In November 2017, a city “fact sheet” claimed only a handful of kids tested positive for lead poisoning. “Between 2010 and 2016, there were 17 documented cases requiring lead abatement at 18 NYCHA apartments where children with elevated blood lead levels lived,” the City claimed. In July 2018, that number shot up to 820. And yesterday, it went up again, to 1,160. Let me repeat: One thousand one hundred sixty NYCHA residents, almost all children, have been poisoned by a dangerous neurotoxin.
Rest assured, though, because Mayor de Blasio’s press secretary tweets:
“Steady reductions. NYCHA exposure rate is *lower* than exposure in private homes. And cities around the state have much higher lead exposure rates than NYC, according to @NYGovCuomo’s health dept.”
How is it possibly reassuring to say that the problem outside NYCHA is worse than inside? Maybe there are some worse cities in New York State, but Brooklyn has lead exposures worse than the country as a whole.
How many children will be exposed to this dangerous neurotoxin for the City to take appropriate action? The mayor continues to sound complacent, saying “I’ve also come to understand in this whole experience — because I cannot tell a lie — I didn’t know everything about lead issues previously, that if there is exposure, it manifest very differently in each child.”
It is time for the mayor to learn everything about lead. It is time to get real answers. NYCHA is publicly owned, and we need to take responsibility NOW for the babies and youth that are suffering permanent damage due to NYCHA negligence on our land.
Just two weeks ago, we called for a special session of the New York Senate to address this health crisis. Yesterday, we learned the crisis is even worse than we thought. Given the crisis, the mayor needs to work to get 100% of kids tested. According to the NYC Health Commissioner, about 88% of children living in NYCHA are tested by the time they are 3 years old, compared to 74% of children living in private housing.
But if you listen to the mayor, you will hear lots of happy talk. For instance, “Since 2010, the number of children that tested positive for lead has dropped 69 percent according to the latest report.” Let’s assume for a second that magically the numbers have dropped since 2010, without any major efforts by the mayor’s office. This senate district has one of the highest rates of lead poisoning in the state. And this map from Reuters shows that in the small census tracts in Crown Heights, 87 kids have been impacted by this crisis:
Our office has offered free lead testing. Our State Senate office has tested more children than the mayor’s office. It is possible to do much better, if the mayor did more.
There is no time to wait. We need to start NOW to make sure that 100% of kids are tested. We need to call the New York legislature back into session to address this crisis.
And if you have child, please get them tested. We are teaming up with Kamin Health/Crown Heights Urgent Care, and they have offered testing if you call to make an appointment at 718-360-8074.
