STUYVESANT HEIGHTS vs LEAD POISONING

Greetings All,

This post is a bit long but well worth the information, please take some time and read this disturbing email we rcvd' from one of our neighbors. It's regarding the building in the picture with the CHASE BANK sign posted in front...I wonder if Chase Bank knows about this?
<----- click on picture

Dear Parents and Friends,

We have been MIA for a few weeks, and the following ordeal is why. It's something that is a urgent issue, especially for anyone with children..
Recently my daughter was diagnosed with a lead blood level of 17. It is confirmed that at 10, lead causes permanent adverse affects on the intellect, nervous system, and kidneys of any child under 6 years of age. That is because their systems are 5-10 times more efficient at absorbing lead than adults, and at this crucial stage of their rapid development, any affects of poisoning is irreversible.

We live next to a large apartment building that is being renovated at 575 Hancock, at Stuyvesant. 4 weeks ago the contractor, Vertical Design and Construction was dry grinding all of the fire escapes on the building over a week and a half period. Our house is 3 feet away from the fire escapes they were working on. We would hear the paintchips hitting our windows as they were grinding the paint off of them for days. Our windows were and still are covered in paint dust from their work. Every time we went outside, or opened our door, the fumes
would evade our entire house and stay for hours.

I wanted to hold off on this email until we received the lab test results which we have today. The threshold limit (before lead is considered hazardous) for lead dust in window sills is 250 micrograms per square foot. The mound of lead dust created by the construction company in our kitchen window sill came in at 97,400 micrograms. That is 390 times the threshold amount!! This is what we breathed in everyday as we walked down this block.

What is scary is that there is a Bridge Street Head Start day carecenter right next to this building. Their windows/entrance doors are 2 feet away from these fire escapes. Anyone who knows of parents who send their children there, please tell them to get their children
tested for lead immediately! Also if you or anyone you know of lives near this building, pls have those children tested for lead! I spoke to the caregivers at Bridge Street Head Start Day Care, who said they would call their director. They still have not notified the parents. I know there are potential liabilities in terms of the contractors, but the health and safety of our children cannot be sacrificed for financial gain or politics. Please pass this email along so that it
reaches these parents in time. These contractors need to held accountable for their actions.
Otherwise they will continue to operate in a way that will further harm more children. We approached the contractor, telling them it was an unsafe situation, especially for our child and other children in the neighborhood, but they continued to work in this dangerous manner
for over a week. They did not take the legally required precautions of sealing off the area and washing down it down afterwards. After finding out about Lily's lead poisoning and doing research to discover that such a high lead level could not have come from any sources inside our home, we spoke to the supervisor of the construction company. He had no remorse. He even admitted to knowing that there was probably lead paint on those fire escapes that was
being released into the air! He said that it was part of the scope of the work and that it is done.
It would have not taken that much more time to properly seal off the work areas and wash down afterwards (as required by the city) to prevent the poisoning of our community's children!

I am outraged as our lives have been turned upside down and we are having to suffer such heart break and anguish because of this contractor's willful and criminal negligence. I have spoken to Bridge Street Church but have not yet received a response. The pastor has agreed with us that this situation caused by Vertical Design and Construction is unpardonable. This is a dangerous and avoidable lesson in lack of community activism. We need to protect our children who will become the future of this community. If you ever see any construction/demolition that
is potentially dangerous or harmful to the environment, please call 311 immediately, they usually take 2-3 days to come out and must see the violation in progress. So the earlier a call is made the better. I know we may all have our loyalties, but our children cannot pay the price. The onus is on the licensed and insured contractors doing the work to do it properly since they are instructed to follow certain procedures as required by the city. I only wish I had been aware of the how dangerous this type of dry sanding was at the time of it's happening and had immediately contacted the city perhaps preventing this situation from causing my
daughter's (and potentially several other children's) lead poisoning. I would not wish this anguish and suffering that John and I have gone through, are still going through, on anyone.
I hope you can pass this email along to all the members of our community, so that it is a safer place for our children.

We should no longer quietly suffer. Our children deserve no less than a bright future, no matter where they live. A concerned mother and member of the community,

Angela Chiang

'What we invest in our children is never wasted'
-Dorothy, Lily's great grand mother