Hempstead, New Cassel, Roosevelt, Uniondale, Westbury

The  Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act)  requires meaningful changes to benefit New York State’s climate and economy. Climate change is a threat multiplier which can worsen existing vulnerabilities and stressors and further increase community burdens. As required by the Climate Act, the  Climate Justice Working Group  (CJWG), comprised of representatives from Environmental Justice communities statewide, identified disadvantaged communities (DACs), using criteria which includes environmental burdens, climate change risk, and population and health vulnerability indicators.

In consultation with CJWG, and after weighing community feedback, DEC selected DACs for air monitoring in the Hempstead, New Cassel, Roosevelt, Uniondale, and Westbury communities based on  12 environmental burden indicators  directly associated with air pollution. Other population characteristics and health vulnerabilities factor into the identification of a New York State DACs.

The community profile for the study communities provides the following:

• A brief overview of historical background and relevant information that may contribute to some of the environmental justice concerns experienced today including industrial development and examples of injustices faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color such as redlining, displacement, segregation by the construction of highways, and other land use decisions;
• Descriptions of potential air pollution sources;
• Community concerns regarding air quality;
• Initial results, which links to mapping tools where readers can review maps of the mobile air monitoring data, air pollution sources,  sensitive receptor  locations (schools, parks, playgrounds, childcare and healthcare facilities, nursing homes, and public housing) and traffic data;
• Community survey;
• Next steps; and
• Strategies to reduce air pollution

The Town of Hempstead in Nassau County is the largest township in the United States and includes the Villages of Hempstead and the unincorporated Hamlets of Roosevelt and Uniondale. The neighboring Town of North Hempstead includes the Village of Westbury and the unincorporated Hamlet of New Cassel.

New Cassel, in North Hempstead, was a farming community of former slaves freed by a group of Quakers. It is one of Long Island’s oldest African American communities. It thrived as a middle-class community after World War II, as Black and Latino veterans were directed away from or denied homeownership in other locations.  

The Hamlet of Roosevelt in the Town of Hempstead was named after former President Theodore Roosevelt. While Roosevelt once had a predominantly White population, unethical and discriminatory real estate practices led to White flight.

Redlining both as a term and as a practice originated with the federal government Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC). During the 1930s, the HOLC created a system to assess the risk of mortgage lending in particular neighborhoods. The term “Redlining,” refers to neighborhoods that were denied low-interest and long-term mortgages for decades and race played a major role in the designation of “redlined” neighborhoods. People in neighborhoods with large Black and immigrant populations, regardless of their financial status, were denied federally backed mortgages, as well as other attractive credit, and insurance. This racist and discriminatory practice was banned in 1968 by the Fair Housing Act. These legacy and inequalities of redlining persist today because many redlined neighborhoods were disinvested and segregated by highways and industrial sources.

Still today formerly redlined neighborhoods such as the ones in this Initiative often lack green space, experience higher temperatures due to the urban heat island effect, are exposed to higher-than-average air pollution levels and have populations that are more vulnerable to air pollution. Studies have correlated relationships between redlined neighborhoods and lower life expectancy, as well as higher risk for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, and other health issues. Designation of “redlined” communities is included in New York State’s  DAC criteria .

Although there may have been historical practices, such as racial covenants, making it difficult for minorities to purchase homes, DEC did not identify any redlining maps for this study area.

Stationary air pollution sources include large industrial facilities such as power plants, and asphalt and concrete. DEC regulates large and smaller stationary sources through air permits. Area sources are smaller stationary sources that may be spread out over a large area or concentrate in one area and include gas stations, dry cleaners, autobody shops, and residential heating (oil, gas, and wood). DEC regulates many area sources.

Mobile air pollution sources include cars, trucks, and buses , as well as off-road sources such as construction and lawn equipment, trains, and airplanes. Non-diesel vehicles are gasoline powered vehicles. Diesel vehicles are powered by diesel fuel. DEC regulates many of these sources, particularly motor vehicles, under New York State’s emissions monitoring authority.

Natural sources of air pollution include wind-blown dust, biogenic emissions from plants and trees, and wildfires.

The source categories in the study area include four facilities that either coat metal or conduct electroplating; four concrete, sand, and gravel suppliers; about 14 gas stations; and four operations related to the handling of solid waste and recycling.

Major thoroughfares are Wantagh, Northern, Meadowbrook, and Southern State parkways, which have daily vehicle counts of between 75,000 and 178,000. Commercial vehicles are prohibited on parkways. Old Country Road, NYS Route 24 (Hempstead Turnpike), and Pennsylvania Boulevard are some of the major routes for truck traffic. There are higher daily traffic counts for the Hempstead Turnpike and Meadowbrook and Southern parkways and higher truck traffic counts on the Hempstead Turnpike to Peninsula Boulevard, Oak Street, Meadowbrook Parkway, and Nassau Road.

DEC held two virtual community meetings in July and August 2022 to describe the goals of the Community Air Monitoring (CAM) Initiative and collect community input on the CAM study boundaries. In 2023, three virtual community meetings were held with community members to provide updates on the study progress and continue to receive community input on the study approach. DEC also identified local partners and formed Community Advisory Committees (CACs) to facilitate sharing of air quality concerns and insights about the monitoring effort and attune the study to community knowledge. Deputy Supervisor Dorothy L. Goosby, Town of Hempstead, serves as the co-convener for the CAC. The CACs will help communities prioritize air pollution reduction goals, especially near sensitive individual locations (for example, schools, childcare facilities, public housing). In collaboration with DEC, the CJWG, other State agencies, local governments, and stakeholders, the CACs will work on possible strategies to meet air pollution reduction goals. 

As part of the CAM Initiative, DEC hosted meetings with community residents and other stakeholders from the study area. During these meetings, local elected officials from New Cassel and Westbury expressed concerns about homes near a high density of small industrial sources. Community members in the Roosevelt and Uniondale areas expressed concerns about potential exposures to vehicle emissions when schools are located near parkways. An environmental justice community in Westbury is specifically concerned about the areas near heavily trafficked Prospect and Railroad avenues. 

Other community air quality concerns include: exposures to residents living near rail lines and train stations; the transport of diesel for freight transport on Long Island Railroad’s mainline; construction near Westbury and New Cassel; auto body shops in the Roosevelt area; and traffic along the Hempstead Turnpike.

To make the results of the Initiative easier to understand, DEC is providing examples of this study’s air monitoring findings on interactive maps. DEC used a combination of methods and mapping tools (peaks analysis, focus spot, and mobile source indicator tools) which allow the user to zoom in to explore areas with higher pollution levels. The  peaks analysis tool  evaluates the highest, repeat occurrences of each air pollutant and is useful for looking at extremely localized results. The  focus spot tool  uses objective statistical methods to find areas or focus spots with clusters of higher pollution as an indication of air pollution source(s) because the sensors repeatedly measured values that are persistently elevated in that area. The focus spot tool allows DEC and community members to objectively see patterns in the data and help identify areas for further investigation. The  mobile source indicator tool  uses a refined approach to look for elevated areas of pollutants known to be released from vehicles. It combines pollutants to differentiate between pollution from diesel- and non-diesel-powered vehicles. 

DEC and community members are using the mapping tools, results, and other information to identify sources and information on the location of sensitive receptors to prioritize areas for air pollution reductions. Sensitive receptors are vulnerable populations that may be sensitive to air pollution like children at schools and elderly living in nursing homes.

DEC will continue to work with communities to gather responses and refine the data analyses to better identify air pollution sources. Public input can also inform successful strategies that can help improve air quality. 

The area of New Cassel bounded by the railroad, Grand Boulevard, and Old Country Road showed elevated levels of multiple pollutants as indicated by these monitoring tools: focus spots and diesel and non-diesel mobile sources. Some higher levels of pollution measured in this location suggest contributions from facilities and operations that may warrant further review. Higher concentrations of pollutants related to non-diesel mobile sources were found along the Northern and Southern State parkways. The non-diesel mobile source tool showed higher levels of vehicle pollutants from near the Hub Shopping Centre in the Village of Hempstead showed.  

Full results can be explored using the    Community Air Monitoring Map    (opens in a new tab).

DEC created a survey to collect community air pollution concerns from the public within this Community Air Monitoring Initiative study boundary. Please click the button below to complete the survey, which will help improve the quality of our final report and strategies to improve air quality. This survey tool will close on March 31, 2025. Air pollution concerns not related to this Initiative should be reported to the  local DEC office .

A wide range of strategies exist to reduce air pollution. An effective community emissions-reduction program will require community engagement and input to guide solutions most responsive to community needs. The most successful way to reduce air pollution is to involve all relevant government agencies and entities with authority to implement changes. To that end, DEC is holding in-person public meetings this summer and early fall to:

• discuss air monitoring results and the local air pollution sources; 
• gather more community input about air pollution concerns, especially in areas where mobile air monitoring results were elevated; 
• collaborate with communities to develop priorities for air pollution reduction strategies in the short- and long-term; 
• identify state and local agencies that will need to be involved to implement strategies; 
• discuss how state and local agencies can address intersecting issues (for example, air quality, housing, and energy) to strengthen programs; and
• discuss how New York State can help fund community strategies. 

Existing emission and exposure reduction strategies include:

• rules that increase the sale of new clean zero emission cars, light duty trucks, and medium- and heavy-duty trucks;
• city, county, and regional plans calling for energy conservation and  increased efficiency in buildings and multi-modal transportation;
• using low-emission street cleaners with vacuums to reduce road dust;
• installing indoor air filtration systems and requiring that air intake for  buildings is away from nearby sources; and
• properly designing and maintaining roadside vegetation barriers to reduce exposure to pollution from roads with heavy traffic.

Strategic plans at city, county, and regional levels that call for energy conservation and increased efficiency to address sustainability and climate resilience have the added benefit of reducing greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change and co-pollutants that impact air quality. Reducing reliance on transportation through multi-modal transportation and increasing use of renewable energy reduces pollution and reliance on fossil fuels. Other strategies include reducing emissions from the handling of waste such as waste transfer and wastewater treatment.