52nd Street Station
April 12, 2017 By Hannah Wulkan
Flakes of paint that are falling off some of the 7 train stations along Roosevelt Avenue contain as much as 50-times the amount of allowable lead, according to union officials.
The District Council 9 International Union of Painters and Allied Trades took samples of the paint in February and found that the paint flakes showed lead levels at 244,000 parts per million, 48 times the threshold of 5,000 parts per million when lead abatement is typically required.
“Not only are these toxic paint chips falling onto the communities below, but what’s seeping into the soil could have effects for years to come,” said Councilman Daniel Dromm in a statement. “Forty-eight times the levels that would require lead abatement is cause for a public health crisis.”
A representative from District Council 9 pointed out that the paint chips are falling on to heavily populated areas, including schools and parks, which could lead to serious health issues within the community.
“The dilapidated 7 line servicing our Queens communities have long been an eyesore, but now we know that they’re also a serious health hazard. The leaded paint chips is shedding over heavily populated streets like Roosevelt. Even more concerning is how extremely dangerous lead exposure is for children, and how much students rely on the 7 line to get to and from school,” said Assemblyman Francisco Moya in a statement, calling for a study of lead-related health issues in the community.
An MTA spokesperson said that it periodically inspects, scrapes and repaints all train structures, but did not answer questions specific to the 7 train or District Council 9’s findings. She also did not say when the 7 train structures were last scraped and repainted or when they were due for another update.
Moya, however, called on the City and MTA to propose a plan to scrape, prime and repaint the structures immediately in response to the study.
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16 Comments
It’s a wonder the 7 train hasn’t collapsed to the ground. It hasn’t been painted in decades. Peeling pain and rusting away. I guess Queens doesn’t matter. Too many illegal Mexicans on the 7 train all day long.
scrape, prime and paint? are you kidding me? lead paint should not be scraped, period. the dust will fly on people and their food. cheap losers at MTA rake in millions a day. surely they can afford a few buckets of peel-away paste to melt it down and dispose of it safely.
Ironic District 9 painting Union randomly tested paint chips. Things must be slow.
Annoyed is annoying
I wish the money from the Participitory Vote could have went to fixing this serious community problem, especially the completely dilapidated 52 St Stop, instead of sending the money to Projects again!
This has been known for YEARS, DECADES. Why all the concern now? Is it an election year? A JVB opportunity to organize a march for a cause? The planes coming over every 40 seconds for up to twenty hours a day are also dumping lead and other poisons on our homes and schools.. Just as the signs regarding smoking and cars idling hung on P.S. 11 causing our children to be ill it is only a concern – SOMETIMES!
Great! More good news for Sunnyside/Woodside.
When is murphys opening?
And lead loaded paint isn’t even the most poisonous thing under the El
someone should call JVB he will be there for his photo-op
Duh. There’s lead throughout the whole subway system. Most of the elevated stations haven’t been renovated in decades.
The 52nd St Station was declared the worst station in the NYC subway system either last year or the year before. Duh to you, SLMLT. GFY.
Get on the Trump Train, ANonyomous. It’s not from CHINA! It’s made of solid gold and has only gone bankrumpt 4 times.
Is DiBlasio punishing the people of Queens because we have stood up to the REBNY? Wouldn’t surprise me.
I’m SERIOUS deBlasio is despicable — not even hitler resorted to the plan deBlasio has put in to place … he painted the trains years ago, and then lobbied to make sure they weren’t taken care of. now it has all come to a head.
I hope there happy. Me any my friends (including many former NY YANKEES) are going to put him on the news!
Hmm. I’ve been eating my favorite meat sticks under there for years and sometimes the chips get on the meat stick and i say “FREE CHIPS”.
Snowflakes will tell you lead is bad. But if it is AMERICAN made lead, It is good. Believe me, a lot of people are saying I’m a SMART guy.