FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 11, 2017
Contact: Brooke Havlik, 212-961-1000 ext. 320, communications@weact.org
NEW YORK, NY (11/16/2017) – Yesterday, the New York Times reported that the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) were aware that the agency’s inspectors were not checking apartments for lead paint, but signed off on paperwork certifying that the inspections had been completed anyway.
In response, Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY; Afua Atta-Mensah, Executive Director of Community Voices Heard; Jonathan Westin, Executive Director of New York Communities for Change; José López, Co-Director of Organizing, Make the Road New York; and Cecil D. Corbin-Mark, Deputy Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice issued the following statement:
“New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) has been extremely negligent in its monitoring and reporting of lead paint in public housing. This complete lack of accountability can have severe health consequences for NYCHA residents, exacerbating the public health crises in communities of color, particularly among children. We are calling on the de Blasio administration to invest a billion dollars per year annually for NYCHA repairs and the creation of a resident oversight committee to ensure the removal of toxic living conditions such as lead and mold. NYCHA must immediately test, monitor, and remedy lead paint in all of its units.
The point of reporting is transparency and accountability – not deception and trickery. NYCHA residents must be equal participants in any oversight apparatus of NYCHA. While the current Administration continues to deprive NYCHA of needed federal funding and resources, we must push to preserve housing for the next generation of New Yorkers.”