveness. Though landlords in the Rent Stabilization Association say that bad conditions aren't always their fault, Quinn said, "If you are a landlord that takes good care of your building, you have nothing to worry about." Any advice on where to find one of those?

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By Jaya Saxena in News on May 12, 2010 4:15 PM

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really!?!?

If you want to force landlords to clean up mold and vermin I applaud the efforts, but don't try to hide it under the claim of curing asthma. If the goal is asthma reduction then the first move is to ban smoking in buildings, especially buildings with a lot of children. There are a million contributing factors to asthma, and doctors admit that they can't predict who will develop it and who wont based solely on environmental factors. In my opinion asthma is in the same realm as food allergies and ADD, it is completely over diagnosed, but I am not a health professional.