Photo by Kat_NYC.
The city is planning to spray the pesticide Roundup in Riverside Park this week to kill weeds and poison ivy, and is warning people to keep their children and pets away from the affected areas. The sign above was displayed in Riverside Park around 85th street.
Roundup has been used for decades, and scientists have given differing answers over the years as to whether it can cause cancer. Initially, an EPA committee said it might cause cancer, but the agency reversed itself six years later. Earlier this year a World Health Organization agency said that the pesticide “probably” causes cancer after examining data on people, animals and cells. Monsanto, which makes Roundup, has disputed the results.
In any case, we have heard from locals who think spraying the weed-killer never actually eradicates the weeds, and adds unnecessary chemicals to the park. “The spraying is wrong on so many levels: health concerns, waste of money, more health concerns, ingrained societal belief that weeds need to be removed, the fact that the weeds invariably return, etc.,” wrote one local.
We haven’t yet heard back from the parks department official listed on the permit.
Just an FYI, this is an herbicide not a pesticide. And maybe it can cause cancer. But the fact it’s sprayed infrequently probably lessens the danger. Not that I support the use of chemicals like RoundUp but why such an alarmist headline? The parks often put out rat poison and warn against kids and dogs ingesting that and it’s done much more routinely than this.
I’ve used glyphosate for 20 years, takes about a week to kill the root. Is it carcinogenic to humans or dogs in real-life quantities? Doubt it. Use diquat if you’re paranoid. When I see doormen or city workers using a spray hose full-force to dislodge a wisp of grass in a sidewalk crack I want to scream. For the environnment and for our survival I demand they use 5 ml of dilute glyphosate or diquat, or maybe use a HOE. Using generic Roundup is far more efficient and cost-effective and conservative of water and labor.
I think it is more likely that they are washing away the ever prevalent remains of dog urine and feces rather than a “wisp of grass in a sidewalk crack”.
Herbicides are a kind of pesticide, according to the EPA: https://www.epa.gov/pesticides/about/
Not meant to be alarmist, but people should know what’s being sprayed in their parks, and to watch their kids and dogs, no?
My resistance to the use of RoundUp is based on something different: its active ingredient, Glyphosate, is the primary reason for the existence of genetic crop engineering (GMO seeds). So, there’s that.
One must have a view of GMO and herbicides/pesticides (Glyphosate) that is cohesive if one wants to present a considered opinion.
A useful online article lives here (https://gmo-awareness.com/resources/glyphosate/) citing research from your typical respected universities, etc. in a non-alarmist way. ‘just the facts’, sort of. worth a look if only to give some accuracy to your party conversations.
Problems arise when New workers say “don’t spray RoundUp in my yard, but you can spray it over in New Jersey.”
Absolutely. Thanks for posting this. People’s complacency is unbelievable. Google it. This part: Earlier this year a World Health Organization agency said that the pesticide “probably” causes cancer after examining data on people, animals and cells. Monsanto, which makes Roundup, has disputed the results.
Yes, agreed, the public ought to be made aware. But as Dave said, the headline is alarmist. It might have read: “Herbicide To Be Sprayed In Riverside Park”. Then in the body of the story explained that the park was asking that people watch their kids and keep dogs on a leash. But I get it, headlines need to catch people’s attention and get clicks. Believe me, I’ve done enough of them for CNN. But I love WSR and wish it would refrain from this type of headline. Hey, you’re still the first place I turn to for news about happenings in the ‘hood and I appreciate everything you do to keep us informed.
I don’t find the headline to be alarmist at all. It’s actually “mild” when you consider the type of chemical we are talking about here. Let’s read up more about Round Up,Monstanto, and even Agent Orange….
Fair enough, thanks for the feedback!
“KEEP KIDS AND PETS AWAY” from Riverside Park in the headline is alarmist. The application does not state or insinuate that kids and pets should be kept away from the park.
Truth
Parkinsons Disease is an illness that has solid links to Roundup. Check any of the websites which discuss causes for Parsinsons, aside from possible genetics, and you’ll find poisons like Roundup listed by name. I love that park and walk through parts several times a week. I’ll have to seriously re-consider how much time I’m willing to spend there now. @Miriam the difference to a person’s brain tissue and the functioning of the cerebellum and production of dopamine cannot distinguish between one kind of poison and another. The creatures which feed on grasses will be poisoned, the animals who eat those creature will also be poisoned to some degree. Anyone who is auto-immune or immune compromised should stay out of that park till after a good drenching rain. No kids, no dogs, no seniors and no one with auto-immune problems, asthema, allergies, eczema, etc.
Yes, Monsanto probably IS lying and RoundUp probably IS carcinogenic.
BUT that’s not the worst part. What is worse are those tv commercials for RoundUp portraying a 40-something suburban “soccer-dad” standing in his suburban driveway and holding a sprayer loaded with RoundUp which he then uses to attack a miserable-little dandelion which had the nerve to spoil his micro-kingdom by daring to sprout in a seam in his poured-concrete DRIVEWAY, the heart of the suburban life-style, while Western-themed music plays in the background!
Of course the ‘creatives’ at that ad agency knew exactly what they were doing: stroking the battered egos of thousands of cubicle-drones and implying that they are all modern-day John Wayne’s (now an airport in SoCal) defending their family against the horror of weed (NOT the weed that their children smoke but the kind that spoils the pristine my-home-is-MY-castle-not-YOURS-so-get-your-ass-off-my-driveway suburban mind-set!)
Once again the Mad-Men perpetrate the myth that suburbia is the be-all-and-end-all while environmentalists have consistently demonstrated that suburbia is an ecological disaster.
Weeds are super annoying. I did some weeding this weekend on my hands and knees. Believe me, if there’s a way to accomplish the same thing with less effort, and pretend that I’m a cowboy, it’s a no-brainer.
I haven’t seen the commercials you’re describing, but you’ve completely sold me on getting one of those big sprayer jugs. Thanks!
Re: “… I did some weeding this weekend on my hands and knees.”
WHOA! You do NOT have weeds on your hands and knees…or, hopefully not!
Better: ‘This weekend, while painfully on my hands and knees, I did some weeding.’
(signed)retired NYC “Teacher of Secondary School English”
Jesus. Calm down. It’s just a little weed-killer.
Even Russia has banned this ‘little weed-killer’, that, by the way, also kills off useful insects. And the rest of Europe is seriously considering banning it.
Why?, you may ask. One should look in the direction of political ‘contributions’… .
How much do you know about this “little weed killer”? Read up on it and let’s see if you still think it’s just that.
I worked at an agricultural research facility for about 6 years – in the summer throughout parts of high school and college. They ran experiments on wheat (winter and spring), barley, peas, grass, and corn. We tested herbicides and pesticides, no till farming, grew new strains of wheat to determine what the best product would be next year etc…
It’s all genetically modified in some way. You can’t grow the same wheat every year for example because weeds and bugs will eventually take it over and you will have a very poor yield.
Anyway, not saying that Round Up was used on these crops, but it’s essentially the same thing. You spray it and then stay away from it for a specified period of time until it becomes inactive. I did use Round-up a couple times per summer to spray all the weeds along the 10 miles of roads that navigate the farm. I’ve never had cancer – although that was only about 10 years ago so I suppose I am still in the wait and see period.
I guess I don’t share your concern for the livelyhood of the various bugs and rodents that call the weed patches home.
Sure, there’s a lot of histrionics in ScooterStan’s post, but there are also elements of truth to be found. Mankind repeatedly and arrogantly believes it can control nature. We can’t. And every time, it will come back and bite us.
Spraying an herbicide is the easy way out. You get what you pay for. Don’t want to put in the effort and pull weeds by hand? Then risk cancer.
Even in moderation, Roundup disrupts bees ability to feed and pollinate. It’s a toxin that is brought back to the hive and presents serious, long-term consequences for bee colonies. I am disappointed that Riverside Park would use it at all.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25063858
I totally agree. Even used as intended, it is a neuro-disruptor, so a bee takes it back to the hive and it’s the beginning of hive-collapse. Monsanto is not a company to be trusted with the well being of our eco-system. Times are all ready stressing us, via weather, drought in the west, rain and high heat in the east. Why do more damage to a delicate situation?
Have you happened to hear of any plans for one of the midnight Mosquito-repellant sprayings? The West 80s are “ground zero” for those disease carrying pests and last summer, we got no advanced warning to close our windows overnight during the spraying.
Please everyone – call the phone number on this sign and tell the parks people not to use this pesticide!!
Glysophate is toxic and leaves residues and runs off into streams and estuaries. Parks use it because they are still protocolized and they are institutions like hospitals that take years to update protocols. Glysophate is an endocrine disruptor. It induces breast cancer and other types of cancer. There has been many publications on this….Monsanto has a lot of money and power lobbyists.
Other countries have stopped aerial spraying of this toxic chemical.
No spraying !!!
No-No-No !!!!!!
Unnecessary spraying….
Is there a petition open on this? We need to stop Roundup from being used wherever humans, with or without their dogs, walk. Putting up a sign does not save people from contact directly or indirectly with this carcinogen. “Just a little weed killer”? That’s what they told us about DDT, if I recall. Wake up, folks, and do the research, on both Roundup and Monsanto.
Carolyn
Why not have volunteer weed removers? The poison ivy (I had no idea there was any poison ivy in our city parks) may require a professional with something hopefully non-toxic, but weeding can be fun if done with a group or crowd – why not have students from the local public schools do this as a project? Or just adult volunteers? Just a thought.
Great idea, but easier said than done. When’s the last time you volunteered for the Parks? Or CityMeals? What happened to the President’s call for a National Day of Service. Alas…very few of us heed the call to (volunteer) action.
Pesticides shouldn’t be used anywhere!!
As usual this administration has little regard for the impact this product will have on humans large or smal or on the environment. Yep, the Mayor is very “progressive”! Boy were we fooled.
Regardless of who has been sitting in the mayor’s office, the unfortunately the city parks have been using Round-up for years and so have the NYBG and BBG.
Re: “Yep, the Mayor is very “progressive”! Boy were we fooled.”
“Naif” may be charming, but being naive …..and/or clueless…..and/or vicious about municipal government is NOT.
Why would the Mayor have any immediate knowledge of something that bureaucrats in a minor city agency decide upon? That would be the same as blaming Obama if the USPS delivered your mail late.
Perhaps an Assistant-to-the-Assistant-Mayor-In-Charge-Of-Minor-Agencies MIGHT be aware…perhaps.
Many of the “progressives” in this city were unhappy with Bloomberg, and so elected BdB as the “anti-Bloomberg. NOW they’re unhappy with BdB.
Perhaps they are doomed to be forever unhappy, a condition that can be cured only by kvetching…which DOES make them sort-of-happy…as happy as professional cranks can be.
There is proven data round up is linked to cancer among other things
How a tax payers in this city can we have a say I this?
The signs do not even indicate how much time needs to pass before it might be safe to use those areas again
I have lived in the area for years. The round up does not affect the weeds. I have never seen poison ivy. This is a wild park not a landscapes garden What is being called weeds is part of the natural landscape. Brie parks department never answers and they should be accountable to the people How can we effect this change !!!
How, exactly, can “Roundup” tell what is a “weed” and what isn’t? What is a weed anyway? Isn’t glyphosate a broad-spectrum killer that profoundly alters the ecology, affecting all sorts of organisms in addition to poison ivy?
It cannot tell what’s a weed and what’s not a weed in this situation. Roud Up was designed specifically for Monsanto’s genetically modified crops. Those crops are resistant to Round Up and survive the spraying. So whatever they spray Round Up on in the park will die. But chemicals will enter our environment and affect our lives… comforting, isn’t it?
Worse than cancer, RoundUp has been linked to Autism in many studies. So this is definitely something the city should stop doing.
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/06/09/monsanto-roundup-herbicide.aspx
Can you please not post alarmist BS about roundup causing autism? If you are going to talk about “studies” maybe its worth looking into the actual “research” before freaking people out over nothing?
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2015/01/05/will-my-child-be-born-autistic-if-i-eat-gmos-a-scientists-view/
Perhaps self-published “studies” with zero scientific backing by an electrical engineer arent totally reliable. And all they do is make people anxious.
This chemical notice is seen around the Kennedy Reservoir and elsewhere in our Central Park. The issue with ’round up’is one must primarily take up in support of farmers who are globally indefatigably extorted and harassed by Monsanto Corporation. Here it can be transparently seen that as in vaccines disclaimers, there are significant health implications at risk in the name of efficiency. We have done without them for years and they are unnecessary and a threat. I move for their elimination asap. Peace.
This spraying is about economy and neatness only. Any other excuse is mollification. It is not going to get rid of poison ivy. Its too late for that. This will only work on emerging leaves. This is to kill the grass growing out of cracks in the cobblestones and not have to pay someone to weed it. Its easier to walk around with a sprayer than to bend over and yank weeds. Also, if it kills plants how can it be safe? I don’t understand the logic. If it kills some organic life its not something you really want in the environment.
I think the biggest irony is all the people complaining about this “pesticide” who would also complain about weeds growing in the paths in riverside park as evidence that “our city is deteriorating!” Or who would complain if toxic rat poison was not used.
But hey, lets just complain about everything. /irony
Debby D’s comment is interesting. People do complain that the weeds growing out of cobblestones are a sign that the city is deteriorating and people complain about how there are too many rats and link not using rat poison to that fact. Can’t say if its the same people writing in against the use of Roundup. OTOH, park’s landscape architects won’t allow planting of hostas because they are considered too suburban and not part of the Olmstead plan, yet they are either overruled on or ok with cobblestone crack weed removal establishing that neat suburban look. What would Olmstead do?
Are you kidding me? We/You should be alarmed. Alarmed its in your food. Alarmed its in your parks. Alarmed agribusiness is pharming instead of farming. Thank you WSR.
Exactly! Completely agree with your comment.
The studies are valid. It’s poisonous and causes multiple diseases. Not to mention what it does to the environment. Colorado and California have banned the use of it in their public parks. The wind also carries it in the air so we get to breath in as well. Not to mention what ends up in the water. What does it do to wildlife? Like the hawks for instance? Very short sighted to think this is ok. Not acceptable we as tax paying citizens do not have a say or get any response from the parks department. Alarm bells should be ringing we need to be responsible take care of our environment.
I’m quite alarmed. I’m blind and regularly tromp around Riverside Park with my guide dog. It’s totally unacceptable that they control access to areas where they have applied herbicides, pesticides, rat poison or *any* dangerous substance with signs. That’s not equal effective communication and violates the rights of visually impaired people under the ADA. Not to mention other people who can’t read the signs for various other reasons, like not being able to read English. I stumbled over this article by accident, looking for a local business and right before I was going to go to Riverside Park, having already spent time there this week with my guide dog. I checked my NYC311 app where alerts are posted, like for the spraying of pesticides in the Bronx, and there was no mention of this. I called 311 to ask where these “affected areas” are and they had no information about it. The guy who answered the phone seemed unhappy that they hadn’t been given this information. After filing a complaint they suggested I call poison control, and it sounds like we would know if we had sat in this stuff because it’s a skin irritant and if my dog had chowed down any it would have been unpleasant, causing vomiting and other unpleasantries that I didn’t make note of since I knew they hadn’t happened. If they are applying dangerous chemicals, signs are not adequate. They need to totally block off the affected areas. Even from chemicals that they aren’t sure about but which they feel are problematic enough that they are posting signs. I know the issue is bigger than that, but as a bare minimum, there has to be a better standard for protecting *all* the public. In the meantime, it would be useful if the author of the article and/or my neighbors who can read the signs would give more specifics as to where these areas are.
The sign that one reader saw was placed around 85th street, and says it will be sprayed from 83rd to 91st on the promenade. Avi
The sign I saw said 83rd -91st Street along the Promenade.
This is EXTREMELY alarming for these reasons:
1) Roundup (a Monstanto product) will kill everything on the area that it’s sprayed on, so not only weeds but also other plants. The way it was designed to work is to be sprayed on crops that were genetically modified by Monstanto to withstand Round Up. So it makes no sense to spray it in the park unless they want to kill every plant. Or unless there’s some Monsanto GMO corn growing there.
2) Round Up (or glyphosate) exposure is linked to such diseases as autism, brain disorders, reproductive problems, cancer and more.
3) Monstanto was the co-producer of the deadly AGENT ORANGE, a defoliant used on the jungles and farms in Vietman during the Vietnam War. It is estimated that 1million ppl have experienced health problems due to Agent Orange. Until today, kids are being born with birth defects etc. I am sure many Vietnam War veterans can tell you of their own health problems (cancer etc) and the problems their kids face. These are only two of many other reasons why Monstanto and their products cannot be trusted. Sadly the company has tons of money and great lobbyists so they pretty much do what they want.
Let’s educate ourselves. Read more about Round Up and you will find out things you never thought could be happening to our land and our food. We do not need Round Up chemicals in our parks. There’s enough things in our modern lives that get us and our kids sick. Why add one more? We should definitely be alarmed.
I wonder who approved this and how they sleep well at night.
Everyone should be alarmed! Monsanto,
representing themselves and others (Dow),
spend millions lobbying safe propaganda about
our food and environment.
Glyphosate is part of the ‘Enlist Duo’ in Round UP
and has not undergone any recent testing deeming
it safe.
3 reasons*
Where is Friends of Riverside Park” on this? Are they giving voice to these concerns since they do have clout?
I just heard this from a neighbor. I understand they are doing it late at night. I would guess this is to keep the possibility of injuring anyone.
Why the Riverside Park Fund would spend money on Roundup is beyond me. Poison Ivy is a lot easier to overcome then cancer.
I suppose if you are donating to the Riverside Park fund you could request that they not use the product.