What to Know
- Residents at NYCHA's Jacob Riis Houses, one of the city's largest public housing developments, are still being told to not use water from the tap.
- Some residents don’t know what the status is as of Tuesday and are frustrated since the most recent round of water samples, according to the city, showed no arsenic in the water supply.
- The city is now waiting on more test results from the lab to make sure water consumption is safe.
Residents at NYCHA's Jacob Riis Houses, one of the city's largest public housing developments, are still being told to not use water from the tap.
Some residents don’t know what the status is as of Wednesday and are frustrated since the most recent round of water samples, according to the city, showed no arsenic in the water supply.
Residents at the public housing complex are still avoiding the tap water four days after the city announced that significant traces of arsenic was detected in the water. Some residents say that they knew something was wrong with the water even before this latest advisory.
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"For a while, the water has been coming out brown," Martha Charles, a resident at the Jacob Riis Houses, said.
Neighbors got in line Tuesday inside a NYCHA tent and continued picking-up water bottles to cook, drink, and bathe as they remain desperate for more information.
"Before I was drinking that water like nothing. I didn’t worry… but now, I think about it," resident Carlos González said.
"They don’t say nothing," Charles said. "Housing doesn’t say nothing…it’s not fair -- they are not treating us right."
Meanwhile, resident Hortense Epps, simply asked "what are they doing?!"
Flyers alerting NYCHA residents of the emergency notice advising people to avoid using tap water are seen around the public housing complex, even though the city’s most recent tests for arsenic came back negative.
"I’m hoping so… we all are hoping so… that we get the green-light and we don’t have to worry about all this," resident Gilbert Romero said.
The city is now waiting on more test results from the lab to make sure water consumption is safe. Following an event, Mayor Eric Adams told News 4 New York the city will brief everyone "when all the testing comes in."
As the city continues to wait for the newest round of test results, a federal monitor is asking the city to keep all the documents and testing related to the dangerous levels of arsenic discovered in the water at the Jacob Riis Houses for further investigation.
