Second Avenue subway construction is starting to irritate its Upper East Side neighbors; or, to be more specific, their sinuses.
Many residents have been suffering from what's been coined "the Second Avenue cough" or the "Second Avenue subway syndrome," reports DNAinfo.
The Second Avenue subway construction has been in progress for several months, and residents claim it's polluting the air. A chronic cough, worsening asthma and other health problems have spread through the area, leading neighbors to believe it's related to the blasting being done on the corner.
Residents around the construction have complained about everything from hoards of flies and decreasing revenue for businesses to oppressive levels of dust and material in the air and even cracking sidewalks, which pose a hazard to pedestrians.
The project is currently facing a $5 million lawsuit from an Upper East Side woman who tripped on a missing curb and broke her elbow.
However, the MTA recently released an air quality report, and it claims there are no safety concerns associated with this project. It will present its findings at a Community Board 8 Second Avenue Subway Task Force meeting on Thursday night.
This has only inflamed several of the ill residents, saying the firm that conducted the study, Parsons Brinkerhoff, has several ties to the MTA that would sway its results.
Doctor Len Horovitz, a pulmonologist at Lenox Hill Hospital said he has indeed seen an increase of patients with post-nasal drip and sinusitis. Horovitz said it doesn't seem like it's caused by a virus or bacteria, but by chemicals. Coughing is the body's reaction to keep chemicals out of the lungs, he said.
Horovitz suggests getting air filters and to use Neti pots to clean nasal passages if you've been affected by the irritants.
In September 2011, the project earned a "B" grade in a report issued by the office of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. It earned a "C-" for mitigating construction impact, however.
For more information on this story, visit DNAinfo.
