New York Personal Injury Attorneys BlogLead paint scandal: Mayor de Blasio and NYSCHA deliberately put young children at risk of poisoning
The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) not only failed to do critical lead safety inspections but also falsified paperwork to pretend inspections were done and buildings were meeting requirements according to a report released by the Department of Investigation (DOI).
By mid 2016, Shola Olatoye, the NYCHA chairwoman appointed by Mayor de Blasio in 2014, was aware that lead paint inspections that were supposed to be finalized over four years hadn’t been completed in many of the 180,000 NYCHA apartments. She knew NYSHA was violating federal rules and local law but instead of admitting the problem and trying to fix the issues she and other top managers at NYCHA decided to conceal it.
NYCHA submitted a false certification in October 2016, potentially putting numerous children at risk of lead poisoning. Young children are the most at risk of being poisoned by lead. They can can suffer from developmental delays that can have lifetime consequences. In some cases lead poisoning can be fatal.
