WHAT A RELIEF

Reports of Arsenic in NYC Public Housing Were False

Jacob Riis residents panicked after discovering dangerous levels of arsenic reported in their taps. Now, the NYC Housing Authority admits there was a big error.

After reports of dangerous arsenic levels frightened residents of the NYCHA’s Jacob Riis Houses, city officials have now retracted their statement. Environmental Monitoring and Technologies, the lab brought on to complete the tests, was responsible for the misstep, issuing a new statement on Friday that said it had only found “trace levels” that were “well below” the margin of being dangerous. Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for NYC Mayor Eric Adams, followed up by saying that not only were the test results incorrect, but that the company was also responsible for the arsenic contamination in the first place. The housing projects’ first positive test for dangerous arsenic levels was reported on August 26—over a full week before Adams informed residents to stop drinking water and began offering solutions like water bottles.