Media isn’t painting a full picture, Blas gripes

Mayor de Blasio refused to admit on Friday that his administration has been lowballing the number of kids living in NYCHA apartments with dangerous blood-lead levels — instead asserting that the media isn’t telling the full story. Asked about the city’s latest upward revision of the number of kids impacted since 2012 to 1,160 — a figure that blared from the front pages of both city tabloids on Friday — Hizzoner insisted his administration never lied about the extent of harm. “That’s just not accurate. And I don’t think New Yorkers believe that every tabloid’s cover tells them the whole story,” he told WNYC. He also shifted blamed to his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg. “Had the lead inspections continued as they were supposed to in the previous administration, we would not be having this conversation,” de Blasio said. Last November, city officials claimed only 17 children under age 6 living in NYCHA housing had registered high bloodlead levels between 2010 and 2016. That number was then revised to 19 cases. They didn’t reveal then that they were counting only cases that met the city’s looser standard for elevated lead — 10 micrograms per deciliter. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended setting the threshold at 5 micrograms since 2012. City officials also excluded from their initial count children living in NYCHA units where the presence of lead paint was confirmed by city Health Department officials but challenged by NYCHA. In July, city officials admitted the number of cases of kids under 6 who had registered blood-lead levels between 5 and 9 micrograms from 2012 to 2016 was 820. Only on Thursday did they finally provide the full tally for all NYCHA kids through June 2018. It was 1,160. The mayor defended the city’s slow embrace of the lower lead-level threshold. “The CDC did not instruct, it provided guidance,” he said, “but it did not instruct localities to implement that.”