>> good morning, and welcome to "new york viewpoint." i'm ken rosato. today, we'll have with us the jewish board with information on the human services they provide to area residents. we'll also bring you the latest information from the fifth annual american express open report on women-owned businesses. but first, we bring you information on the recycling of harmful products from your home, things you don't normally think about. american households produce an average of 530,000 tons of harmful waste every single year. now, these include items such as batteries -- you know, you just toss them in the garbage without thinking -- you shouldn't be doing that. latex paint, insecticides, motor oil, bleach, and expired medications. joining us in the studio now are bridget anderson, deputy

sustainability at the new york city department of sanitation, richard johnsen, who's special service manager for the nyc program of veolia north america, and john s. shegerian, chairman and c.e.o. of electronic recyclers international. good to have you all with us today. let me ask you first, bridget, what is the nyc safe disposal program? >> the department of sanitation created the nyc safe disposal program to help new yorkers get rid of their unwanted, harmful products that are in their homes. they clutter the basement. they clutter their spaces. get rid of them properly, recycle them, safely dispose of what are harmful materials. >> i mean, i know, for instance, every time you get the flickering fluorescent bulb, the temptation is, "oh, just put it in a garbage bag and smash it and throw it --" you can't do that. there's harmful stuff in those things, right? but i know all your home -- the home goods stores will take them back. they will take them. you just got to bring them back. >> yes, there are -- there are take-back programs. but we're trying to make it more easy and more convenient for

materials, so in every single borough every year, we hold these disposal collection events where we recycle electronics and we safely dispose of other harmful household products. >> so, you make it as easy as pie. there's no excuse. >> we try to, yes. >> no excuse at all. >> exactly. >> richard, tell us about some of the house -- the harmful household products. >> well, household harmful products, also known as household hazardous waste, are materials that have constituents in it that are harmful to the health of the environment. as you said, they involve batteries, motor oils, antifreezes, things along those lines. many people don't know that these materials cannot simply be thrown in the garbage or poured down the drain. that's why dsny has partnered up with eri as well as veolia and help sponsor these events. >> yeah, the reason why lithium batteries last for years sometimes is because you go to throw them out, they last for centuries, right? so, you don't want to just toss them in the garbage, because they'll -- they're toxic. >> they're very hazardous, they

are easily recyclable, as well. >> right, and they -- right, a little juicing up and they can be put back in the system again and reused on a shelf for somebody else. so, why -- why waste -- because, to acq-- i was reading, to acquire lithium is very difficult and very expensive, whereas if you take the lithium and re-juice it, if you will, it can be used in another lithium battery very easily. >> that's correct. >> so, now, when it comes to somebody taking their -- say, their lithium batteries, or any other kind of batteries or whatever -- you know, the thought of having to gather it up and take it some place, i think, for a lot of people, i think that's a very daunting task. but as we just heard, it's not that difficult. >> new york city has made it very user-friendly with the amount of events that they have scheduled and the permanent facilities that they have in all five boroughs. it is a very user-friendly program for city residents to bring those materials in. >> all right, so should they just gather everything up in a bag and wait till a certain day comes, or what's the best advice? >> it's not necessary. there are 10 events held throughout the year, two in each borough, but they have one

open every saturday and the last friday of the month, and they can bring them in to those facilities, as well. they don't have to wait for these scheduled events. >> it sounds like it's so easy that there really is no excuse. talk about, john, the importance -- why it is so essential and why you should say -- maybe -- maybe the younger folks -- the younger folks are the ones who usually drill stuff into the older folks' heads. why is it so important to recycle and to put this stuff aside and not just toss it? >> well, electronics is the fastest-growing solid waste stream in the world. and electronics, first of all, have arsenic, beryllium, lead, mercury, and cadmium, and any other hazardous materials in them, so it should never go into a landfill, because once it goes into the landfill, it gets into our ecosystem, which then gets into our plants, our water, back into humans and animals -- very bad. the other thing is, we shouldn't fill up our landfills with these materials. why fill up these landfills with these materials, old electronics, when you can take them -- electronics -- out,

them into plastics and metals and glass and 100% recycled? you know, all of it then goes back to smelters and gets totally reused, instead of filling up our landfills needlessly and poisoning our environment. and the last thing is data. the whole issue of cybersecurity and data protection, whether you're just a man or woman on the street, a young person, or a big corporation or a government -- all the data that's in your cellphone, in your hard drive, which is in the internet and everything -- everything has a hard drive. we, or any other responsible recycler, turns the data into dust. >> oh, wow. >> and this is the whole key to the whole issue now. not only do we need to protect the environment, but everyone needs to protect their data. so, when we keep the electronics, in partnership with veolia and the city of new york, out of the landfills here, we then responsibly recycle it, 100% of it gets recycled -- all the plastics, the metals, and the glass -- and all your data turns into dust.

so, this way you don't have to worry about somebody finding the data. right now, as we're taping this show, the former secretary of state is, uh -- you know, her hard drive is being de-encrypted, uh, and they're -- right now, the fbi is looking to see if there were any e-mails that may be potentially dangerous to -- you know, with top security clearances, et cetera, that may have been passed on the private e-mail server of the former secretary of state. so, this can be done. if they can do it to her hard drive, they can do it to our hard drive. >> that's right, and the city of new york was very careful when they chose their partners -- veolia and electronic recyclers international -- to make sure that the data is protected, besides the environment. >> okay, bridget, let me ask you how people are responding to this. are people taking responsibility now and actually putting those batteries aside, not chucking them in the garbage? 'cause i will confess that 10 years ago, i used to throw my batteries out, but i will tell you that now i don't do that anymore. i honestly do recycle my batteries. >> well, that's great. you would not believe how popular these programs are.

become one of the largest programs like this in the world. we have people driving in, we have people walking in, we have people taking taxis to bring their unwanted medications, mercury-containing devices, electronics to safely dispose of them, to recycle them where possible. some of the material gets blended for fuel. so, as much as possible, we try and create a new life for this material, instead of having it going into disposal. >> now, we had done a story not long ago about how there were microtraces of antibiotics in a water supply out west, because so many people were flushing old antibiotics down the toilet, and it actually made its way back into a -- it was a small community's water supply. but that's why you're not supposed to just do that. you're supposed to actually turn your old medications back into hospitals and whatnot, right? that's the case if you have mega amounts. >> your sharps, your, um, injectables, your medications, safely dispose of those materials -- you can bring them back to hospitals, but we also offer that collection at our events. >> yeah, there is a way to get

so, what last bit of advice do you have? where should you keep it? if you're gonna keep this stuff in the house somewhere, there's a safe place to keep the stuff as well, right? what advice do you have? >> that's correct. a lot of this material is marked "poison," "toxic," "flammable," and they should be segregated properly. they should be kept out of the reach of children and your pets. disposing of them properly can protect the sanitation workers that are collecting this material roadside, as well. so, the, um -- the importance of storing the material properly within your household is very, very, um, important. >> and just don't throw it in the garbage. >> do not throw it in the garbage. >> thank you so much, bridget, richard, and john, for being with us. keep the environment clean. we want it to be here for a long time so we can be here for a long time. how about that? nice to have you here. >> thank you very much. >> we're coming right back with information on programs run by

"new york viewpoint." i'm ken rosato. founded in 1874, the jewish board of family and children services has been helping new yorkers to realize their potential and live as independently as possible. the nonprofit organization serves more than 43,000 clients each year. please join me in welcoming david rivel, the c.e.o. of the jewish board. thanks for being with us today. >> thanks for having me. >> tell us the mission of the jewish board. >> sure, well, we're the largest human services agency in new york city. we work with kids and adults, all backgrounds, all neighborhoods, who struggle with mental health issues, who have intellectual and developmental disabilities, or are in families where there's abuse or neglect, where there's domestic violence, where kids have been abused or neglected. and with all these people, we help them get back on their feet, recover, and live a full and rich life. >> and you help -- i mean, we

that's an awful lot of people. it costs a lot of money to do that. now, you just recently got a nice infusion, a donation, from -- we say fegs for short, that's -- i always forget the -- excuse me, i have to look down at it -- federation employment and guidance services gave you quite the donation of late. how does that help you in terms of your bottom line? >> yeah, well, actually, they didn't give it to us, the organization went bankrupt, and the state had to decide where all the services would go. >> uh-huh. >> and the biggest chunk of services -- about $75 million worth of services -- came to the jewish board. >> gotcha. >> clinics, day programs for adults who struggle with mental health issues, housing -- supportive housing -- and care management services. and they all came over to us on a single day, on june 1st. >> so it was work. [ laughs ] it was a workload that came to you. >> absolutely, absolutely. >> a workload -- so, you got some of the budget, but you got all the work, as well. >> yes, exactly. >> okay, so, how -- [ chuckles ] so, that meant an awful lot of scrambling.

over, about 9,000 new clients, 22 new locations, and as i mentioned, it all happened on a single day. so, we went to bed on may 31st as a large social services agency, and woke up the next morning as the largest social services agency in new york. >> now, i do a lot of work with catholic charities, brooklyn and queens, and one thing that you have in common with them is the fact that jewish is in your title and catholic is in their title, means nothing, because you help everybody. >> that's right. you know, originally, the people that did this work, social services work, were all faith-based -- catholic charities, protestant agencies like children's aid society, and the jewish board. and originally we did serve very narrow populations. in 1874, we were basically serving jews coming over from eastern europe. but in the '30s, '40s, '50s, all of us started to do more work with government, started branching out more, and today we all serve a very broad population. >> yeah, i just want people to understand that, because i think people have -- when they hear "catholic charities," or when

"the jewish board," they think, "oh, i'm not jewish," or, "i'm not catholic, and i can't go there for help." and that just is not the case. >> that's right. in fact, some people prefer to go to an organization that is not their own faith because they feel like they can be anonymous. there's no stigma attached to it. and we serve people of all backgrounds. we speak about 30 or 40 languages in our agency. we do have programs where 100% of our services are delivered in hebrew and yiddish, but we also have programs where 100% of the services are delivered in spanish and everything in between. >> what a lot of work. and 130-plus years you've do-- 140 years you've done an awful lot of good work for an awful lot of people. core. that, uh, must make you feel good putting your head on a pillow at night. >> yeah. you know, we all do this work because we're really passionate about helping people get back on their feet. and, as you say, it's tremendously rewarding. certainly the most rewarding

>> in a day like this, where funding is so difficult, what are all the different sources of your funding? >> well, a lot of our money comes from government funding, but we have to raise a lot of money to make ends meet. we raise about $13.5 million a year. about half of that comes from uja-federation of new york, and the rest we raise privately from events, board members, foundations, and so forth, because government doesn't actually pay 100 cents on the dollar. they don't actually pay any of us the full cost of what it requires to run these programs. so, all of us are in the position of raising additional money in order to make ends meet, as well as being able to provide more services, richer services and pilot projects, experimental projects. so, we -- we raise a lot of money, and we can certainly use donations from people who want to support our work. >> now, you deal with not just the five boroughs, but also westchester and long island. so, you're the whole tri-state area, really.

acquisition, programs from long island came over as well. we've never been involved in long island before. and we're actually not likely to stay in long island. we want to make sure these programs are stable and land on their feet with other providers. and in westchester, we have a 150-acre campus where we have facilities for adolescents who struggle with behavioral issues, with mental health issues. they stay with us for 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, and then ideally go back and live with their family or in another community setting. >> how challenging is it? so, you deal with a lot of adolescents, kids in foster care, as well. how difficult is it, working with kids, bringing them through foster care, and then getting them back out? >> well, it's tough, because by the time we see kids, for example, who are adolescents, typically they've had 10, 15 different placements, they've been with multiple foster care families, they've been in other residential programs. and so there's a lot of healing that has to go on.

traumatized. they have very difficult, challenging lives. and our challenge is to get them back on their feet and put them in a position where they can really lead a productive life. >> what worries you the most with the people you serve right now? >> well, we worry a lot about the kids who age out of foster care. so, they're well taken care of until age 18 or 21, but then they're kind of on their own. there are about 1,000 kids who age out of foster care every year in new york city. there are only about 200 supportive apartments in the entire city for this population. so, it's no wonder that about 1/3 of the kids who age out of foster care will experience homelessness at some point in their first three years after aging out of foster care. very few complete a college education. many struggle with substance use. some get involved with the criminal justice system. and so, there are a lot of challenges. and as a society, we don't spend a lot of time or money on this

and because jewish board works with both kids and adults, we feel like we have a unique opportunity to take kids aging out of foster care and put them on a good path for the rest of their life. >> direction for the future? >> uh, well, that's an important one. we also want to work earlier. we want to try to catch problems before they become big problems. we're gonna be rolling out an early-childhood program where we're gonna try to identify kids who potentially have mental health issues -- kids zero to five -- and get them into treatment with their families as quickly as we can. we're gonna have social workers and homeless shelters and childcare centers and pediatrician offices and hopefully get people help early. >> david rivel, the jewish board -- busy man with a great organization. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. >> you bet. for information on all the organizations featured on "viewpoint," and if you've missed part of the show and want to see it at your leisure, do visit us at... we'll be right back with the

fifth annual amex open report on

>> welcome back to "new york viewpoint." i'm ken rosato. as of 2015, it is estimated that there are over 9.4 million women-owned businesses in the united states. they generate almost $1.5 trillion in revenues and employ over 7.9 million people. women entrepreneurs now own over 30% of all enterprises in this country. new york city ranks number one for the number of women-owned firms. joining us today are julie weeks, the research advisor for american express open, and dr. jennifer collins, owner of gramercy allergy and asthma. good to have you both with us today. >> thank you. good to be with you. >> well, julie, let me first ask you what the key findings are for american express open report. >> well, as you just said, lots and lots of women going into

their businesses at a rate faster than the average. one of the most astounding findings is the growth in firms owned by women of color. they're now one in three women-owned firms, and just 15 years ago, they were one in six. so, there's tremendous growth in the diversity of women-owned firms. >> why do you think it's taken this long? i mean, i -- just -- you know, when i think of -- and, boy, oh, boy, it sounds -- i mean this sexist in a good way, not in a bad way -- i think of growing up and the responsibility that my mother has always had -- and thank goodness she's still with us -- and i think of the way she managed the budget, and i always think, that's the person who knows how to run a business. >> right. [ laughter ] >> okay, so, i'm, "right on, women!" so, i would think that women should be the majority of business owners in this country. >> well, it -- it's growing. you know, the percentage of businesses owned by women are certainly growing. but it's taken some innovations in the home -- the washing machine, things like that -- so that women have more time away from their family to start businesses.

college educations, managerial experience -- those things are leading in to this wave of women in entrepreneurship. >> gotcha. so, you definitely -- you see the stats, you see it growing, and, i mean, simultaneously, is there a decrease, or is it just that women are catching -- a decrease in male-owned businesses, i should say, or is it -- >> women are catching up. women are catching up. more and more people are getting into business, and a larger share of them are women. >> and now, this is the fifth annual report. what is new in 2015 that we know? >> well, what we looked at new this time was, how are women-owned firms surviving and growing from the recession? we looked at pre-recession growth and post-recession growth, and nationally, women have caught up, you know -- they're equaling back again the growth that they were seeing in advance of the recession. in new york -- metropolitan area -- not so much. not as recovering from the recession here as in other parts of the country. >> and, dr. collins, as a doctor, you could have worked for a hospital, you could have worked for somebody else.

own, your own firm. you own your own allergy/ent firm. what drove you to entrepreneurship? >> well, for about four years, ken, i actually worked in a hospital as an assistant professor and wanted to have my own vision for my private practice, focusing on patient comfort. people don't realize how -- what an impact that allergies and asthma have on the day-to-day life of people. it affects their social interactions, school, work -- and wanted to really spend time with patients, taking care of that aspect. being an allergist is a lot like being a detective. you really focus on the cause of why the person is sick. and i wanted, in my own practice, to have adequate time to spend to get to know my patients as much as possible, to find out what was triggering their symptoms. and being in private practice allows me to offer both of those things. >> now, when you talk to -- or if you can talk -- you can, in this forum right here --

right now, what would you tell them if they would think, "eh, i don't -- i don't think i'm motivated enough to go out there and start my own firm, or begin my own company. i'm quite happy doing this or staying at home or just working for this company doing 'x', 'y', and 'z'." >> well, it's certainly not for everybody, but i think if you have that passion within yourself that you want to have the flexibility to have ownership and to make decisions that can affect your life, owning your own business, it allows you to have time for your home, your family, for your business; you can make to grow?" you know, you don't have to be pushed by other people. finding a mentor to really encourage you is -- was critical to my growth and my success. and then really having a core confidence within myself, that i was my best investment. and i don't -- i think having that sense of confidence is unique to women, that they really have an ability to believe in themselves and to move through obstacles. >> you touched on something

did you -- is it just another doctor in business that you talked to and you kind of looked at what they did as a model and followed them as an example? >> um, there's lots of different ways that you can have a mentor, but, yes, i definitely have a personal mentor for many different aspects of my life. and, um, this is a person that i go to and really have honest conversations with. they give me candid advice. they tell me when i'm doing the wrong thing. they encourage me when i'm doing the right thing. and i think having that person in your life, you really, you trust, who will give you honest feedback is critical. >> julie, what -- what sectors would you say might be some of the safer sectors for, actually, anyone who wants to start a business right now, but specifically women who want to go into business, maybe venture into business for the first time? what are some sectors they might want to try? >> yeah, i guess i wouldn't answer it by saying what's safe, because entrepreneurship is a venture. it's a new thing. but go with what you know, for sure. in fact, one of the

nationally is healthcare services, so doctors, dentists, allergists -- that's one of the areas that's fast-growing, as well as education services. but i would say, go with what you know and what you're passionate about. >> and today, i think a lot of people get lost in the idea that they have to do something grand. with the internet, home-based businesses, phone numbers that you could get for little or no money, that you could -- you could set up a home answering number, whatnot, for $5 a month and whatnot -- set up your credit card, your charge card, for little money -- you could start something for a little money at home each month and not take a big risk. >> absolutely. there -- the start-up costs are very low for the most part, and most businesses don't have any employees other than the owner, so you can start relatively inexpensively. >> women, go out and do it! >> absolutely. >> there's no reason why you can't. i want to thank julie weeks and dr. jennifer collins for being our guests today. and i want to thank you for watching. i'm ken rosato. thanks for joining us, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

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. this is new york's number one news, channel 7 eyewitness news, with michelle charlesworth and rob nelson, and amy freeze with the exclusive accuweather forecast. now, eyewitness news this morning. good morning, 6:00 a.m., happening today, 32,000 cyclists get ready to roll out. 40 miles of city streets will be shut down to traffic for the annual five boro bike tour. what you need to know to get around your boro this morning. with that, i have two more words to say, obama out.