In addition to my work at NRDC, I write a monthly column on environmental issues for the Gotham Gazette, a great online source for New York City public affairs and political news.  Today, my most recent column was posted. 

It’s about an important, yet little-reported story—from 1995 to 2005, pediatric hospitalization rates dropped by roughly 50% in New York City’s poorest neighborhoods.   

Nobody really knows why the drop has occurred, although I suspect it’s a combination of better asthma awareness and education, an increase and improvement in more localized healthcare (so kids get treated in their neighborhood, rather than at the ER), and policy improvements, like the NYC Transit bus clean-up that has reduced the level of pollution on the sidewalks of many neighborhoods.  http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffenvironment.htm#clean_bus 

If you want to read the whole story, you can go get it here:  http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/environment/20071022/7/2325