The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development announced it has reached a settlement agreement with a major landlord to correct multiple lead paint violations involving buildings located in Brooklyn.
In total, there were 80 lead-based paint violations found across six Brooklyn buildings. This impacted 285 homes of Brooklyn residents, according to HPD.
The owner of the buildings, Jason Korn, has been ordered to pay $82,500 in civil penalties. Korn is also ordered to correct all of the outstanding violations within 90 days of the signing of the orders.
Korn is required to correct the violations found in five of the six buildings. One of the buildings was sold by Korn during the litigation process, which means that the building's new owner will be required to correct the violations.
The six Brooklyn buildings that were found to be affected by these violations are:
- 1690 President Street, Brooklyn, NY
- 410 Westminster Road, Brooklyn, NY
- 1909 Quentin Road, Brooklyn, NY
- 1435 Carrol Street, Brooklyn NY
- 1439 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
- 1921 Avenue I, Brooklyn, NY
The majority of the violations that were issued to Korn were for the failure to conduct proactive activities related to identifying or remediating any lead-based hazards, as well as failing to maintain detailed records of required activities from at least the past 10 years, according to HPD.
These violations are enforced under Local Law 1 of 2004, New York City’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act.
LL1 is a law that requires that property owners take proactive steps to protect children from lead paint exposure. LL1 is enforced by HPD's Office of Enforcement and Neighborhood Services.
HPD says that it has issued more than 15,000 lead-based paint violations thus far in the fiscal year. As well, in an effort to keep children safe from the dangers of lead paint, HPD has also spent almost $2 million on emergency repairs.
“Homes, where young children are living, must be lead-free. That's the standard we've set as a City to protect our children from the serious health threats posed by peeling lead paint," HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. said.
“If tenants and landlords are struggling to maintain their properties, assistance can be provided. Still, landlords should know that HPD will use the full weight of its enforcement powers to keep our children in safe housing.”
