Lead Paint Poisening Attorney in New York, New York

Everything you need to know about lead paint poisoning in New York apartments.

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lead poisoning has been a specialty of
mine in addition
to fires and other things for a very
long time probably I’m one of the first
lawyers in the city of New York that
started bringing actions for children
who have been poisoned by lead you have
to understand a little bit of the
history of lead poisoning and understand
to understand why cases are brought and
how cases come about so before 1960 or
so lead was a significant component of
paint and when I say paint I mean
actually paint that you paint in walls
houses apartment buildings and the
reason why lit was such a a a good
component of paint is because it’s heavy
and it dries fast so they would put it
on the wall it would dry fast it’s heavy
it’s
bulky in a liquid form and so it would
last a long time because of its qu
quality and because of the um basically
what makes lead lead the consistency of
it the the composition of it um makes
letter excellent quality for paint so
painter would would use it because it
would help them landlords would use it
because it lasted a long time and it was
a
win-win except that what what happened
many many times and you you got to
remember the city of New York like a lot
of cities is
old it’s not like cities in Florida
which have you know come about in the
last 20 years you know apartments are
here the the city of New York is how old
over aund and something years old and we
have all these apartment buildings that
go back to 1900
1906 and those apartments were all paint
with lead in around 1950s or so it was
determined that lead is toxic to the
human
body so you have this dichotomy of lead
being toxic to the human body and yet
being a great substance to be used on
the wall so how do we get to lead poison
as Apartments became older and pipes
became older and brick became older and
more porous there were water leaks water
leaks from apartments from you know
breaking the pipe water leaks from
because the the pointing system on the
outside of buildings started to crumble
and so what happens is that the water
gets into the wall behind the Paint and
causes peeling I’m sure we’ve all been
in buildings you’ve been in building
where you see a crack in the wall so
little children have a tendency that
tendency is to pick at things I mean
what what child do you see that doesn’t
pick at something so they would pick at
whatever the the um the chip is on the
wall the crack on the wall and as kids
do I mean we all know little kids what
do they do with when they get something
in their hands they put it in their
mouth you got to remember a little kid
who’s walking around maybe a year of age
a little older than that maybe they’re
walking around they see a chip they see
something on the wall they pick at it
and they put it in their mouth so if you
do that enough that lid gets into your
bloodstream and from being in your
bloodstream it can travel to the brain
and once it travels to the brain it
inhibits blood flow and brain function
so what happened over time is that these
various kids were coming in with issues
and eventually they determined that one
of the reasons that these children were
having issues learning is because they
all had homes where when the nurses and
the doctors questioned the parents like
what’s going on in your house we’re
trying to figure out a cause for your
child’s problem they would talk about
the environment in which the child was
being raised the environment in which
the child was living in and eventually
there were all these studies done that
determined that led was causing the
problem so in 1960 lead became banned to
be utilized in paint so you say 1960
1960 is 64 years ago so why are we still
having issues with Le paint well here’s
the answer the answer is because
landlords when they paint the apartment
they don’t remove the prior layers I
mean when you paint your house when you
paint your own apartment you don’t go
and you scrape off all the layers you
just paint over the old ones you take
some you know spackle if there’s a crack
or something and you spackle over it and
then you paint over the sple so what
happens still is if there is a water
leak or damage of some kind to the
apartment once you start picking at the
layers you’re just picking off what old
layers of lead pain so there are all
these apartments there’s apartment stock
in the city of New York I mean how many
apartments do we have in the city of New
York millions that have lead paint in
them with children that are running
around putting things in their mouth and
what happens is a uh parent a tant will
complain to a landlord that there’s
water damage in the apartment and the
landlord says you know I’ll get to it
when I get to it and you have a little
kid who’s picking at the wall and
eventually it gets determined that
they’re having issues and they go for
what we call a blood lead test which is
under the initials PB that’s the lead
and doctors now test
routinely for lead in the system and
it’s been determined I mean if you go
back to I’m going to say the 70s and the
80s initially we didn’t think there were
any problems with causing in injury and
issues to children unless the lead level
in the child’s blood stream was above 25
or 30 we have determined over the
years that lead can cause a significant
problem even at levels as low as five or
seven or 10 and so you know that’s come
about as a result of all the studies
that were done regarding lead and
there’s hundreds and hundreds of
Articles involving lead and the effect
upon
children and I will say that the uh at
least with regard to the city of New
York and the the housing authority and
other City agencies they have done a
pretty decent job of trying to eradicate
lead but what happens is a child will go
to a doctor the doctor will do the test
the test will determine that the child
has a lead level let’s say I’m going to
use the level of 10 I’m going to say the
level’s
12 once that occurs the doctor is
obligated under the law these days it
has been for a good 15 20 years to
notify the health department and once
the health department gets notified they
actually make a trip to the apartment
where the child resides and they take a
special machine and they put the machine
against the wall and that machine will
go beond the first layer of the paint
and determine how much lead there is
believe it or not they can determine
this in each chip of paint that’s on the
wall and if it’s determined that it’s
beyond the certain number that you’re
allowed that there’s a violation under
the law the New York City Department of
Health will actually take a red stamp
it’s actually got the words lead on it
and stamp the wall where there’s a
violation and they go from room to room
within the apartment testing different
sections of the walls and the doors and
the frames of the windows to deter and
where L is they then issue a violation
to the landlord and the landlord is
obligated these days to eradicate the
lead within the apartment and that means
what they haven’t done since the
building was built means they have to
actually strip the entire wall get all
the levels of the lead paint that was
there before they actually have to strip
it down get down to the
sheetrock put up new sheetrock and put
on and apply new layers of pain so that
little kids who now if there’s water
damage and they pick at the level at the
pain chips will not be lead poison I
mean we’ve represented over the years I
probably represented two to 300 children
who have been significantly injured
because they basically will eat lead
from the wall because they put it in
their mouth I’ve actually tasted lead
pain chips myself and believe believe it
or not it’s actually sweet it actually
tastes like candy and so you give a
little kid candy and what are they going
to do if they go back because that’s
something sweet and it’s delicious to
them and so as much as a a mother or
parent can tell their children not to go
to the wall and to you know strike their
hand where they start picking which is a
lot of what parents do children will
inevitably go back and so you know our
job as lawyers is to represent the
people
and if there’s a building that’s before
1960 and there’s peeling paint on the
wall it’s the obligation of the landlord
to go and
investigate let me repeat that if
there’s a building built before 1960 and
the Tenant complains appealing paint on
the wall the landlord has an obligation
under the law to go and and investigate
to see if lead is present in the levels
that are violation behind the first
level behind the first layer and if
there is then the landlord’s obligated
under the law to eradicate that
condition because of the devastating
effect that lead can have on little
children so you know we’ve represented
as I’ve said probably two to 300 of
these infants these children and uh
generally speaking when these children
are young and they don’t understand
and they’re eating lead paint is also at
the times that their brains are being
more formulated I mean I mean you know
when you think about it we’re born into
this world and yet we’re really not
ready for this world when you think
about it I mean we come out we can’t
walk you know we can’t talk we can’t
feed ourselves right so we develop over
time and so when these children are
eating these lead pain chips their
brains and their bodies are still
developing and lead will impede
significantly that development it will
cause brain damage it can cause motor
function difficulty and one of the main
things it causes is a
hyperactivity the lead in the
bloodstream makes you jumpy um think
about having so much sugar in your
system right if you eat too much sugar
you become jumpy or think you have that
much caffeine so when these children get
into school they can’t sit still they’re
very what we call hyperactive
hyperactive activity is a major major
side effect of a lead poison child and
so they don’t learn they can’t sit to
learn my parents tell me all the time
that they don’t listen the children
don’t listen they don’t listen because
they can’t comprehend and because they
don’t sit long enough if you look at
report cards of children who have led
poisoning and have been LED poison the
teachers always talk about a lack of
concentration and a fidgetiness they
just can’t sit still what we do is we
represent these people in actions
against the landlord
um who have the obligation to eradicate
the ledge from the building and that’s
their job when they take when they buy
these buildings they know that they all
know the regulations and their failure
to do so cause a significant injury to
these children so you know that’s that’s
a little history about lead poisoning
and what it does and and what we do and
we’ve sign we’ve cover recovered
significant amounts of money uh for
people who CH children have become lead
poisoned generally speaking it’s not
adults because adults don’t are usually
smart enough not to be eating
lead off the wall the other way that
children become lead poisoned is from
what we call lead dust so even let’s say
a child who’s four a child who’s four or
five is generally smart enough to know
that they shouldn’t be eating pain chips
on the wall right but if there’s so many
pain
chips that the particles invade the
apartment and the apartment becomes
I don’t want to use the word fil me but
sort of Dusty because you know think
think about you know the the sheetrock
and think about pain chips and how small
they are they will be inhaling it an
inhalation of pink dust is just as
devastating as eating it because you are
sucking it in all the time as opposed to
eating the pain chip so that’s another
way that older children who were in an
apartment who may that may have LD on
the wall and may have paint chips or
cracks from water damage or from
pointing outside become lead poison and
the last way which I’m sure that many of
us remember the water in Flint Michigan
where the water system was infiltrated
by lit
significantly that these children are
bathing in it drinking it their parents
are cooking in it and again there was
lead in pipes and coating of pipes and
so even in the city of New York while
it’s not as prevalent in terms of water
there are buildings which have become
toxic from the lead in the water and
these are the ways that they become lead
poison the other kind of kitties that
we’ve had besides for against the
landlord in their own apartment is
listen what two sets of parents don’t
work these days so what do they do they
bring their children to daycare so they
bring it to a daycare center those
daycare centers are just experiencing
the same type of problems with lead over
the years as does an apartment so we’ve
had cases involving entities that we’ve
sued because and at a child care
facility you know a babysitting facility
under the term condition
so that’s a little history about lead
poisoning and how we get involved in
cases

New York, NY personal injury attorney Robert Vilensky discusses everything you need to know about lead paint poisoning in New York apartments. Lead poisoning has been a specialty for a lawyer who has long focused on cases involving fires and various other legal matters. They are likely one of the first lawyers in New York City to initiate actions on behalf of children who have suffered from lead poisoning. Understanding the history of lead poisoning is essential for grasping why these cases arise and how they develop.

Before 1960, lead was a significant component of paint used on walls in homes and apartment buildings. It was favored for its heaviness and quick-drying properties, which contributed to its durability and quality. Painters and landlords utilized lead paint because of its long-lasting characteristics.

However, as New York City—like many other cities—aged, many apartments dated back to the early 1900s. By the 1950s, it was established that lead is toxic to the human body, creating a conflict between the beneficial properties of lead in paint and its harmful health effects. As apartments and their plumbing systems deteriorated, leaks began to occur due to aging pipes and brickwork. These leaks allowed water to seep behind the paint, resulting in peeling, a common sight in older buildings.

Children, naturally inclined to pick at things, might notice cracks or chips in the wall and begin to disturb them. If they obtain a piece of lead paint, it may end up in their mouths, allowing lead to enter their bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, lead can travel to the brain, impeding blood flow and brain function.

Over time, numerous children presented with various health issues, prompting investigations into their home environments. Medical professionals began asking parents about their living conditions, leading to studies that eventually connected lead exposure to the problems many children faced. In 1960, lead was banned from use in paint; however, many issues persisted because landlords frequently failed to remove old paint layers when repainting apartments. Instead, they covered the old paint with new layers, allowing water damage to expose the underlying lead paint.

In New York City, many apartments still contain lead paint, putting children at risk for exposure if they are allowed to pick at peeling walls. When parents complain to landlords about water damage, they may not receive prompt attention, leaving young children vulnerable to lead exposure. Eventually, these children may undergo blood lead testing, typically indicated by the initials “PB,” as doctors now routinely check for lead in the bloodstream.

Historically, it was believed that lead could cause significant harm only at blood levels above 25 or 30 micrograms per deciliter. However, research has indicated that lead can cause serious health problems even at lower levels, such as five, seven, or ten micrograms per deciliter. The city of New York and its agencies have made efforts to eliminate lead, but the issue persists.

When a doctor discovers that a child has elevated lead levels, they are legally required to notify the health department, which then sends representatives to the child’s residence. These officials employ specialized machines to test the walls for lead content, examining multiple surfaces throughout the apartment. If lead is detected at levels exceeding legal limits, the health department issues a violation to the landlord, who must then eliminate the lead hazard by stripping the walls down to the sheetrock and applying new paint.

The lawyer has represented numerous children—approximately two to three hundred—who have suffered significant harm due to lead poisoning. They note that lead paint chips can taste sweet, resembling candy, which may attract young children. Despite parental warnings, children often return to the walls to pick at chips.

If peeling paint is present in a building constructed before 1960, landlords are legally obligated to investigate and address the potential presence of lead. The devastating effects of lead on children’s health underscore this responsibility. Many children affected by lead poisoning exhibit symptoms such as hyperactivity, which can hinder their concentration in school. Teachers frequently report issues with attention and fidgetiness in these children.

In addition to residential settings, daycare centers often face similar challenges with lead exposure. The lawyer has also handled cases involving childcare facilities where children encountered lead hazards, illustrating the widespread nature of this issue.

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