Silent Protest: Coffin on Hicks

By on July 22, 2010 4:03 pm in Development, Health

video-30-0-00-03-01No, 187 Hicks St has not become a funeral parlor. See the reason for the coffin after the jump.

More to come on ALR Environmental …

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  • Ben

    This is dangerous.

  • brooklynheightzer

    This is outrageous! Where is EPA?

  • harumph

    I just passed this with my kids while walking down Henry – not an easy thing to discuss and it is really a horrible thing to see out on the sidewalk – there has got to be a better way to get the public’s attention…

  • nabeguy

    harumph, the article states that this is on Hicks. not Henry, so what you saw may have been more disturbing than you realize.

  • ABC

    one fiber is all it takes? to what? die?

  • gsn

    Wow, I work in a city building where they did asbsestos removal. One fiber? We are in trouble

  • nabeguy

    This is just union fear-mongering. Don’t buy it. Sure, one fiber is dangerous… if you’re bubble boy. I’m not suggesting that you sprinkle it over your cornflakes at breakfast, but these arguments are absurd. Look into friable versus non-friable asbestos to understand the difference.

  • jim

    The unions must really be hurting if they have to protest a job of this size

  • john

    From the picture of the coffin, it appears to worth between $5,000 to $8000. An amount that could of have been used toward resolving the issue at hand instead.

  • pat

    asbestos is a very dangerious thing it kills you slowly and if people are working in those conditions they have all right to protest by any means to get people attention do you know what it does to families its a slow death

  • George Earl

    The people who put this coffin on our public streets should be arrested immediately. Their philosophy just doesn’t come across, I’m afraid.

  • Mickey

    Arrested, George? Get a grip on reality.

  • anon

    fwiw, it’s entirely possible for there to be safe and careful asbestos removal by non-union crews. there are tons of regulations and laws that set forth how it should be done carefully. just because the workers are non-union does not mean they are not taking the appropriate care.

  • Ombama?

    I wouldn’t want any fibers lodged in my lungs! We inhale enough crap just living in NYC & nearby Jersey!

  • tb

    Isn’t this the place Paul Giamatti was rumored to be moving into? My husband loves him.

  • William Spier

    Anon, in this case, is wrong. It is not the capabilities of union versus non-union ; non-union workers can be directed so that asbestos removal meets statutes. But, companies that hire non-union workers most often do this to save on labor costs. They often cut corners on entire projects. Would you want to take this risk when it comes to something as sensitive as asbestos removal?

    The coffin is an entirely inappropriate statement. I am really surprised that a union would bludgeon the public in this way. It is really dumb.

  • anon

    William, just because they want to save on labor costs for what could easily be a very small job does not mean that there are actually unsafe practices. I get that it’s bad to hire non-union, for plenty of reasons, but it does not necessarily mean there are unsafe practices going on. “often” doesn’t mean always. Also, having had some experience with asbestos removal in a variety of instances, it is often (yes, i know, not always) quite as big a deal as it is made out to be, particularly when it is small amounts or in contained areas.

  • David on Middagh

    @John: In real life (ha ha!) the coffin is small and plasticky, not a multi-$K purchase. The Northern end sports a “Made In China” sticker, which made me think this was a protest against the outsourcing of burial services, or some such thing. Stupid, I know, but we interpret these things asbestos we can.

  • http://bull Henry

    Besides asbestos workers, how many people become ill from this fiber each year? Almost zero! It is a great money maker for the attorneys .

  • nabeguy

    David, that was the punniest thing I’ve heard in a while. Good one.