SICK OF NYCHA LIES
From 19, then to 820, and now it’s 1,160 Tally of poisoned kids just keeps growing
Far more children who live in New York City public housing have been lead-poisoned than original estimates indicated, city health officials revealed Thursday.
From Jan. 1, 2012 through June 30 of this year, 1,160 children living in NYCHA-run properties registered elevated levels of blood-lead deemed dangerous by the federal government.
Many of those children registered dangerous levels more than once, resulting in 1,375 elevated test results during that time period.
That includes 1,097 elevated blood-lead results in children under 6, for whom lead is most dangerous and can cause developmental delays.
The latest poisoning numbers stand in stark contrast to the narrative NYCHA and Mayor de Blasio have pushed for years, that only 19 children living in NYCHA had registered alarming levels of lead.
The data also make clear that NYCHA and the city Health Department never tested the apartments of hundreds of lead-poisoned children.
In June, The News revealed that 820 children under age 6 in NYCHA apartments between 2012 and 2016 tested positive for levels of blood-lead from 5 to 9 micrograms per deciliter — levels that trigger concern by the federal Centers for Disease Control.
But during those years, the Health Department used a higher standard of 10 micrograms — so the agency never notified NYCHA about the findings or inspected the apartments for lead paint as the feds recommend.
On Thursday, the city for the first time revealed that 852 children under age 6 who registered elevated bloodlead levels lived in NYCHA apartments that were never tested.
The city switched to the federal 5-microgram standard in January. Since then, the department has recorded 53 additional test results of children under age 6 living in public housing with levels between 5 and 9 micrograms. The department has since been inspecting the apartments of these children.
Last month after the News revealed the NYCHA lead poisoning numbers, the city also began inspecting private apartments in which children with these blood-lead levels reside. And Mayor de Blasio greatly expanded the number of apartments targeted for lead inspection from 55,000 to 130,000.
The number of NYCHA children who tested positive for lead poisoning dropped from 303 in 2012, when the federal standard went into effect, to 248 in 2013, then to 239 in 2014. After that, it fell to 171 in 2015, 177 in 2016 and 160 last year. The vast majority of those children were younger than 6.
Health Commissioner Mary Bassett, who announced the new numbers, declined to say whether she had any regrets about not having adopted the stricter 5microgram standard sooner.
“I’m really pleased that we’re going to be doing this going forward,” she said, estimating that the new protocol will increase the number of apartment inspections to 5,500 a year from about 850 a year.
The failure by both the Health Department and the Housing Authority to properly attack the problem of lead paint in public housing’s aging buildings was at the heart of a complaint filed in June by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman.
The complaint detailed ongoing lies by NYCHA to cover up the fact that it had for years failed to perform the requisite lead paint inspections and remediation, along with its failure to address toxic mold, chronically broken elevators and a long list of other apartment maladies.
In response to the comCorey plaint, NYCHA and de Blasio agreed to enter into a consent decree that will result in the appointment of a federal monitor. That monitor has yet to be chosen and must be approved by a judge.
Stern, an attorney representing residents who sued over lead-tainted water in Flint, Mich., has sued NYand CHA the city on behalf of 150 lead-tainted children livpublic ing in housing. Many of those children were steered into the city schools’ special education programs.
“The cover-up during the Mayor’s reelection campaign and lies since warrant his immediate resignation,” Stern said. “The fact that he has since started a super PAC only confirms how little he cares for the constituents poisoned on his watch. After today, any council member, borough president, state representative or national figure that does not demand he step down immediately should seriously re-examine their own values.”