November 3, 2021

Owner agreed to correct nearly 100 lead-based paint violations across 10 buildings in Brooklyn and Queens

NEW YORK – The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) has reached a settlement agreement with a residential building owner to correct over 100 lead-based paint violations, the majority relating to failure to comply with turnover requirements, in a portfolio which included 688 households across 10 buildings in Brooklyn and Queens.

Months of litigation have resulted in $150,000 in civil penalties against building owner Jay Rosenfeld, in addition to a consent order to correct violations under Local Law 1 of 2004 (LL1), New York City’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. Violations were issued based on HPD’s proactive audit of the buildings, an enhanced enforcement activity under the City’s LeadFreeNYC initiative to reduce child lead exposure. Mr. Rosenfeld must correct all outstanding violations across the portfolio of buildings, including the class “C” lead paint violations, within 90 days of the signing of the Orders.

“Children are especially vulnerable to lead exposure which can have lasting health effects throughout their lives,” said HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll. “As part of the LeadFreeNYC initiative to reduce child lead exposure, we’ve set a high bar for keeping children safe from lead through enhanced enforcement, education, and resources for property owners to make good on their obligations.”

Under the settlement, the payment for $150,000 in civil penalties is due within 45 days of the signing of the Orders. The owner must also correct all turnover violations and comply with Local Law 1’s recordkeeping requirements.

The 10 buildings subject to the settlement include:

• 178-01 Hillside Avenue, Queens
• 178-60 Wexford Terrace, Queens
• 1487 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn
• 1429 Shore Parkway, Brooklyn
• 29 Murdock Court, Brooklyn
• 8869 20 Avenue, Brooklyn
• 8871 20 Avenue, Brooklyn
• 2020 20 Lane, Brooklyn
• 2036 Cropsey Avenue, Brooklyn
• 2611 West 2 Street, Brooklyn 

HPD will continue to monitor progress while it maintains the option to seek additional penalties in court if the violations are not corrected in time. Most violations were issued based on HPD’s proactive audit of the buildings, which found that the owner failed to maintain records related to lead-based activities in the building; specifically, 89 of the violations were issued in apartments for which the owner failed to keep records about lead-based paint inspections and abatement on turnover. Additional building-wide violations were issued for failure to maintain records specifically related to annual inspections and investigations and for failure to maintain all other records required under Local Law 1.

Although some of these record keeping violations cannot be corrected for past periods, the owner will be under order to maintain these records going forward and HPD will require submission for the next year.

The settlement follows an agreement HPD reached earlier this year with a major landlord to obtain $60,000 in civil penalties and an order to correct 42 lead-based paint across 200 homes in the Bronx. Additionally, HPD continues to collaborate with government partners to supplement its litigation efforts to bring landlords into compliance with Local Law 1. Litigation teams led by the Office of Attorney General and New York City Law Department rely on HPD’s lead-based paint enforcement teams to identify and audit buildings where lead-based paint regulations are not followed.

Children exposed to lead may face serious, irreversible harm that has long-term effects, including brain and nervous system damage, reduced educational attainment, and delays in hearing and speech. Children under the age of three are at the greatest risk for exposure due to hand-to-mouth activity and because their rapidly growing bodies can readily absorb lead. Preventing exposure before it occurs and reducing future exposures are therefore the only effective ways to protect children from lead’s dangerous effects.

To learn more about landlord and tenant requirements under LL1, as well as about how to protect your family from lead exposure, call 311 or visit the City’s Lead Free NYC page.

Enforcing New Requirements Under Local Law 1

HPD’s Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services works rigorously to enforce LL1, which requires that rental property owners take proactive steps to protect children from lead-based paint exposure. Requirements for tenant-occupied rental properties built before 1960 include:

• Annually determining apartments where a child under 6 “resides”, which as of January 2020 means a child is routinely spending 10 hours or more hours a week in the unit
• Inspecting those units and the common areas of the those building for lead-based paint hazards
• Remediating hazards in those units and common areas using safe work practices and certified contractors
• Remediating lead-based paint hazards and abating window and door friction surfaces in all units at unit turnover
• Testing for lead-based paint in all rental units by August 2025

The expansion of the definition of where a child “resides” increased the number of apartment complaints for lead in FY21 by almost 40%, increasing the apartments requiring a lead-based paint inspection attempt by nearly 8,000. The law’s application was recently expanded to one- to two-family homes that are tenant-occupied, resulting in additional complaints from nearly 400 apartments, prompting inspections by HPD’s enforcement unit.

In Fiscal Year 2021, HPD issued nearly 9,500 lead-based paint hazard violations and spent over $1 million in emergency repairs to keep children safe from lead-based paint. Additionally, HPD issued almost 8,000 violations for an owner’s failure to document their lead-based paint activities to more than 700 buildings citywide.

Property owners can learn more about all required inspections and investigations, record keeping requirements and how to address surfaces with lead-based paint or paint of unknown lead content, as well as how to address HPD issued lead-based paint hazard violations on HPD’s lead-based paint webpage at nyc.gov/lead-based-paint. 

###

The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) is the nation’s largest municipal housing preservation and development agency. Its mission is to promote quality housing and diverse, thriving neighborhoods for New Yorkers through loan and development programs for new affordable housing, preservation of the affordability of the existing housing stock, enforcement of housing quality standards, and educational programs for tenants and building owners. HPD is tasked with advancing the goals of the City’s housing plan – a critical pillar of Your Home NYC, Mayor de Blasio’s comprehensive approach to helping New Yorkers get, afford, and keep housing in these challenging times. For full details visit www.nyc.gov/hpd and for regular updates on HPD news and services, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @NYCHousing.