PhotoThe news that the New York City Housing Authority falsely certified for years that it had inspected apartments for lead paint is a stark sign of how powerless public housing tenants can be and how much the system has eroded. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal established the federal public housing system to provide comfortable apartments with subsidized rents for hundreds of thousands of Americans. Public housing fared better in New York than in many other cities, in no small part because of the city’s commitment to providing decent working-class housing. Advertisement Continue reading the main storyUnder those circumstances, it’s not surprising that the city Housing Authority would struggle to fulfill requirements under city and federal law to check for lead-paint dangers in thousands of apartments prone to them. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

Source: New York Times November 27, 2017 00:45 UTC