On 671 West 162nd Street: Still Smoking Way Too Much
In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly dies of lung disease.
Although there are countless slumlords offenders in Washington Heights, this building is one of the worst.
We’ve written about this building before — and for a while it seemed to get better — but now that it’s getting cold, the smoke is getting worse, i.e., it’s a constant stream of thick, black exhaust.
We just got off the phone with 311, which is supposedly going to file a complaint with the DEP.
If you see this, we encourage you to call, too! If nothing else, they will monitor the number of complaints, and perhaps act when it’s obvious that there’s a problem (as if local asthma rates were not obvious enough).
The only reason for this is because landlords are either 1) not maintaining their boilers properly, or 2) using low-grade oil to save money. Bottom line: if you see it, call 311 and let them know that you’re dying of lung disease.
Filed under: Capitalism, Health, New York City, Washington Heights | 2 Comments
Tags: 311, 672 West 162nd Street, Asthma, Boilers, Cheap Oil, Department of Environmental Protection, Pollution, Slumlords
The Gay Recluse 
Hi Matthew. Great stuff here with this series of posts. Good job, and I def expect to see a newspaper pick up this story. At the very least it should make the rounds on nyc blogs.
Ive already written the headline for them, “Washington Heights resident not blowing smoke, documents neighborhood air quality violations on his blog.”
Soon you and RFK can have a photo opp. p.s. I was looking for an email on your page and I could not find one. Maybe you can send me one?
Hey Paolo! Thanks so much — I’m a big fan of your blog, too! You can reach me at thegayrecluse [at] gmail.com