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The Syracuse Common Council passed a lead ordinance in 2020 which goes into effect in 2022. The ordinance requires city inspectors to test all properties for lead-related hazards. Before the ordinance, exposed lead paint was not considered a code violation in the city.

In 2020, Onondaga County’s Census Tract 54, located southwest of Syracuse University’s campus between Brighton and McLennan avenues, was 78% Black and in 2019 had a median household income of just over $29,000. The tract also has the highest rate of children with high levels of lead poisoning in the city.

The relationship between income, race and the prevalence of lead in children’s blood can be seen throughout the city. An analysis conducted by The Daily Orange found a strong link between median household income and the area’s rate of high lead levels in children’s blood.

In 2020, the percent of tested children in Onondaga County with blood lead levels greater than five micrograms per deciliter was on average 59.3% higher in census tracts below the median income than those above the median. While 6.4% of children tested in the tracts with the highest income had high lead levels in their blood, 10.2% of children in the city’s least income tracts had high levels of lead in their blood.

Of the 16 census tracts with the highest rates of high lead levels in children’s blood, 15 had a median household income below $40,000.

In Syracuse, the percentage of Black residents in a census tract is also highly correlated with the rate of elevated levels of lead in children’s blood. Of the four census tracts with the highest rates of blood lead levels for children, three had a population that was more than 70% Black. Only six census tracts had no children with high levels of lead in their blood, all of which had a population that was less than 35% Black.

In a lawsuit filed against Syracuse landlord John Kiggins, whose company EndZone Properties currently has five active lead infractions in Syracuse, New York State Attorney General Letitia James wrote in a statement regarding the lawsuit that, “exposure to lead paint is undoubtedly dangerous and disproportionately impacts Black and brown children.”

Danny Kahn | Design Editor

James is suing Kiggins and EndZone Properties on the grounds that the company failed to maintain their buildings in a lead-safe condition. This put children who lived in the rental homes at risk of being poisoned, the lawsuit claimed.

According to Onondaga County data, EndZone Properties has the most open lead violations of any private company in Syracuse.

In the lawsuit, James also alleges that 18 children have been poisoned by lead while residing in a property owned by Kiggins’ company.

“Lead is a toxic heavy metal that impairs neurological development in children, which in turn has detrimental effects on their lives,” James said. “There is no level of lead exposure that is safe for children.”

Morgan Sample | Design Editor

The lawsuit states that Kiggins and EndZone Properties also violated state and federal law by not providing required lead paint hazard disclosures. The company also, in some cases, provided false and deceptive disclosures relating to lead paint hazards to tenants and purchasers of their properties, the lawsuit claims.

“The health effects of lead exposure can basically start with the damage to the brain and nervous system — low growth and development,” said Indu Gupta, Onondaga County’s health commissioner. “There are subtle signs which happen because (lead) impacts your growth and development.”

News Editor Richard Perrins contributed to this reporting

Published on February 14, 2022 at 1:11 am

Contact Kyle: [email protected] | @Kyle_Chouinard