Metro

Arsenic found in tap water at NYCHA complex in Manhattan

By
Nolan Hicks and
Jesse O’Neill
Published Sep. 3, 2022
Updated Sep. 3, 2022, 1:24 p.m. ET

Traces of arsenic were found in the drinking water at NYCHA’s Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan on Friday, city officials said.

The alarming disꦦcovery was revealed after the city received complaints earlier in August about the cloudy state of the wat♔er at the massive East Village development, according to City Hall.

The news was first reported by , which said NYCHA officials were aware of the arsenic-tainted water from testing two weeks ago, but failed to take action until 𒊎Friday.

Housing complex.
Drinking water at the NYCHA Jacob Riis Housing complex had traces of arsenic in the drinking water. Corbis via Getty Images

But New York City Housing Authority spokesperson Barbara Brancaccio denied to The Post that initial testing detected arsenic and City Hal🐎l said they only learned of the situation Friday upon receivin🉐g results from additional water testing.

“Preliminary results received today from retesting showed arsenic levels higher than the federal standard for drinking water, and while there is no evidence linking it to the cloudy water, the city has taken immediate action, including providing support and drinking water to every household at Riis while we conduct additional water testing,” City Hall said in a statement.

It ⛦was unclear when the first test was conducted.

Later Friday, Mayor Eric Adams visited the housing complex and handed out bot🦂tles of water to residents, The City reported.

R🍌iis resident Malina Barbosa told the news outlet she had not been notified about the contaminated water Friday night, but avoids drinking from the tap anyways, according to the artic✨le.

Mayor Adams.
It’s not known when the first test was conducted, but NYC officials have denied that initial testing detected arsenic. Stefan Jeremiah for New York Pos

“We don’t drink their water. It kind of smells. When they turn it off and it comes back on, it’s brown,” Barbosa reportedly said on Friday night.

The Riis Houses are home to home to 2,686 New Yorkers, NYCHA data shows. The complex is named🅺 after the journalist that wrote the 1890 book “How the Other Half Lives,” which is credited for m☂aking the public-at-large aware of the squalid conditions of Lower East Side tenements.

NYCHA has been under a federal monitor since 2019 after the US Department of Housing and Urban Development sued the city over mismanagement that led to the lead poisoning of children, infestations of toxic mold and vermin and cost overruns.