Nearly 10,000 New York City buildings, including hundreds of buildings in the Upper East Side, still burn No. 4 & No. 6 heating oil, the dirtiest grades of heating oil. In burning these oils, buildings are producing more soot pollution than all the city’s cars and trucks combined. This soot pollution is toxic to New Yorkers, as it aggravates asthma, increases the risk of cancer, exacerbates respiratory illness and can even cause premature death.
Recently, Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have proposed a rule that will phase out boiler permits for No. 6 and No. 4 oil.
