Help Fly Clear The Air!
Donation protected
Fly Orr is a long time Lower East Side resident (artist, activist, teacher) living with a debilitating obstructive respiratory disease due to 9/11 exposure, living with years of breathing-in multiple toxins and heavy smoke of several varieties from building residents.
The Lower Eastside Girls Club is mounting this campaign for Fly, our beloved Comics, art and activism teacher, to help her raise a total of $2,000 to cover the costs for a Specialized HVAC machine for toxic particles and smoke:
IQair G.C. Multi-gas air-purifier and One filter replacement package
https://www.iqair.com/home-air-purifiers/gcmultigas
Help us help Fly clear the air!
Fly's Story:
I live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and have been here since the late 80s. When I arrived I immediately became intensely involved in housing and social justice activism as well as community art, performance collectives and the punk scene. I eventually found myself a home in a crumbling tenement that was partially gutted in a 3 alarm 1990 fire. I became part of the Squatter Community and worked hard with my squat-mates to rebuild a historical tenement that was originally built in 1899. In our work tearing out old materials containing lead paint and possibly asbestos, we all breathed in a lot of toxins on a regular basis. In the winter we kept warm with wood-burning stoves, which in the early days we would fuel with dumpstered wood, much of which gave off toxic fumes but at least we did not freeze to death.
After over a decade, in 2002, our building, now “up to code” was able to negotiate a deal with NYC HPD (Housing Preservation Dept.) to take legal ownership. This ushered in a whole new era of post-squatting self-management. We voted recently to have our entire building be “smoke-free”, meaning no smoking in apartments, as well as public areas. But this is a rule that is difficult to enforce, especially with heavy smokers who have had free reign for twenty-some years.
Since I have lived here I have survived multiple severe physically traumatic events which have left me with (minor) permanent disabilities. On Sept. 11 2001 I was a first hand witness to the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers. I had just flown in from California the day before and was on my way to work when I saw the first Tower on fire at the very top. As I got closer I witnessed the second plane crash into the other Tower. Several hours later I was on the roof of a downtown building and, with a group of New Yorkers, watched in horror as first one tower, then the next, collapsed. They both came down so quickly, like black towers of ash crumbling. Then a huge black rumbling wave came rolling towards us as the building; as all of lower Manhattan vibrated and roared. We all breathed in a lot of black dust that day.
In the following days I got very sick, the air was poison. We all wore surgical masks all the time but still felt sick. Finally the air seemed to clear and it was announced “safe” to be back downtown. I was downtown almost everyday, never wearing a mask. I started to feel really sick after several months, so I went to California for 3 months the following Spring. I came back to NYC in May 2002 feeling better, but, over the years I started to develop a condition in which my throat would start to swell up or tighten when breathing any type of smoke or fumes, including perfumes. I also developed a sort of dysphasia, (difficulty swallowing).
In the past 2 years my respiratory condition has deteriorated rapidly. Breathing any kind of cigarette or other smoke fumes makes my throat swell up until I am choking. I also get severe nausea and horrible migraines breathing in any toxic fumes. On my last visit to the lung clinic the specialist told me that it is very possible that I still have 9/11 particles embedded in my throat and lungs. I have been going in for multiple tests to try to figure out how to treat this unique condition.
I live in a building with few smokers but one of the heavy smokers, of a variety of substances, lives directly below me, so my apartment is often saturated in toxic fumes. I have many fans and, at times, have to wear a filter breathing mask in my own home. I have worked extremely hard to seal up any crack or crevice and spent a Lot of $$ to install a new floor with vapor barrier but the smoke still seeps in. We are working as a collective to try to decrease the source of this smoke but making slow progress. I already have one air purifier that helps enormously in one small area of my apartment.
But I really need the IQ MultiGas :: Specialized HVAC machine for toxic particles and smoke to help to clear out the fumes from as much of my apartment as possible.
Some people, who don’t know me very well, have suggested that I move, but this is not an option for many reasons. I have lived in the Lower East Side in this apartment, which I built and fought for, for most of my life at this point. This is my Home. It is affordable, sustainable and, when without toxic fumes, it is my creative center and where I can find my peace. The Lower East Side is my community, my family.
And, most important to me, is my work at the Lower Eastside Girls Club where I teach comics and art, art and activism, and where I curate and host the Annual LESGC Comics Fest. I have discovered that working with these girls from my community is my true calling. It’s my greatest joy to inspire and instill a sense of self-esteem and confidence and to encourage these amazing young women to not be afraid to challenge and express themselves, to try new things and discover what they are passionate about. I did not have this kind of support growing up and I could not think of leaving them. I could never give up on them. I don’t want to give up all that I have worked so hard for. It would break my heart.
The Lower Eastside Girls Club is mounting this campaign for Fly, our beloved Comics, art and activism teacher, to help her raise a total of $2,000 to cover the costs for a Specialized HVAC machine for toxic particles and smoke:
IQair G.C. Multi-gas air-purifier and One filter replacement package
https://www.iqair.com/home-air-purifiers/gcmultigas
Help us help Fly clear the air!
Fly's Story:
I live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and have been here since the late 80s. When I arrived I immediately became intensely involved in housing and social justice activism as well as community art, performance collectives and the punk scene. I eventually found myself a home in a crumbling tenement that was partially gutted in a 3 alarm 1990 fire. I became part of the Squatter Community and worked hard with my squat-mates to rebuild a historical tenement that was originally built in 1899. In our work tearing out old materials containing lead paint and possibly asbestos, we all breathed in a lot of toxins on a regular basis. In the winter we kept warm with wood-burning stoves, which in the early days we would fuel with dumpstered wood, much of which gave off toxic fumes but at least we did not freeze to death.
After over a decade, in 2002, our building, now “up to code” was able to negotiate a deal with NYC HPD (Housing Preservation Dept.) to take legal ownership. This ushered in a whole new era of post-squatting self-management. We voted recently to have our entire building be “smoke-free”, meaning no smoking in apartments, as well as public areas. But this is a rule that is difficult to enforce, especially with heavy smokers who have had free reign for twenty-some years.
Since I have lived here I have survived multiple severe physically traumatic events which have left me with (minor) permanent disabilities. On Sept. 11 2001 I was a first hand witness to the attacks on the World Trade Center Towers. I had just flown in from California the day before and was on my way to work when I saw the first Tower on fire at the very top. As I got closer I witnessed the second plane crash into the other Tower. Several hours later I was on the roof of a downtown building and, with a group of New Yorkers, watched in horror as first one tower, then the next, collapsed. They both came down so quickly, like black towers of ash crumbling. Then a huge black rumbling wave came rolling towards us as the building; as all of lower Manhattan vibrated and roared. We all breathed in a lot of black dust that day.
In the following days I got very sick, the air was poison. We all wore surgical masks all the time but still felt sick. Finally the air seemed to clear and it was announced “safe” to be back downtown. I was downtown almost everyday, never wearing a mask. I started to feel really sick after several months, so I went to California for 3 months the following Spring. I came back to NYC in May 2002 feeling better, but, over the years I started to develop a condition in which my throat would start to swell up or tighten when breathing any type of smoke or fumes, including perfumes. I also developed a sort of dysphasia, (difficulty swallowing).
In the past 2 years my respiratory condition has deteriorated rapidly. Breathing any kind of cigarette or other smoke fumes makes my throat swell up until I am choking. I also get severe nausea and horrible migraines breathing in any toxic fumes. On my last visit to the lung clinic the specialist told me that it is very possible that I still have 9/11 particles embedded in my throat and lungs. I have been going in for multiple tests to try to figure out how to treat this unique condition.
I live in a building with few smokers but one of the heavy smokers, of a variety of substances, lives directly below me, so my apartment is often saturated in toxic fumes. I have many fans and, at times, have to wear a filter breathing mask in my own home. I have worked extremely hard to seal up any crack or crevice and spent a Lot of $$ to install a new floor with vapor barrier but the smoke still seeps in. We are working as a collective to try to decrease the source of this smoke but making slow progress. I already have one air purifier that helps enormously in one small area of my apartment.
But I really need the IQ MultiGas :: Specialized HVAC machine for toxic particles and smoke to help to clear out the fumes from as much of my apartment as possible.
Some people, who don’t know me very well, have suggested that I move, but this is not an option for many reasons. I have lived in the Lower East Side in this apartment, which I built and fought for, for most of my life at this point. This is my Home. It is affordable, sustainable and, when without toxic fumes, it is my creative center and where I can find my peace. The Lower East Side is my community, my family.
And, most important to me, is my work at the Lower Eastside Girls Club where I teach comics and art, art and activism, and where I curate and host the Annual LESGC Comics Fest. I have discovered that working with these girls from my community is my true calling. It’s my greatest joy to inspire and instill a sense of self-esteem and confidence and to encourage these amazing young women to not be afraid to challenge and express themselves, to try new things and discover what they are passionate about. I did not have this kind of support growing up and I could not think of leaving them. I could never give up on them. I don’t want to give up all that I have worked so hard for. It would break my heart.
Organizer
The Lower Eastside Girls Club
Organizer
New York, NY