Life, Lead and the Pursuit of Housing: NYCHA’s Residents Seek Justice

1,160 NYCHA children have tested positive for lead poisoning. Despite ever-escalating reports, the truth is that no one knows how many children are at risk: because the authority lied about inspections for years.

Peeling paint outside the NYCHA residence at 10 Catherine Slip

Public housing is the only home that 5-year-old Kyan Dickerson has ever known, and it has made him sick. When Kyan’s pediatrician found elevated levels of lead in his blood, his mother, Sherron Paige, discovered that the peeling paint inside her family’s Red Hook East apartment was toxic. Their apartment is one of 175,000 units managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

Kyan is one of 19 – no, 820 – no, 1,160 NYCHA children who have tested positive for lead poisoning. Despite ever-escalating reports, the truth is that no one knows how many children are at risk: because the authority lied about inspections for years.

But the lies do not end with lead. In June, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York issued a formidable 80-page complaint against NYCHA, followed by a consent decree, which NYCHA signed, finally acknowledging its many failings. NYCHA admitted to a decade of providing staff with “Quick Fix Tips,” a how-to manual for hoodwinking inspectors. Some of these tricks included temporarily replacing broken parts with ones from other buildings and painting over pest holes stuffed with newspaper and cork.

Last November, the New York City Department of Investigation released a report documenting NYCHA’s neglect and deception. The investigation marks the fourth time in two years that NYCHA has failed to comply with safety codes. Previous reports focused on elevators and carbon monoxide detectors.

NYCHA is the subject of a class action lawsuit on behalf of 400,000 residents whose rights may have been violated by the agency. Sherron Paige is one of three named plaintiffs in the suit. Corey Stern, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said families deserve better.

“You have a lot of people that paid money for their apartments over the years,” Stern said. “If they were told honestly when they rented their apartments that the apartments may have lead they probably wouldn’t have paid or decided to live there. Because nobody’s going to pay for housing, no matter how inexpensive it might be, if they have children and think their children are going to be brain damaged by just living in their homes.”

Lead exposure can cause brain damage, learning disabilities and other health effects, as well as miscarriages and premature births. Young children are the most vulnerable, as they are developing and using hand-to-mouth behaviors.

Kyan is a “gap child,” born in July 2013 during NYCHA’s four-year inspection hiatus from 2012 to 2016. During that time, NYCHA stopped performing annual lead-based paint inspections when the Department of Housing and Urban Development relaxed its requirements.

However, NYCHA is required by the Lead Safe Housing Rule and New York City Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act to annually inspect older apartments where children live and where the possibility of lead paint has not been ruled out. Exemptions to these rules are available if testing shows that no lead paint is present.

Including Kyan, eight of the original 19 children with elevated lead levels lived in developments NYCHA had previously deemed lead free, according the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Tennant Association office at the Alfred E. Smith Houses

Across the East River in Manhattan are the Alfred E. Smith Houses, a 17-story, 12-building residential development constructed in 1953. The Smith Houses are among 92 developments confirmed by NYCHA to contain lead paint. The development is currently home to 124 children under the age of 5 and 205 children ages 5 to 9, according to NYCHA’s development data portal.

Lifelong Smith resident Axia Torres, 66, has served as Tenant Association President for the past eight years. In 2013, Torres successfully launched a class action lawsuit against NYCHA, on behalf of more than 500 Smith residents, which rectified a 10-year gas pipe violation.

She said that to her knowledge there have only been three incidents of lead poisoning at Smith, all of which were dealt with immediately, and that so far, no residents have come to the grievance committee with lead-related complaints. Still, the possibility exists. The use of lead-based paint was not banned by New York until 1960 or by the federal government until 1978.

“When this development was built there were no building codes,” Torres said. “So they knew there was asbestos, there were a lot of things . . . Part of the problem we have in Smith is that it's so old. Our elevators, it's going to get to the point where they're going to need to be changed because we can't find the parts. They don't make them anymore. . . . At the age of 62 I had open heart surgery, I had a valve replacement. Smith is as old as I am. If I needed a valve, what do you think this place needs?”

The Smith Houses need more than a fresh coat of paint.

Smith residence 10 Catherine Slip, which directly faces the East River, suffered damage during Hurricane Sandy.

“It depends,” said A.M., 39, who has been a caretaker for the Smith Houses for 15 years. “Some buildings are worse than others.” He gestured toward the buildings on Pearl Street. “These ones are pretty good, but some of the others . . .” He shook his head. He explained that the two buildings closest to the East River were hit with water damage during Hurricane Sandy. Though the apartment interiors were remodeled and look beautiful, A.M. said they have underlying problems.

Kevin Johnson, 49, has been visiting his elderly mother at Smith since she moved there in 1991. He said the cabinets have needed fixing for five months and paint has been peeling for a year, despite calls to management. “There is mold on the ceiling, the hot water is off and on and there are roaches and rats,” Johnson said. “A letter said someone is supposed to come on Monday. I doubt it.”

“At first it was beautiful,” said 63-year-old Zephyr Williams, who moved to Smith in 2014. “Now there’s garbage in the hallways, mold and asbestos, everything is falling apart. I went to court a month ago: nothing. I don’t want to live like this.”

When 85-year-old Rivera Ramon called NYCHA’s centralized Customer Contact Center to report peeling plaster, he was given a wait time of six months.

Maintenance Office of the Alfred E. Smith Houses

“Smith used to be one of the best developments,” said Jose Jimenez Sr., 68, who was the third person to move into his building. “But management has been pushing stuff on low-income people.” He remembers a time when building supervisors used to conduct inspections themselves. Still, he has had some success scheduling repairs through the MyNYCHA Mobile App, which launched in Sept. 2015.

“It used to take 20 to 72 hours,” said Jimenez. “That’s if you got a call at all. At least with the app they call back right away.”

For most Smith residents, moving is not an option. “People are literally stuck here,” TA President Torres said. “There's nowhere to go: all the condominiums, all the co-ops, even the Mitchell-Lamas, they're gone. That's why you have all these people with pensions and insurance still living in public housing and paying over a $1,000 rent.”

Both parties involved in the class action have until Dec. 14 to file an update with the judge.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from NYCHA said the city plans to test approximately 132,000 NYCHA apartments under its new “vision zero” approach to lead and said that NYCHA is addressing every positive lead paint inspection.