2 
 BROOKLYN WEEKLY, NOVEMBER 17, 2019 
 BY ROSE ADAMS 
 Coney Islanders are demanding  
 the city study the  
 air quality around the People’s  
 Playground, claiming  
 respiratory illnesses  
 abound in the years following  
 Superstorm Sandy. 
 “We see more and more  
 people getting respiratory  
 issues,” said Eddie Mark,  
 the district manager of the  
 local community board.  
 “Something is wrong.”  
 Community board members  
 have  asked  reps  for  
 the  Department  of  Health  
 to study a perceived rise in  
 respiratory illnesses — including  
 asthma, shortness  
 of breath, and persistent  
 coughing —  that  locals began  
 started complaining  
 about in the wake of the  
 2012 storm, which kicked up  
 a blizzard of dust and debris  
 that was blamed for the socalled  
 “ Sandy cough ” that  
 swept the peninsula. 
 “People got this cough  
 that they couldn’t get rid of,”  
 said Pamela Pettyjohn, a Coney  
 Island resident who has  
 suffered from a persistent  
 cough since the storm struck  
 seven years ago. “These  
 were people that were perfectly  
 healthy before Sandy.  
 What’s happening now?” 
 Sandy’s 13-foot tidal  
 surges were also responsible  
 for rampant mold outbreaks,  
 and locals also fear that the  
 overfl ow of the notoriously  
 contaminated Coney Island  
 Creek during the hurricane  
 may have unleashed toxic  
 particles into the air.  
 The  2012  Superstorm  
 isn’t the only possible  
 cause, and the respiratory  
 illnesses may fi nd  their  
 root  in  ongoing  construction  
 projects and the neighborhood’s   
 crumbling public 
 housing  infrastructure ,  
 where mold runs rampant. 
 And another cause could  
 be  the  area’s  high  levels  
 of ozone pollutants, which  
 rank consistently as some  
 of the worst in the city, according  
 to an  eight-year Department  
 of Health study .  
 Ozone contamination  
 can cause shortness of  
 breath, asthma, and a slew  
 of other respiratory issues,  
  according to the EPA , and  
 a recent  study by the University  
 of Washington determined  
 that  living  in  an  
 Coney  Island  resident  Pamela  Pettyjohn  has  suffered  from  a  persistent  cough  since  Sandy  struck  
 seven years ago.                                                                      Photo by Derrick Watterson 
 area with high ozone levels  
 is the equivalent of smoking  
 a pack of cigarettes a day.  
 But by all other measures, 
  Coney Island’s air  
 isn’t particularly unhealthy  
 — the neighborhood even  
 boasts  lower  levels  of  the  
 most harmful air pollutant, 
  fi ne particulate matter,  
 than  the  average Brooklyn  
 neighborhood, according to  
 a  2016 study . 
 Moreover, a pulmonary  
 specialist at the Coney Island  
 Hospital said that he  
 hasn’t noticed an uptick in  
 new patients after the storm  
 or in the years since. 
 A spokesman for the  
 Health Department did not  
 comment regarding the  
 agency’s plans to conduct  
 a study, but said that other  
 studies have indicated that  
 Coney Islanders suffer from  
 lower levels of asthma than  
 the average Brooklynite. 
 But locals don’t feel  
 healthier  than  other  communities, 
  and say the  
 “Sandy cough” has been going  
 on  long enough to warrant  
 the city taking action. 
 “This  has  been  going  
 on for several years,” said  
 Brighton Beach resident  
 Jeff Sanoff, whose wife has  
 developed asthma. “We  
 haven’t been given any reports  
 on air quality...They  
 keep us in the dark.”  
 Coney leaders demand  
 air-quality study following  
 Superstorm Sandy 
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