Sen. Hamilton, Kamin Health team up for lead testing

A new effort aims to make sure all children in public housing have access to free lead testing following NYCHA's alarming failure to properly screen its apartments for years.

State Sen. Jesse Hamilton and the Kamin Health Crown Heights Urgent Care center are teaming up to help children who may have been exposed to lead poisoning get free testing and, if necessary, proper care.

The city Department of Investigation unveiled late last year that NYCHA broke city and federal laws by not completely carrying out required lead inspections. NYCHA officials then admitted that they submitted paperwork to the government that falsely claimed the housing authority had conducted inspections in about 55,000 apartments that might have had lead-paint contamination throughout the city.

Anyone who may have been exposed can get tested in Crown Heights all month long, from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays, from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sundays. Officials say the test takes just three minutes.

Sen. Hamilton is also introducing legislation that would make sure every child in the state is tested for lead poisoning before their sixth birthday.

"Three minutes can help a child live a productive lifestyle for the rest of their life," Hamilton says. "And not worry about any brain disorder because of lead poisoning not being properly identified at a young age."