3 Landlords Hit With New Lead Orders

The city’s Health Department has found lead paint hazards at three different city apartments, all of which currently house children with elevated blood lead levels.

One of those apartments is in a West River complex that the city cited back in February for presenting lead paint hazards to a different lead-burdened child in a neighboring unit.

During the last week of June and the first week of July, the city’s Health Department sent lead paint abatement orders to Shmully Hecht of Pike International for Apt. B1 at his West River apartment complex at 1475 – 1477 Chapel St.; to Anthony Sealy for the second floor of his two-family Newhallville home at 280 West Ivy St.; and to David Jacob for the second floor of his two-and-a-half-story Dwight apartment house at 248 Orchard St..

In all three locations, the city found dangerously high levels of lead paint in apartment units that are home to one or more children with elevated blood lead levels.

Local and federal law identifies children with blood lead levels of 5 micrograms per deciliter (mg/dL) or above as ​“elevated,” meaning that those children are uniquely at risk to develop learning and behavioral disabilities that come with childhood lead poisoning.

Mohammad Ullah Majbor, a 33-year-old Afghani refugee who lives in Apt. B1 at 1475 – 1477 Chapel St., said city lead inspectors came by his apartment several weeks to test the paint in his unit’s walls, doors and window sills. He has lived in the apartment since May 29, when he, his wife, and his four young children moved from Khost, Afghanistan.

Majbor said the lead inspectors came soon after his family’s doctor told him that Majbor’s 2‑year-old daughter Navida has an elevated blood lead level. Majbor, whose native language is Pashto, said he does not remember his daughter’s specific blood lead level.

The city Health Department’s lead paint report, which was sent to Hecht on June 27, cites a June 23 inspection of the unit by city lead inspector Jomika Bogan.

“Said inspection revealed the presence of toxic levels of lead in paint (intact and defective),” the report’s stock language reads. It identifies 8.1 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint in the kitchen door jamb that leads to the common back hall. (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 order also identifies lead levels of 7.6 in the bathroom door casing, 9.1 in the common front hall first-floor door stop, and above 9.9 in the exterior side door.

According to lead paint order, a landlord must submit a written lead abatement plan to the city’s Health Department within five days of receiving a lead paint order. That landlord must then commence the lead abatement work within seven days of receiving the order, and complete the abatement within 30 days of receiving the order.

“No one’s called,” Majbor said about follow up from the landlord or the city since the late June inspection. He said that last week, someone posted a notice on his apartment’s front door. That notice, from the city’s Health Department, reads:

“Warning Notice. Toxic Lead Levels. This dwelling/dwelling unit contains a toxic level of lead in paint on various surfaces which may be dangerous and which a child should not be allowed to chew.”

According to the order, the landlord is required to post a warning notice about lead toxicity at the apartment within days of receiving the city’s order.

Majbor said he has had a number of problems with the landlord and his property manager, Levi Stone, since moving in at the end of May. He said he frequently complains to the property manager of mice infestations, chipped paint, and a collapsed wooden cupboard beneath the kitchen sink. Majbor said he never hears back from the landlord or from property manager about any plans to address his concerns.

City land records show that the June 27 order is not the first order this year that the city has given to Hecht for lead paint hazards at 1475 – 1477 Chapel St.

On Feb. 8, the city’s Health Department sent a lead paint abatement order to Hecht for Apt. B6 at the West River complex. That notice similarly identified dangerous high levels of lead paint in most of the unit’s rooms, including its bedroom, bathroom, hallway, and kitchen., based on a Feb. 6 inspection by Jomika Bogan.

That order also states that a child with an elevated blood lead level lives in the unit.

“When we learned about these issues we contacted the Health Department of the City of New Haven to have these issues taken care of,” Stone told the Independent by email. ​“We work closely with them to try and have the situation taken care of as soon as possible.

“We are always striving to keep our residents living in clean and habitable premises,” he continued. ​“We are always improving our buildings and look to improve them whenever possible. Over the past few months we have upgraded many of our properties and continue to do so.”

He declined to comment on the lead abatement schedule for Apt. B1 or any lead abatement work that may have already been done at Apt. B6.

City land records show no evidence that Apt. B6 has been abated of lead hazards per the Feb. 8 order, although sometimes it takes a while for city departments to file notices and updates in the land records.

The city also issued lead paint abatement orders to Anthony Sealy at 280 West Ivy St. and to David Jacob at 248 Orchard St. on July 2.

The West Ivy Street order cites a June 26 inspection by Bogan that found 9.9 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint in the exterior Side A column, overhang, and kick plate, among other exterior and interior locations in the unit.

The 248 Orchard St. order cites a July 2 inspection city lead inspector Andrew Carnevale that found 11.1 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint in the second-floor front porch window casing, 23.2 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint on the façade’s window sill, and 23.9 milligrams of lead per square centimeter of paint in the porch’s door stop.

Previous coverage:

• 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