After 10 years of outreach through the Hydrant Education Action Team (HEAT) program, reports of illegally opened hydrants have fallen by more than 60 percent. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined with Council Member Andy King to distribute rain barrels to approximately 100 Bronx homeowners from the Wakefield, Olinville, Edenwald, Eastchester, Williamsbridge, Baychester, and Co-op City neighborhoods. Ground was broken on a project to convert an asphalt schoolyard at JHS 189Q in Flushing, Queens, to a playground with green infrastructure elements.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announces the Ashokan Century Program, a comprehensive $750 million project to upgrade infrastructure and facilities at the Ashokan Reservoir in Ulster County. Work will be performed on the main dam and dikes, spillway channel, and dividing weir bridge, as well as the Catskill Aqueduct headworks and chambers and a monument to J. Waldo Smith, the Chief Engineer of the original construction. Work continues on the Delaware Aqueduct Bypass Tunnel, with preparations in place for the start of tunnel boring. DEP joined local elected officials to distribute rainbarrels to around 320 homeowners on the South Shore of Staten Island.
This report found that there was a steady decline in sugary drink consumption among adults between 2007 and 2013; however, between 2013 and 2015, the prevalence stagnated (24% in 2015). There was no change in overall sugary drink consumption prevalence among teens between 2013 and 2015. Among children 6 to 12, there was a decline in consumption between 2009 and 2015. Recommendations are included for health care providers, schools, community leaders, retailers, and all New Yorkers to reduce and eliminate consumption of sugary drinks.