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Dear New Yorkers,

Over Labor Day weekend in 2022, initial testing by a NYCHA vendor reported elevated levels of arsenic in the tap water at the Jacob Riis Houses in the Lower East Side.

That was just the start of the debacle, as THE CITY reported at the time.

Tenants at the sprawling 4,000-tenant development — which sits on the site of a former 19th-century gas plant — were not informed about the supposed arsenic for two weeks.

Mayor Eric Adams rushed to the scene and helped distribute bottled water. For a week, NYCHA instructed tenants not to drink the water or take showers — until the testing company it hired suddenly reversed course and said its initial results were erroneous.

The uproar triggered multiple investigations.

Last Thursday, the report from a joint inquiry by the Department of Investigation and the public housing monitor was released.

While testing has consistently backed up NYCHA’s insistence that unacceptable levels of arsenic have never been detected at Riis, the report pointed to a cascade of missteps.

It resulted in $500,000 of “unnecessary costs” to taxpayers, not to mention the deep distress experienced by Jacob Riis tenants.

Read more about the report and NYCHA’s missteps here.

Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Monday's Weather Rating: 10/10. WE HAVE DONE IT AGAIN! Mostly sunny skies return, with high temperatures in the mid to upper 70s and a very pleasant breeze. That's it, no notes. The vibes are immaculate today!

Our Other Top Stories

Twelve years after its founding during the Bloomberg administration, Cornell Tech — a research campus and startup incubator on Roosevelt Island — has raised $1 billion and incubated 100 startups. It has emerged as a buoy to New York City’s tech economy: the school says 94% of the startups and the vast majority of students remain in the city after graduation. But much remains to be done. Cornell Tech needs to raise more money to build out the campus to accommodate an increase in enrollment to 2,000. It needs to almost double the number of tenured faculty to 80, amid intense competition. And most of all, it needs to be better known. In the latest episode of FAQ NYC Off Cycle, host Katie Honan talks with Jose Santana, a senior at Dr. Richard Izquierdo Health and Science Charter School in The Bronx, about his work producing the new student podcast PS Weekly.

Reporter’s Notebook

Adult Migrants Shelter Evictions Beginning

Nineteen migrants will be booted from city shelters for staying beyond a new 30-day deadline, while 29 have gotten extensions to their time under a new system that went into effect last week, according to Camille Joseph Verlack, chief of staff to Mayor Eric Adams, speaking to reporters Friday morning.

More than 6,500 adults have gotten the new eviction notices and will have to prove there is some sort of “extenuating circumstance” if they seek to stay in a shelter for more than 30 days, under the new rules agreed upon in a settlement between city officials and advocates for the homeless in March.

The new rules apply to the around 15,000 adults staying in the city’s migrant shelters, not families with children who make up the vast majority of the migrants in the city’s care. Advocates warn of a surge in street homelessness in the coming months if the city uses its new rules to deny shelter to migrants on a large scale.

— Gwynne Hogan

Things To Do

Here’s what’s going on around the city this week.

Saturday, May 25: NYC beaches open for the season. Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26: “Waves, all that Glows Sees,” a special interactive family performance celebrating the sea. Tickets are $10-17 (Saturday shows begin at 1 and 3 p.m., and the Sunday show at 2:15 p.m.) at Flushing Town Hall in Queens. Monday, May 27: Green-Wood Cemetery’s Memorial Day Concert, featuring the high-school musicians of the ISO Symphonic Band at Third Street, led by music director Paul Corn and hosted by guest conductor Brian P. Worsdale. Free ($10 suggested donation) from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at Green-Wood Cemetery.

THE KICKER: You heard about the Knicks, right?

Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Monday.

Love,

THE CITY

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