From Harlem to Hunts Point, environmental justice organizers have done a remarkable job rallying New York neighborhoods against trucks, waste transfer stations and other polluters in a crusade to eradicate asthma. Problem is, new scientific research says they might be wasting their breath. Senior Editor Kathleen McGowan looks beyond dust mites and cockroach dung to explore the causes and the toll of the asthma epidemic. Can the new science of asthma hold the key to a new kind of organizing?

Also in the September/October issue of City Limits, on newsstands now: As it breaks ground this year, Melrose Commons has shaped up into a textbook example of urban planning by community residents. So why are the community gardens of this Bronx neighborhood endangered?…More than ever, New York’s poverty policies are getting hammered out in the courts, not City Hall-but just when the city’s judges should be taking charge, chief city lawyer Michael Hess is doing an end run around them…New York tenants face a man-made drought: a plan to shut off water service to buildings behind on their bills…Get rid of that queasy feeling with No-Gas Giuliani, the remedy contro il gonfiore nello stomaco. To buy a subscription or request a sample issue, call 212-479-3344.