By Katelyn Cordero and Maya Kaufman
Building owners in New York City must now test cooling towers for Legionella bacteria every 31 days while they are operating — three times more often than previously required — under new regulations that went into effect Friday. The changes were prompted by an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease last summer in Harlem.
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By Eyewitness News
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) — The New York City Council has passed a package of bills aimed at combatting vaccine misinformation, and expanding access to shots across the city.
The measures require the health department to work with schools to distribute clear information to parents about how vaccines work, their safety, and where to get them.
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By Sadie Brown
City Council leaders said Thursday that it would lead the charge on promoting vaccines and public health in New York in an era when the federal government has effectively withdrawn from that effort.
Speaker Julie Menin, Committee on Health Chair Lynn Schulman, Committee on Education Chair Eric Dinowitz and Committee on Oversight &
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By Trenton Daniels
The New York City Council on Thursday passed a package of bills seeking to do more to educate parents about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines as immunization rates show signs of starting to dip.
The five bills aim to make it easier for schools to disseminate accurate information about vaccines to parents, as well as to require the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to develop a plan by year’s end that will educate New Yorkers about the importance of childhood and adolescent vaccinations.
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By Elizabeth Kim
The New York City Council is flexing its oversight powers over a mental health response program that Mayor Zohran Mamdani has made a key part of his new approach to changing how the city handles 911 calls involving people in mental distress.
The Council on Thursday passed legislation requiring the Mamdani administration to submit regular performance reports on the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division, also known as B-HEARD.
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By Maya Kaufman
The City Council unanimously passed legislation Thursday to require more comprehensive and frequent data reporting on the B-HEARD initiative, which sends specially trained emergency medics and social workers to respond to select 911 calls about a mental health crisis.
The bill would require relevant city agencies to share aggregate data every six months on mental health-related 911 calls and B-HEARD dispatches, in addition to the program’s average response time and demographic information of the individuals in crisis.
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By Eyewitness News
NEW YORK (WABC) — Biking weather is back and a record setting helmet giveaway is planned for New York City cyclists.
Safety gear, including lights, will be handed out in all five boroughs starting on Saturday at the Russell Page Playground in Queens.
Transportation Department Experts will be on hand to fit you for the right helmet.
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By Lea Tomaswick
Inside Government is a Q&A series that gives New Yorkers a glimpse inside the role of the elected officials who represent them. This edition of Inside Government with PoliticsNY, sponsored by AARP New York City, features New York City Council Member Lynn Schulman. Council Member Schulman represents the 29th Council District in Queens which includes the neighborhoods of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, South Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and South Ozone Park.
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Relocation announcement comes amid push to keep it in Forest Hills
By Stephanie G. Meditz
Larry Ng’s vibrant “Queens, The World’s Borough” sculpture is moving to a new home — one it will share with the New York Mets.
The stainless steel, six-foot tall artwork, originally on view in Forest Hills’ MacDonald Park, will be relocated to Citi Field, City Councilmember Lynn Schulman (D-Forest Hills) announced March 20.
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By Bob Hennelly
The radical rollback by the Trump administration of the schedule of vaccines required for the nation’s tens of millions of children and a resurgence in measles nationally, prompted the New York City Council’s Health Committee to convene hearings this week to hear from New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin.
WBAI carried these hearings LIVE as well as a LIVE call-in show hosted by Jenna Flanagan and Dr.
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