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U.S. Investigating Elevated Blood Lead Levels in New York’s Public Housing

Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York.Credit...Michael Appleton for The New York Times

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are conducting a sweeping investigation of environmental health and safety conditions, including cases of elevated blood lead levels, in public housing and homeless shelters and the possibility that the New York City housing and homeless agencies filed false claims to federal housing officials for payment related to the conditions.

The investigation was disclosed on Wednesday in a letter from the office of Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, and in a judge’s subsequent order, which were both filed in federal court.

The order, from Judge Deborah A. Batts, compels the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to produce information about the cases of elevated blood lead levels among residents and complaints of “unsafe, unsanitary or unhealthful conditions” in public housing and homeless shelters.

The documents said the health agency, in response to an earlier civil investigative demand from the prosecutors, had declined to provide the information without a judge’s order, to avoid violating the city and state health codes.

Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city’s Law Department, said late Wednesday that the health department was “cooperating with the investigation.”

The Housing Authority, known as Nycha, has been struggling with deteriorating conditions in its aging complexes and is already under the supervision of a court-appointed special master to address issues of mold among the 178,000 apartments it manages.

The agency has blamed a lack of money to address maintenance needs and major capital projects because of deep cuts in federal funding over more than a decade.

But the court documents noted that Nycha is required to comply with federal requirements regarding lead-based paint and to maintain public housing “so that it is decent, safe, sanitary and in good repair.” The investigative demand said the investigation “concerns possible false claims” submitted by the city to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which is a major source of funds for the Housing Authority.

The prosecutors’ initial demand for documents, dated Nov. 20, sought the addresses of all buildings of the Housing Authority and the Department of Homeless Services where people with elevated blood lead levels had been identified; the date when those people’s elevated blood lead levels were identified; the date of any environmental investigation; the date the results of any such investigation were sent to the agencies; and the date the property in question was cleared, if lead hazard control was required by local law.

Prosecutors also sought any notification letters and lead-based-paint evaluation results regarding the relevant people, properties and incidents. They also sought documents reflecting complaints about health conditions in public housing and homeless shelters, including those about “leaks, water damage, mold, particulate matter peeling paint in pre-1978 buildings, lead paint, rodents or insects, and all documents reflecting any response to, investigation of or evaluation of such complaints” by any city or state official or agency.

The initial demand also sought all communications between the city’s health, homeless and housing agencies, or any city, state or federal agency, about problematic health conditions in city public housing or homeless shelters. Prosecutors also sought documents reflecting any city or state analysis of the health effects of lead, mold, particulate matter, rodents or insects on residents of city public housing or homeless shelters.

Asked about the investigation on Wednesday night, during an appearance at a panel discussion at Cooper Union titled “The Next 100 Years of Affordable Housing,” the Housing Authority chairwoman and chief executive, Shola Olatoye, said she had no comment. Referring to herself and Mayor Bill de Blasio, she said, “What we all care about is having a safe and healthy community.”

The public housing stock of red brick towers dates as far back as the 1930s and 1940s — with many still likely to contain lead paint — and the agency has struggled to keep up with a backlog of work orders, including for lead paint removal.

This month, State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein, a Democrat who represents parts of the Bronx and Westchester County, and Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from the Bronx who is chairman of the City Council’s Public Housing Committee, released the results of a door-to-door survey their offices conducted among more than 200 Nycha residents, with 63 percent of those surveyed reporting something damaged or broken in their unit.

The officials said staff members took pictures in common areas of “egregious” violations, like electrical wiring, mold and peeling paint.

Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has committed $300 million over three years for roof repairs, which officials said would help deal with the root cause of mold and excessive moisture.

Mr. Torres said he was surprised by the inquiry into possible false claims, but not by the concerns about health, given what he said was the agency’s “dubious” record addressing hazards.

He said the agency was “both poorly funded and poorly managed” and should be doing better with the funds it gets.

“When you’re under investigation by Preet Bharara,” Mr. Torres said, “that’s as serious as it gets.”

Alex Vadukul contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 21 of the New York edition with the headline: Prosecutors Disclose Sweeping Inquiry of Hazards in City’s Housing Projects. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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