This highly toxic metal causes serious and irreversible harms, and I am committed to ensuring that landlords follow the laws to protect young children from lead poisoning.. HONORABLE PAUL A. CROTTY United States District Judge. When the tester revealed they would be paying rent with employment-based income, the broker promptly forwarded the necessary documents to get the rental process started. However, the "Google Translate" option may assist you in reading it in other languages. Upon revealing that she would be paying her rent with the voucher, the broker shut down the conversation and said, Oh, were not taking those.. A copy of this disclaimer can also be found on our Disclaimer page. During this same period, at least 32 Endzone properties were flagged by the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County for chipping, peeling, deteriorating paint, and other conditions conducive to lead poisoning, which are prohibited by county and city laws. Chestnut is considering its options including a possible lawsuit for harassment and defamation. Whether it be our local executive order that withholds rent payments to landlords knowingly exposing their tenants to lead or investing millions of dollars in lead remediation just in 2022, Onondaga County is fully committed truly solving the lead issue plaguing our community, said Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon. Hopefully, legal actions like this one will send a message to others who might choose to ignore lead poisoning prevention laws that such behavior will not be tolerated. This seems to be the case with Chestnut Holdings. The following day, a tester from the NYC Human Rights Commission inquired about the same apartment that the plaintiff has. Chestnut Holdings will pay $300,000 to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) for initiatives to protect children from lead poisoning and ensure that all of its more I'd like to thank Attorney General Letitia James for her commitment to the health and safety of families across our state, and for ensuring that all landlords provide safe, healthy, lead-free housing that is in full compliance with our laws. The health impacts of lead paint in rental housing are particularly acute in the Buffalo region, where children who live in communities of color are 12 timesas likely than children who live in predominately white neighborhoods to be diagnosed with an elevated blood lead level. This matter is being handled by the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York Attorney Generals Office and is led by Assistant Attorneys General Matthew Eisenson and Patrick Omilian, Special Assistant Attorney General Marissa Lieberman-Klein, Environmental Scientist Jennifer Nalbone, Science Interns Meredith Seibold and Serena Labrecque, and GIS Intern Gregory Welter. WebNew York, commenced this action on February 27, 2020 against defendant Chestnut Holdings of New York, Inc. (Chestnut) pursuant to New York Executive Law 63(12) Todays announcement is welcome news and communicates a strong message of just how intolerable it is to promise the safety of a place to live only to deliver danger. In the lawsuit, the Attorney General seeks injunctive relief requiring Chestnut Holdings to comply with the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, including bringing all apartments into compliance with the Acts requirements, penalties for its repeated violations of the Act, and disgorgement of money it would have expended to comply with the Act. It is wrong and unacceptable. The futures of our children are at stake., As a pediatrician, when I see kids with lead poisoning its usually too late to prevent the worst effects on their developing brains, which is why people in public health have worked so hard to prevent lead exposure over the years,said Dr. Travis Hobart, MD, MPH, FAAP, medical director, Central/Eastern New York Lead Poisoning Resource Center. It is as immoral as it is illegal that a landlord would knowingly expose families to lead poisoning, which disproportionately threatens the health and development of Black and brown children, said Attorney General James. The CDC recommends that children with blood lead levels higher than 5 g/dL undergo case management to prevent further exposure and to avoid reaching a level that requires medical intervention. The lawsuit, filed in October 2021, alleged that Kiggins and Endzone endangered the health of its tenants, primarily children, by repeatedly violating lead paint laws and failing to properly address related hazards. View Case; Cited Cases; ALEJANDRO HUGGINS, on behalf of himself and others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. forms until after the February 18 deadline had passed, and (2) did not receive any text message notice about this lawsuit, Decl. Lead poisoning is devastating for a childs future health, and I applaud Attorney General James for taking swift measures to ensure this never happens again., These settlement agreements are showing landlords who have generally acted autonomously for decades that they can no longer ignore their duty and continue to put the health and safety of our communities at risk, said New York CityCouncil Member Oswald Feliz. This agreement with Endzone Properties is proof of that collaboration, and I thank the attorney general and her team for their partnership in this effort., The message is clear: Landlords who repeatedly put children and families at risk of lead poisoning are not welcome in the City of Syracuse. %%EOF Todays complaint alleges that Chestnut Holdings engaged in repeated illegal acts under Executive Law 63(12) violating several provisions of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, including failing to inspect apartments to determine if a child under six lives there, failing to conduct complete annual investigations of apartments for hazards that are conducive to lead poisoning, and failing to take the necessary measures when an apartment turns over. The New York Public Library also joined to encourage attendees to sign up and visit their local branches. This is extremely troubling for Black/African American communities because we know from national studiesthat Black children living below the poverty line are twice as likely to suffer from lead poisoning as poor white children. We must build on the attorney generals work to make sure everyone is safe from this avoidable neurotoxin., It is great justice that Chestnut Holdings is being held accountable for their actions, that primarily affected families in the Bronx, said New York CityCouncil Member Eric Dinowitz. These include annual inspections and ensuring that an apartment is code compliant when a tenant moves into their new home. Lead poisoning is completely preventable, and the city has plenty of laws on the books but they are rarely enforced. In addition, no apartments This Google translation feature is provided for informational purposes only. On February 6, 2018, Plaintiff Huggins filed a civil lawsuit in the United States District Court Southern District of New York against CHESTNUT HOLDINGS OF NEW YORK INC.; 1425 U LLC; and JONATHAN WIENER, individually, (collectively, where appropriate, as Defendants), alleging upon knowledge as to himself and his own actions and upon information and belief as to all other matters, as follows: Plaintiff Huggins worked for the Defendants, a family-owned real estate investment and property management firm, as a superintendent from 2009 until Defendants terminated his employment on May 11, 2018 in retaliation for filing this lawsuit in February 2018. All rights reserved. As we have seen with the tragedy in Flint, Michigan, lead can pose a serious safety issue with devastating effects on our most vulnerable populations. All New Yorkers deserve to live in a safe and healthy home, and this is a great step in ensuring that our tenants are protected from lead exposure., Lead is a serious public health issue that, if not properly addressed, can lead to life altering medical complications for young children and families living in New York City, said New York CityCouncil Member Vanessa Gibson. Lead paint has been found in approximately 43 percent of all of New York dwellings. However, it is 2020 and we still have thousands of cases of New York City children that tested positive for lead poisoning, and it is children from low-income communities and communities of color, like those we represent in Northern Manhattan, that suffer the most. According to a complaint her office filed today, Chestnut Holdings repeatedly exposed children to lead paint and fraudulently certified that it had complied with the law passed to prevent that. The investigation was initiated in 2017, according to a source familiar with the matter. The New York attorney general is filing a lawsuit against a Bronx-based property management company for violations of the city's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. BUFFALO New York Attorney General Letitia James, joined by Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, today announced a lawsuit against a group of individuals and companies in the Buffalo region for repeatedly and persistently violating county, city, state, and federal laws by illegally allowing lead paint-related hazards to proliferate in their rental properties. The OAGs investigation into Chestnut began in 2018 and determined that the company engaged in repeated violations of the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, including failing to inspect apartments to determine if a child under 6 years of age lives there, failing to conduct complete annual investigations of apartments for hazards that are conducive to lead poisoning, and failing to take the necessary measures when an apartment turns over. If such properties are properly maintained, however, lead poisoning can be prevented. According to the complaint, 600 children in Chestnut Holdings buildings are under the age of six and receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, colloquially known as food stamps. A firm managing more than 6,000 apartment units in New York City disputes allegations that it hasnt been complying with lead-paint regulations. Recently, a lawsuit on behalf of eight housing voucher recipients was filed against Chestnut Holdings in the Manhattan Supreme Court. Children who have been exposed to even very low levels of lead are at risk for neurological and physical problems during critical stages of early development. Select a Language Below/Seleccione el Idioma Abajo. We acknowledge the hard work of the attorney generals legal team to bring this case to a swift and successful conclusion. I am holding Endzone fully accountable for their deplorable and illegal actions, and I will continue to use the full force of my office to uphold the laws that protect our children from lead poisoning.. Google Translate cannot translate all types of documents, and it may not give you an exact translation all the time. On 04/29/2020 Avery, Mary filed a Property - Other Property lawsuit against 1560 GC LLC Chestnut Holdings of New York, Inc Wiener, Jonathan Rieder, Ben Department of Buildings Department of Housing Preservation and Development.This case was filed in Bronx County Courts, Bronx County Civil Court located in Washington, New
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