Lead Testing Hasn't Started At Queens NYCHA Sites, Angering Pols

POMONOK, QUEENS — The city has yet to test any Queens NYCHA complexes for lead, more than three months after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a citywide initiative to test for toxic lead paint.

De Blasio said the city would prioritize testing complexes with the most households with children under six, but at least two such complexes are in Queens, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.

Now, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng is urging the mayor to expedite the NYCHA testing so Queens complexes aren't left in the lurch.

"While the city rightly prioritized testing in complexes with the highest number of children under six, the reported backlog on testing and failure to begin testing in Queens is unacceptable," Meng wrote in a letter Friday to de Blasio.

The Pomonok Houses in Flushing, part of Meng's district, have the fourth-highest number of children under six, the Eagle found. The Ravenswood Houses in Long Island City rank fifth.

"Inspecting approximately 135,000 apartments throughout the city is a vast undertaking," Meng said. "That challenge cannot get in the way of testing housing units in Queens."

NYCHA's new federal monitor, Barry Schwartz, has reported problems in identifying apartments where children under six live, according to his team's report.

The city has tested 6,528 units, or less than five percent. Of the 2,207 apartments with recorded results, 1,604 tested positive for lead, according to the Queens Daily Eagle.

NYCHA failed to meet a May 1 deadline to declare 3,000 apartments with young kids "clear" of led, THE CITY reported.

Meanwhile, the number of children with lead poisoning is rising, the federal monitor found.