My building has a lead water line. So I started writing letters.

I recently learned that NYC’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has flagged my building’s water service line, the pipe that connects it to the main under the street, as lead. There’s no safe level of lead exposure, and NYC still has more than 120,000 known lead service lines.

What surprised me most is that—as far as I can tell—no law requires landlords to tell tenants about this. The city notifies property owners, but the people actually drinking the water can go years without knowing. Tenants also can’t sign up for DEP’s free replacement program; only building owners can.

The history makes it worse. For decades, the city’s own water codes didn’t just allow lead service pipes; in 1911 and 1923, they required lead for smaller service pipes, the kind most small buildings use.

So this week I wrote to Assembly Member Jo Anne Simon, Council Member Shahana Hanif, and Council Member Nantasha Williams, who sponsored the Council resolution backing the state’s Lead Pipe Replacement Act.

I asked for:

• A requirement for landlords to disclose lead service lines to tenants before a lease is signed or renewed,
• Passage of the Lead Pipe Replacement Act, which would have utilities replace lead lines at no cost to owners,
• A much faster, publicly funded replacement timeline for NYC: two years, not the ten currently being discussed*, and
• Protections so tenants don’t end up paying for replacements through rent increases

I also filed a public records request with DEP asking how many owners in Park Slope have been notified, how many lines have actually been replaced, and whether the free program will reach Brooklyn.

I’ll post updates as I hear back. If you’re a renter in an older NYC building, look up your address on DEP’s Service Line Map. You might be surprised.

Tidbits

1. In 2024, the Biden-era EPA required nearly every U.S. water system to replace all its lead service lines by 2037. The Trump administration has kept the rule and is defending it against a court challenge from water utilities.
2. The Roman architect Vitruvius warned against lead water pipes more than 2,000 years ago, in De Architectura.

Prepared with assistance from Claude