Official Struggles To Defend NYC’s Lapses On Lead Inspections, Concedes More Could Have Been Done
The City Council grilled New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye over the lead inspection problems, focusing on the long delay between when officials learned of the lapses and when City Hall and the agency acknowledged them publicly for the first time
The New York Times:
At Hearing On Lead-Paint Test Lapses, Questions Go Unanswered
The embattled chairwoman of the New York City Housing Authority faced withering questioning at the City Council on Tuesday about lapses in lead-paint inspections, and she struggled to explain communication failures that left the public uninformed about the risks they posed. Even as she defended the city’s response, the chairwoman, Shola Olatoye, conceded that more could have been done over the past year to tell residents what top officials learned in mid-2016: Lead-paint inspections ceased in 2012 and were not restarted for nearly four years. (Goodman, 12/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
New York City Council Grills Housing Chief On Lead-Paint Issue
New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye told the City Council that she regretted submitting documentation to federal officials showing the agency was in compliance for lead paint when it hadn’t conducted the required inspections in four years. “Signing the forms at that time was a mistake,” she said during nearly four hours of testimony. She said she thought at the time that an informal notice to federal officials was sufficient. (Gay, 12/5)
