SOME of the kids at Manhattan’s PS 110 say they are already getting sick of school – literally.
Outraged parents want to know why a much-needed $5.1 million renovation project at the Lower East Side school has their kids complaining about irritated eyes, congestion, coughs and aggravated asthma symptoms that keep them up at night.
The Post also found that while children were learning by day, a subcontractor was removing asbestos from the 100-year-old building’s roof and windows at night – a practice that one expert called “risky.”
“Almost always . . . the asbestos-removal program is scheduled for the summer when there are no kids in the building,” said Laurence Molloy, a city asbestos consultant. “It is not illegal, but it sure is foolhardy, in my opinion.”
The yearlong renovation and asbestos-removal project are being done in “strict accordance to federal, state and city regulations,” insisted Margie Feinberg, a Department of Education spokeswoman.
The School Construction Authority, which oversees the project, even has an independent air-quality monitoring firm conducting daily “clearance” tests before the school’s 500 students are allowed into the building.
There are also department environmental inspectors overseeing the monitors, Feinberg said.
Despite the assurances, panic-stricken mom Zina Cunningham refused to take her son, Elijah Melton, 11, to school last week because of the allergic reaction he’s having to the dust – and the fear she has of asbestos particles.
“It’s horrible. I feel my child’s health, and the health of all the children, are being compromised by this,” said Cunningham.
“It’s crazy to have children in there,” she said.
Teachers cannot even open classroom windows because the wind kicks up the dust sitting on the scaffolding that surrounds the school at 285 Delancey St.
“His allergies are kicking up big time,” said mom Kaizardi Rohena, referring to her asthmatic son, Devin, 9. “It’s really disgusting.”
On the first day of school, several mortified parents were greeted with enclosed 40-foot red Dumpsters parked on the Delancey Street curb and decontamination chambers in the school courtyard.
Both had posted signs reading “Asbestos cancer and lung disease hazard . . . Respirator and protective clothing are required in this area.”
The city’s Department of Environmental Protection, which is supposed to monitor the asbestos removal, immediately dispatched inspectors to the site late last week after receiving a call from The Post. The agency didn’t register any violations.