The city’s health department issued seven lead paint abatement orders in two weeks to six different landlords in the Hill, East Shore, the Annex, West River, and Fair Haven.
One of those abatement orders is for a Chapel Street apartment complex that the city has cited three times so far this year for three different units containing dangerously high levels of lead paint and housing child tenants with high levels of lead in their blood.
The Pike International property manager of the Chapel Street complex said that the families previously living in the three leaded units have been relocated to a different, lead-free Pike-run building until their old apartments are successfully abated.
According to city land records, from Aug. 27 through Sep. 6, the city’s health department sent lead paint abatement orders to Shmuel Aizenberg and Ocean Management for Unit L. of an apartment complex they own at 95 Lenox St. and for the second-floor apartment at 6 Lines St., to the Woodbridge couple Joseph and Ann Brignola for the first-floor apartment of 559 Lombard St., to Hill resident Anthony Bell for the second-floor apartment of 139 West St., to Rego Park, N.Y.-based landlord Sujit Ramchand for the second-floor apartment of 1070 Townsend Ave., to Haledon, N.J.-based landlord Marcos Calle for the third-floor apartment of 241 Howard Ave., and to Shmully Hecht and Pike International for Apt. B5 of an apartment complex they own at 1475 – 1477 Chapel St.
It was the third time this year that the city has cited Pike for lead paint problems at the West River apartment complex.
Thomas Breen photo
1475-1477 Chapel St.
On Feb. 8, the health department sent Hecht an abatement order for high lead levels and one or more lead-burdened children in Apt. B7 of the Chapel Street property. On June 27, the department sent Hecht a similar lead paint abatement order for Apt. B1.
“We’re moving every one who had lead out of that building and into another lead-free building that we own,” said Levi Stone, Pike’s property manager of the Chapel Street apartment complex. He said the three families who were living in the three different apartments that have been cited the health department for high lead levels this year will remain in a nearby Pike building until their former units are successfully abated.
He said that Pike has begun abatement work on one of those units and, once the city signs off on that apartment, they will move on to abate the other two.
“We had applied for funding from the city,” he said, referencing the federal funding that the city’s health department makes available to landlords in the form of zero-interest, forgivable loans for the purposes of lead abatement. But, Stone said, Pike has failed thus far to secure any funding from the city for abating these Chapel Street properties because every time they submit one piece of paperwork, the city presents them with another round of questions and demands.
The Aug. 24 health department order sent to New Jersey-based landlord Marcos Calle cites an Aug. 24 inspection by city lead inspector Andrew Carnevale that found 28.6 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint in the front door casing of 241 Howard Ave. The inspection also found lead levels of 8.5 in the third-floor bedroom’s window casing, and 8.6 in the third-floor living room’s closet door jamb.
559 Lombard St.
The city identifies any quantity of lead above 1.0 milligrams per square centimeter in paint as “toxic,” and therefore as posing a unique threat to children living in an apartment.
“The Director of Health has determined that the presence of such lead-based paint and chipped and flaking paint constitutes health hazards,” reads the stock language of the Aug. 24 abatement order.
All of the recent lead abatement orders indicate that one or more children with dangerously high levels of lead in their blood live at the respective properties. They all give the respective landlords five days to submit to the city a lead-abatement plan and 30 days to complete the lead abatement work.
The Aug. 27 health department order sent to Hecht and Pike International cites an Aug. 25 inspection of Apt. B5 of 1475 – 1477 Chapel St. by city lead inspector Jomika Bogan that found lead paint levels of 5.0 in the bedroom closet door casing, 4.3 in the living room baseboard, and 4.8 in the bathroom window sill.
1070 Townsend Ave.
The Aug. 27 health department order sent to New York-based landlord Sujit Ramchand cites an Aug. 27 inspection by Carnevale of the second-floor apartment of 1070 Townsend Ave. that found lead paint levels of 26.1 in the rear porch door stop, 29.2 in the front porch door jamb, and 35 in the façade’s front door.
The Aug. 31 health department order sent to Joseph and Ann Brignola cites an Aug. 31 inspection of the first-floor apartment of 559 Lombard St. by Carnevale that found lead paint levels of 22.1 in the bedroom’s window casing, 25 in the bedroom door, and 29 in the living room door stop.
95 Lenox St.
The Sep. 4 health department order sent to Shmuel Aizenberg and Ocean Management cites a Sep. 4 inspection of Unit L of 95 Lenox St. by Carnevale that found lead paint levels of 36 in the façade’s side window casing and 27.2 in that same façade side beam/trim.
6 Lines St.
The Sep. 6 health department order sent to Shmuel Aizenberg and Ocean Management cites an Aug. 27 inspection of the second-floor apartment of 6 Lines St. by Carnevale that found lead paint levels of 16.8 in the kitchen entry door stop, 13 in the living room baseboard, and 11.5 in the bathroom side wall.
139 West St.
And the Sep. 6 health department order sent to Hill landlord Anthony Bell cites an Aug. 30 inspection of the second-floor apartment of 139 West St. by city lead inspector Glenda Buenaventura that found lead paint levels of 15 in the front porch window casing, 16.6 in the exterior wall siding, and 17.5 in the exterior side bottom door frame.
Previous coverage:
• Lead Sends Family Packing
• Health Officials Grilled On Lead Plans
• Judge Threatens To Find City In Contempt
• Same Mandy House Cited Twice For Lead Paint
• Lead $ Search Advances
• 3 Landlords Hit With New Lead Orders
• Another Judge Rips City On Lead
• Judge To City: Get Moving On Lead
• Health Department Seeks Another $4.1M For Lead Abatement
• City-OK’d Lead Fixes Fail Independent Inspection
• Judge: City Dragged Feet On Lead
• 2nd Kid Poisoned After City Ordered Repairs
• Judge: City Must Pay
• City Sued Over Handling Of Lead Poisonings
• City’s Lead Inspection Goes On Trial
• Eviction Withdrawn On Technicality
• 2nd Child Poisoned; Where’s The City?
• Carpenter With Poisoned Kid Tries A Fix
• High Lead Levels Stall Eviction
• 460 Kids Poisoned By Lead In 2 Years
• Bid-Rigging Claimed In Lead Cleanup
• Judge Orders Total Lead Paint Clean-Up
• Legal Aid Takes City To Task On Lead