NYCHA Should Conduct Thousands Of New Lead Tests, Judge Says

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — A state judge plans to force the New York City Housing Authority to check for lead paint in thousands of apartments where it neglected such inspections for years.

Siding with a group of NYCHA tenant leaders in a lawsuit, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Edmead signaled Tuesday that she'd require the housing authority to provide a list of every apartment it should have checked for lead since 2012 and then perform the inspections required by law.

Edmead plans to formally order the tests in a preliminary injunction unless NYCHA requests a hearing where it can object to the order, said Jim Walden, a lawyer for the Citywide Council of Presidents, the tenant group that brought the lawsuit.

"We're overjoyed," Walden said of the decision.

Edmead's ruling from the bench marked a new blow to the beleaguered housing authority as it tries to catch up with four years of missed inspections for toxic lead paint.

It also marks a victory for tenants in their efforts to hold NYCHA accountable for letting deteriorating conditions fester in their apartments.

Edmead's written decision had not been filed as of Tuesday afternoon.

NYCHA spokeswoman Jasmine Blake denied that Edmead had actually ordered any inspections to take place and had only scheduled another court hearing for next week.

"We are awaiting the court’s written order at this time," NYCHA spokeswoman Valeria Munt said in an email.

The Department of Investigation revealed in November that NYCHA flouted city and federal laws requiring lead inspections in thousands of apartments that could contain lead paint from 2012 to 2016, then falsely told federal authorities the checks had been done.

More than 80 percent of the 8,910 apartments housing kids younger than 6 where NYCHA has done new lead inspections since October had a hazard that required remediation, NYCHA attorney Seth Kramer admitted in court.

The housing authority prioritzed apartments where those young kids live because they're most at risk of lead poisoning, Kramer said. A city law requires inspections at those apartments every year.

A private company NYCHA hired will also check common areas and thousands more apartments where inspections are required under federal rules, Kramer said. Inspections are still underway in common areas but have yet to start in those additional apartments, NYCHA lawyers said.

Lawyers for tenants argued the housing authority's slow inspection scheme has missed apartments housing kids who are now older than 6, but were younger in the years when NYCHA shirked its legal obligations. They wanted Edmead to order NYCHA to check every potentially impacted apartment within 90 days.

"Every day that we wait and just hope that NYCHA eventually gets on some schedule that they haven't been on for the past five years is another day that a child lives in one of these apartments exposed to toxic lead," Jacob Gardener, another lawyer for the tenants, said in court.

If it's finalized, Edmead's order will add another layer to the scrutiny NYCHA is facing from myriad authorities. Gov. Andrew Cuomo this month ordered the appointment of an independent manager to oversee how about $550 million in state money for NYCHA is spent. City officials are also working with federal prosecutors to resolve an investigation into the housing authority.

NYCHA's attorneys said the agency is taking action to right past administrators' wrongs. They noted recent changes in leadership — Stanley Brezenoff will replace Shola Olatoye as NYCHA's CEO when she resigns this month, and Vito Mustaciuolo took over as acting general manager in January.

Edmead peppered lawyers from both sides with questions on the legal minutiae of whether she should force NYCHA to follow the tenants' demands. But she expressed skepticism about NYCHA's ability to turn itself around, even with seasoned officials now at the helm.

"Is this such a systemic issue that you cannot just put a new head on an old, dirty body?" she said in court.

(Lead image: Jim Walden, an attorney for the Citywide Council of Presidents, speaks outside Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday. Photo by Noah Manskar/Patch)