Public Advocate Letitia James has launched her own investigation into the Housing Authority’s failure to perform required lead paint inspections of its aging apartments.
This brings to three the number of pending inquiries regarding NYCHA’s lead paint testing.
Two weeks ago, the city Department of Investigation revealed that the authority has for several years falsely certified it was handling all required inspections.
And the Manhattan U.S. Attorney for the last two years has been looking at whether NYCHA misled the government about what it’s done to maintain its 178,000 apartments.
Last week, James wrote to NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye and city Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett demanding a long list of records.
“The bare facts of NYCHA’s failure to conduct lead inspections and the false reporting that followed are unacceptable on their own terms, but I have also found subsequent explanations of these failures to be singularly unpersuasive,” James wrote to Olatoye.
After the DOI report surfaced, she summoned Olatoye to her office to question her about the inspection failures. Hours after the meeting, James called for Olatoye to resign.
Mayor de Blasio, who appointed Olatoye in early 2014, backed her up, calling James’ resignation demand a “cheap stunt.” James has been talked about as a potential mayoral candidate in 2021.
On Monday, de Blasio spokeswoman Olivia Lapeyrolerie wrote in an emailed response, “The City has already provided this information to DOI and the U.S. Attorney, and will discuss this matter further with the Public Advocate.”
James demanded data on all NYCHA lead paint inspections since January 2013, and all communications between NYCHA and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office.
And she requested NYCHA’s communications with the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD). HUD, which provides NYCHA with nearly 70% of its operating budget and almost all its capital funding, requires NYCHA to certify in writing that it’s complying with all local, state and federal laws and regulations.
James also sought Health Department records about children living in NYCHA apartments who’ve tested positive for high levels of lead.
NYCHA says 202 children living in 133 apartments have tested with high blood-lead levels from 2010 through 2015. But they claim these high blood-lead levels can only be linked directly to NYCHA apartments in only 18 of those children.
