New Rochelle library opens free air-quality escape room exhibit

A new all-ages exhibit at the New Rochelle Public Library turns local air-quality data into a self-guided escape room running Sept. 8-26, with a reception Sept. 14. The project aims to help residents understand pollution near I-95 and the city’s plans for cleaner-air monitoring.

Why it matters: - Air pollution can be hard to see, which makes local exposure easier to overlook. - The exhibit translates air-quality data into a hands-on puzzle experience for all ages. - The project is tied to broader efforts to monitor pollution in neighborhoods near the I-95/LINC corridor and inform cleaner-air planning in New Rochelle.

What happened: - The Energy Justice Law & Policy Center and escape room creator Hour to Exit opened “Air of Truth: Escape the T.R.A.P.” at the New Rochelle Public Library on Sept. 10. - The free, self-guided exhibit runs through Sept. 26 during regular library hours. - A reception is scheduled for Sept. 14 from 5-7 p.m. - The exhibit is at 1 Library Plaza in New Rochelle, N.Y.

The details: - Visitors receive an Air Quality Field Report and move through four stations: Traffic, Respiratory, Air Monitoring and Prevention. - The experience takes about 15 minutes. - The goal is to raise the city’s air-quality grade in the game from a D-minus to an A-plus and “escape the T.R.A.P.” - The puzzles use local conditions, including New Rochelle’s proximity of roughly 500 feet from Interstate 95. - Cars, trucks and buses are identified as the largest source of air pollution in the community. - Activities include tracing code letters through a traffic jam, using a hand crank to see what fine particles do inside the body, searching air-monitoring drums for hidden evidence, and using a Field Sensor to find pollution hotspots on a map of New Rochelle. - The exhibit ends with a clean-air promise added to a community pledge tree. - Materials, including the field report and a self-guided audio tour accessed by QR code, are available in English and Spanish. - Admission is free, no registration is required and the exhibit is open to all ages. - More information is available here. - Air of Truth is also presented through the website www.AirOfTruth.org.

Between the lines: - Air of Truth is the public-facing campaign branch of EJLPC’s effort to highlight poor air quality in Westchester. - The campaign began with New Rochelle High School students turning state air-quality data into art. - EJLPC later expanded the work into block-by-block mobile monitoring in New Rochelle, Mount Vernon and Yonkers. - That monitoring produced a more detailed picture of traffic-related pollution across southern Westchester. - Clean Air New Rochelle is now partnering with the City of New Rochelle on a NYS-funded, community-informed air-monitoring network in neighborhoods with high pollution burdens, including the I-95/LINC corridor. - The network is meant to establish baseline conditions and track air quality before, during and after The LINC project, which would convert part of Memorial Highway into a linear park and local street reconnecting the Lincoln Avenue neighborhood to downtown, the train station and the library. - Raya Salter, founder and executive director of EJLPC, said the format helps people understand what the data says about the air on their own street. - Brittney Coleman of Hour to Exit said the escape-room format gives people a fun way to explore a serious community issue. - Adam Salgado, New Rochelle’s economic development commissioner, said the monitoring network will give residents important insight into the air they breathe. - Eugenia Schatoff, executive director of the New Rochelle Public Library, said the library is meant to help people learn, explore and discover something new.

What’s next: - EJLPC’s monitoring partnership with New Rochelle is expected to continue as the city builds out the air-monitoring network. - The exhibit’s data-driven format is designed to support public understanding before, during and after The LINC project moves forward. - Visitors can see the exhibit during library hours through Sept. 26.

The bottom line: - Air of Truth turns a local environmental issue into a fast, free public exhibit that uses play to make air-quality data easier to understand and harder to ignore.