A grassroots organization of concerned Upper East Side families has raised alarms that Memorial Sloan Kettering’s planned cancer care pavilion could expose nearby schoolchildren to dangerous carcinogens and other pollutants.
Advertisement
In a press statement released last month that provided updates on construction notices and community board discussions, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) confirmed its plan to construct a “new, state-of-the-art cancer care facility” on York Ave., between East 66th and 67th streets.
“As envisioned, the Pavilion will be connected to Memorial Hospital via an enclosed two-story patient bridge over 67th street, ensuring total integration into MSK’s main campus,” an MSKCC press release states. “Once constructed, the patient bridge will provide a critical connection to Memorial Hospital and serve as an efficient route to move critically ill patients, equipment, and faculty between Memorial Hospital and the Pavilion.”
Despite the fact that this seems like a positive development for both the neighborhood and cancer patients citywide, some Upper East Side residents have raised concerns about potential harms that could result from the construction process. Although formal construction on the pavilion, which has been stalled since September 11, has not started yet, MSKCC installed a site barrier fence on July 3, and has begun removing “sitework items” such as planters and trees, as well as putting up exterior scaffolding.
“The MSKCC pavilion is slated to take six years to complete, with demolition – including removal of asbestos, lead-based paint, and other toxins – already underway,” a Change.org petition by the group, which calls itself Lenox Hill Families Advocating for Children to Thrive (FACT), says. “MSKCC has not provided sufficient assurances to P.S. 183 elementary school parents and Lenox Hill neighborhood families that it is safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our children who live and learn near the construction site.”
As of Thursday morning, the petition has 283 signatures.
Advertisement
Such fears are not completely unprecedented; documents filed more than two decades ago at a different site location by MSKCC made clear that there was “potential for adverse impacts during construction activities resulting from the presence of chemical and radioactive products,” including “asbestos-containing materials.”
Just two weeks ago, a pipe leak in the Upper East Side in an area of Park Ave. between East 69th and 70th Streets, sent asbestos-containing debris into the air.
It is generally believed that close to 70 percent of buildings in New York City contain asbestos.
Linda Cho, 43, a local resident and mother of three kids, said that while it’s great for a world leader in cancer treatment and research like MSKCC to expand, she’s worried it might cost lives in the name of saving others.
“Often it takes years after breathing asbestos that cancer hits,” she told the New York Post on Wednesday. “I almost feel like I need to quarantine at home until the demolition is finished.”
People are at increased risk for asbestos-related complications if they are exposed on a regular basis—in most cases, many years, according to the New York City Health Department. Construction, shipyard and insulation workers are some of the most at-risk people, especially if they are not wearing proper protection while in an area in which asbestos has been disturbed or removed.
According to a study published in the National Library of Medicine, “people exposed to asbestos in childhood have a higher risk of mesothelioma than those exposed in adulthood.”
East Side Feed reached out to both MSKCC and Councilwoman Julie Menin, who represents the area the pavilion is due to be constructed in. Both have yet to respond to requests for comment.
Other neighborhood groups, including Friends of the Upper East Side, have previously lodged complaints about the pavilion due to its enormous size.
Here’s a statement East Side Feed received from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center:
“The safety of our community is a priority and always of utmost concern. We are following all protocols set by New York City, state and federal regulations on all remediation and removal of hazardous materials. Ongoing monitoring according to New York City law is already set in place. We have hired a New York State Department of Labor-licensed asbestos abatement contractor to perform the asbestos removal and a New York State Department of Labor-licensed third-party air monitoring firm to perform air monitoring. The third-party air monitoring firm is required to be completely independent of all other firms involved in the asbestos project. The asbestos removal company is required to file timely reports to the NYCDEP, NYSDOL and USEPA with information about the asbestos removal project, including the locations of ACM to be removed, work schedule, and abatement procedures.
“We will continue to work closely with P.S. 183 leadership and its PTA, as well as New York City Council Member Julie Menin, on air quality monitoring, construction safety, traffic, and the safe remediation of hazardous materials.”
Hey kids! Can you spell N-I-M-B-Y?
Hey Kids, can you spell “awful administration” “dreadful corporation.” MSK is a corporation that I know as I am a patient there and it’s a MONEY GRAB. The overall stance is “no coloring outside the lines.” I’m not kidding. Everything is geared toward enriching DRUG Companies and the MSK Corporation. They do not care about new research, new ways to help without destroying lives. Their CEO makes, are you ready, 7 Million/year. Don’t let them metastasize!!!