When you think of lead poisoning, you might think about the recent news from Flint, Michigan. The city was in the news for months after its citizens learned their water was steeped with lead. But what you might not know is that recent reports found 69 neighborhoods where New York City children suffered elevated lead levels at nearly twice Flint’s rate.
That was the story in a 2017 report from Reuters and in a city that had aimed to eliminate all lead poisoning by 2010. But while the city has long set lofty goals, New Yorkers continue to suffer. Two years after the Reuters report, old apartments and negligent landlords continue to play an outsized role.