Because of its proximity to documented tainted properties, the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) placed the site of the newly opened shelter on a list of 300 properties the agency intended to test to see if underground contaminants had found their way there.
The concern is that the vapors from below-ground chemicals can percolate upwards and into buildings. Last fall the state began asking property owners for access to the targeted properties to perform so-called soil vapor intrusion testing for potential toxicity.
As THE CITY recently reported, the owner of the Third Street site, David Levitan, received a notice from DEC in October seeking access to the site. As of Monday the state had yet to get into the building to begin the planned testing.
DEC did not immediately respond to THE CITY’s request for comment.
Levitan did not respond to a call Monday seeking comment.
On Monday, the Department of Social Services acknowledged that the independent testing by the state had yet to begin but said they were instead relying on testing results obtained by Levitan.
DSS spokesperson Neha Sharma said “the city’s technical agencies reviewed the results from the [landlord’s] Vapor Intrusion Survey at the site and found that the results do not indicate a current health risk to building occupants.”
The agency did not respond to THE CITY’s request to release the results of the landlord’s tests or describe the protocols employed to ensure the integrity of those tests. They also did not answer questions about how many migrants are currently staying in the shelter. THE CITY counted between 15 and 20 names on each of the daily sign-in sheets for Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
The building is owned by a company called Liberty One, co-owned by Levitan. Over the last few years, Levitan has owned multiple buildings that housed city-funded shelters that have racked up housing and building code violations, according to the New York Times.
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