Mayor Adams gives the all clear to the water at the Jacob Riis Houses

Image via @nycgov 

The city announced yesterday that residents of the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D can safely use the water at the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street. 

In making the announcement, Mayor Adams and Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan stopped by a Riis House residence to drink from a kitchen sink. 

 Before chugging a glass, Adams declared: "Nothing's better than New York City water."

This morning, @nycHealthy reviewed the final test results for contaminants and we can confidently say the water at @NYCHA Jacob Riis Houses meets EPA standards. I wouldn’t ask residents to do anything I wouldn’t do, which is why I stopped by Riis Houses to drink the water myself. pic.twitter.com/0eTnIBDyaZ

— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) September 10, 2022

This comes after the news Friday in which Environmental Monitoring and Technologies Inc. admitted that its earlier findings of arsenic in the water were incorrect. 

The water saga started on Sept. 2 when the NYCHA said it found traces of arsenic in the tap water at the Riis Houses ... and warned residents not to drink the water or use it for cooking indefinitely. According to posted notices, the levels of arsenic are above levels considered safe by EPA standards. 

Here's part of the statement released from Mayor Adams yesterday: 

I know the last eight days have been unbearable for the residents of Jacob Riis Houses, but, this morning, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reviewed the final test results for contaminants and found the water to be well within EPA drinking water quality standards. We can confidently say the water at Riis Houses is and has been free of any discernible amount of arsenic since the initial tests were initiated in August and meets EPA standards. I would not ask the residents of Riis Houses to do anything I wouldn’t do, which is why I have already stopped by Riis Houses and drank the water myself. 

As we stated yesterday, NYCHA nor any other city agency will test water through Environmental Monitoring and Technologies any longer, and the city intends to pursue all available legal options on behalf of the residents of Riis Houses and will look for how we can reimburse residents for costs incurred over the last week. In regard to the Legionella bacteria reported earlier this week, we suspect these results are inaccurate. 

As public health experts have noted, Legionnaires Disease cannot be contracted by drinking water. Additionally, we are actively reviewing our Legionella surveillance data, and have found no reported or confirmed cases of Legionnaires Disease at Riis Houses over the last 12 months.

Other reactions...

After being on the ground hearing directly from residents this week and laying out questions + demands below, we heard little from the City at tonight’s mtg with Riis families.

Blaming an outside vendor for NYCHA’s mistakes is not accountability. These families deserve better. https://t.co/rcSWQMA1Wg

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) September 10, 2022

Noted

Multiple readers noted some mostly charred mannequin heads this morning at Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park (top photo via Steven, and below by Derek Berg) ...

This happened last evening (video clip here) ... not sure of the why at the moment... NYFW?

Saturday's parting shots

Photos by Derek Berg 

A few scenes from the (51st) 10th Street Block Festival today...

City cuts down this tree — said to be rotting — in Tompkins Square Park

Photos by Steven 

The city cut down a tree — said to be an American elm — today in Tompkins Square Park...

We're told that a good part of the tree, located near Temperance Fountain, was hollowed out and rotting... and in danger of falling... 

Here's a look at the tree last week... 

... which was a popular spot for squirrels... 

H/T to EVG reader Bobby G. for also sending along a few photos...

Officials now say water tested at the Riis Houses never had arsenic in it; lab says results were 'incorrect'

An update from the Mayor’s Press Secretary @Fabien_Levy on the water situation at Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan:https://t.co/j1foCteceU pic.twitter.com/xUs2uLTRV0

— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) September 9, 2022

Officials made a stunning announcement yesterday about the week-long water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D. 

Here's part of the statement from the city: 

Today, Environmental Monitoring and Technologies — the original lab that provided the initial test results claiming there was arsenic in the water at Riis Houses issued a full retraction and released revised results, calling their initial results 'incorrect.' Worse yet, the company has now admitted to being the ones that introduced arsenic into the samples, leading to the false results. 

The revelation was made last night during a tenant meeting P.S. 34 on 12th Street and Avenue D. 

Per The City: 

The audience erupted, with tenants shouting that they don't know what to believe after being whipsawed back and forth over eight days, beginning on the Friday night of Labor Day weekend, that left them furious and exhausted. 

"This one week has felt like an eternity," said Riis tenant Dianna Fernandez. "Water is essential. NYCHA needs to do better. Mayor Adams: Where are you?"

Adams was in Washington, D.C. trying to woo the Democratic Committee to hold its convention in New York, but NYCHA Chairman Gregory Russ was present, facing the angry crowd and quickly becoming the target of much of the room’s explosive anger.

Angry residents of the Jacob Riis houses at a public meeting tonight demanding answers from officials about the complex’s water. @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/mBDygvJdFi

— Thalia Perez (@ThaliaPerezTV) September 10, 2022

And as NBC New York reported: "City leaders plan to explore all legal avenues while guaranteeing the end to all work with Environmental Monitoring and Technologies." 

Regardless of the revelation last evening, officials are still asking NYCHA residents at the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street — home to more than 2,600 residents — to continue to avoid using the water as they await additional test results. 

Meanwhile, everyone seems to be demanding answers...

NEW: I, along with many of my colleagues, want answers from @NYCMayor and @NYCHA Chair Russ. Residents at Riis Houses have been through a lot. They deserve answers, transparency, accountability and compensation. We look forward to the response. pic.twitter.com/sJ7Rb0CKPH

— Harvey Epstein (@HarveyforNY) September 9, 2022

Saturday's opening shot

BOOTED IN THE BUS LANE! Avenue A between Second Street and Third Street. 

Shouldn't be an inconvenience for buses or street cleaners...

Updated:

An interesting theory from a reader... this car with the boot had been on Third Street, and the city towed it ahead of the milling the other night... why the tow-truck operator left it in the bus lane...?

When the Circus Amok came to town!

Photos by Derek Berg 

Updated: the shows scheduled for Sunday have been postponed due to the rain

Circus Amok, the circus-theater company whose mission is "to provide free public art addressing contemporary issues of social justice," was in Tompkins Square Park this evening. 

The performers will be back for two shows here on Sunday — 1 and 4 p.m. Catch them while you can...

That 'Thing' you do

 

And now for some 80s-style emotive synth-pop courtesy of Au Suisse, the debut record from NYC-based music vets Morgan Geist and Kelley Polar (aka Mike Kelley). Read more about the two here.

Enthusiasts of this era can check out their recently released record and spot the loving similarities here and there to Scritti Politti, Pet Shop Boys, Talk Talk, Visage and Tones on Tails, among others. 

And the video here is for "Thing."

The NYC Anarchist Bookfair is tomorrow (Saturday) in La Plaza Cultural

The 16th annual Anarchist Bookfair takes place tomorrow (Sept. 10) at La Plaza Cultural on the southwest corner of Ninth Street and Avenue C. 

According to organizers, the concept of this year’s bookfair is Direct Action. (Read more on this here.)

The day here begins at 11:30 a.m. ... and includes events in conjunction with the MoRUS 10th-anniversary celebration.

Tomorrow evening, there's the Emma Goldman Film Festival in Tompkins Square Park... read about the program of short films (expected to screen at 8 p.m.) at this link.

Sept. 9: The latest headlines on the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses

Photo by @decolorescommunityyard

Local media continues with solid coverage of the water crisis at the Jacob Riis Houses on Avenue D ... led by Greg B. Smith at The City and Gwynne Hogan at WNYC/Gothamist.

As previously reported, residents were told last Friday night not to drink or cook with tap water after tests revealed traces of arsenic. The City said that NYCHA officials learned about the contamination two weeks earlier and did not notify the nearly 2,600 residents in the complex between Sixth Street and 13th Street. NYCHA officials have denied that claim. 

 

• Arsenic-Free NYCHA water test results came after taps flushed for hours (The City) 

• East Village public housing tenants mystified as city claims no arsenic in water — but maybe Legionella (Gothamist) 

• Test results come back negative for arsenic at Jacob Riis Houses, but positive for traces of Legionnaires' disease bacteria (CBS New York)

Out here at Riis Houses, w/ @CarlinaRivera & @HarveyforNY, helping w/ hot meal distribution for tenants who are enduring yet another day without useable water.

We need this crisis resolved once and for all. And we need accountability for what residents here have endured. pic.twitter.com/FsgxLs0Tzx

— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) September 8, 2022

... and here's a flashback to a piece via PIX 11 about the water at Riis Houses from Aug. 12 titled, "Cloudy tap water has East Village NYCHA residents worried." 

Previously 

Updated 3 p.m. 

The Jacob Riis Tenant Association is hosting this meeting tonight at 6 at P.S. 34 on 12th Street and Avenue D...