De Blas downplays lead-poisoned kids
THE ISSUE: NYCHA’s $2 billion settlement with federal investigators after years of tenant complaints.
The federal government and his own administration have confirmed that 19 kids were poisoned by lead in their Housing Authority apartments, but Mayor de Blasio said Friday he’s still not convinced the agency is to blame.
“We don’t know specifically what happened with each child, because unfortunately with lead [poisoning], there can be many sources,” the mayor said on WNYC radio. “There are a number of sources that have nothing to do with housing or lead paint . . . and we just don’t know in each case what happened.”
The remarks were astonishing considering the findings of a federal report that fingered the apartments run by the New York City Housing Authority as the source of the lead poisoning.
De Blasio’s attempt to duck responsibility also contradicts a fact sheet released by his own administration in November.
“Between 2010 and 2016, there were 17 documented cases requiring lead abatement at 18 NYCHA apartments where children with elevated blood lead levels lived,” read the fact sheet. “Four of these cases occurred after 2014.”
The administration later revised those numbers upward, admitting there had been six cases after 2014 — bringing the total number of impacted kids to 19.
NYCHA was blasted in a federal complaint this week for not inspecting apartments for lead hazards between 2012 and 2016, as required by city and federal law, while falsely claiming that it had.
Amid a series of revelations about ethical failings at NYCHA that started with a scathing Department of Investigation report in November, the mayor has repeatedly defended its leadership and tried to minimize the fallout.
The federal complaint noted that thousands of kids living in units with lead paint have still not been tested and that the city’s threshold for requiring Health Department workers to inspect NYCHA apartments for lead hazards is notably higher than in some jurisdictions.
The mayor’s comments came the same day city officials revealed they’re reviewing previous cases of lead poisoning to ensure they were properly reported, and just days after investigators raided a NYCHA warehouse in Queens.
Federal law-enforcement officials think the seized information could reveal evidence of a slew of crimes.
“I think we’re really just getting at the beginning of it,” one source told The Post.
We d don’t know spe specifically what happened with each child. — Mayor M de Blasio, trying tryin to minimize a federal federa report claiming that NYCHA N neglect led to lead poisoning in NYC children
I have always been a great fan of Steve Cuozzo’s writings, but never more so than after his call for the resignation of Mayor de Blasio (“Bill, this is your notice of eviction: Resign now,” June 12).
His description of de Blasio as “corrupt, incompetent and utterly disengaged from the hard work of the job” paints an accurate picture of our mayor and his woeful tenure.
The political landscape is, indeed, “dysfunctional” when someone like de Blasio can be not only elected but also reelected.
It is a sad commentary on where the city of New York is headed with such an incompetent as its leader. David Shapiro Manhattan
Thanks to Cuozzo for his honest column about our corrupt mayor.
He’s the worst mayor this city has ever had. He has messed up New York City’s Housing Authority, the homeless problem and everything else his incompetent hands have touched.
How is he allowed to get away with all the corrupt things he does, as he works out on taxpayers’ dime?
The only thing de Blasio is good at is taking money from the city to pay his bills. He’s not fit to run or live in New York City — get him out. Sandy Kane Manhattan De Blasio showed his true colors when he was forced to agree to spend $2 billion in city money after NYCHA was sued.
His socialist agenda is going to bury New York, and when it finally happens, the fools who elected him will have only themselves to blame. I pity the poor tenants, especially the children and the sick, who are stuck in NYCHA housing.
Shame on de Blasio. Tenants complained of rats, lead paint, no heat, broken plumbing, etc.
Jail along with the fines would be more correct. The state should also go after so-called inspectors and their bosses. People have to be held accountable. Al Marvell Scotia
I’ve been waiting to say this to all the gonifs in the de Blasio administration who were involved in the Housing Authority: You’re busted. Gene Roman Bronx