New York City's public housing system is being investigated by federal prosecutors in Manhattan over the health and safety conditions as well as lead problems that are affecting blood lead levels.
In a report by The Wall Street Journal, the prosecutor from the office of United States Attorney Preet Bharara are now investigating whether or not the New York City Housing Authority (NCHA) made false claims regarding the payment related to safety conditions as per court filings.
The prosecutors have also asked federal judge Deborah A. Batts to force the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to produce the needed information related to the investigation such as complaints of unsafe, unsanitary, or unhealthful conditions in the NCHA public housing as well as people who reportedly have elevated levels of lead in their blood, The Guardian reported.
A spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, Karen Hinton, said in a statement that the city will fully cooperate with the investigation pointing out that they are concerned about the reports of lead in people's blood. The investigation on NYCHA started last fall. Hinton added that 36 apartments in 27 public-housing buildings have been inspected. Only one, however, was found with lead paint hazard. There are a total of 177, 666 apartment in the system.
The investigation started after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Lead has long-term cognitive and physical health effects especially to young children. In New York, lead is not related to drinking water but the paints that were used in residential units before it was banned back in 1977.
NYCHA has been criticized in the past and this is not the first time an investigation was launched against them. They house around 400,000 New Yorkers and the agency's units are said to be dilapidated. The agency has a $17 billion capital shortfall and has since struggled to fund their units' extensive repair needs.
