The Wall Street Journal - 14.11.2019

A10B| Thursday, November 14, 2019 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.**

GREATERNEWYORKWATCH

BROOKLYN

Church Investigator

Accused of Abuse

The Roman Catholic bishop of

Brooklyn, who is tasked with in-

vestigating the handling of

clergy sexual-abuse allegations

in Buffalo, has himself been ac-

cused of abusing a boy.

Mitchell Garabedian, an attor-

ney for the accuser, said his cli-

ent was abused by Brooklyn

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio start-

ing in 1974, when the client was

11 years old and growing up in

New Jersey, where Bishop Di-

Marzio served as a priest.

Mr. Garabedian sent a letter

to New Jersey church officials

this week notifying them of the

accusation.

Bishop DiMarzio is in Rome

along with the other bishops

from New York. He said in a let-

ter released by the Brooklyn dio-

cese that the allegation is false.

“I have never engaged in un-

lawful or inappropriate behavior,”

he said. “I am confident I will be

fully exonerated.”

—Ian Lovett

CONNECTICUT

Arrest Made in 1987

Double Homicide

Connecticut authorities say

they have solved a 1987 double

homicide and arrested a man in

connection with the killings.

Hamden police on Wednes-

day announced they charged 52-

year-old Willie McFarland, of

New Haven, with two counts of

murder.

Fred Harris, 59, and his 23-

year-old son, Gregory Harris,

were killed in their Hamden

home on Aug. 21, 1987. Both

were found bound and with

knife wounds, police said.

Police didn’t disclose what led

investigators to Mr. McFarland.

Mr. McFarland was arraigned

in Meriden Superior Court on the

charges Wednesday and held on

$2 million bail, officials said.

Mr. McFarland was represented

by the public defender’s office,

which didn’t immediately respond

to a message seeking comment.

Mr. McFarland is due back in

court on Dec. 3.

—Associated Press

NEW YORK STATE

Legal Age to Buy

Tobacco Is Now 21

New York has raised the min-

imum age to buy tobacco and

electronic cigarettes to 21 years

old, from 18. The law went into

effect Wednesday.

Democratic Gov. Andrew

Cuomo says the goal is to pre-

vent addictive cigarette and vap-

ing products from getting to

young people.

Nearly 40% of 12th-grade stu-

dents and 27% of high-school

students are using e-cigarettes,

the New York Department of

Health says. An increase in use

largely is driven by flavored e-

liquids, they note.

The Surgeon General says

88% of adult smokers started

using tobacco as minors and

90% of those who purchase cig-

arettes for minors are between

18 and 20 years old.

The Cuomo administration

has pushed to outlaw flavored

e-cigarettes, but a court has

blocked that ban for now.

—Associated Press

NEW JERSEY

State to Consider

Creating Public Bank

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy

has signed an executive order

aimed at making New Jersey

the second state to establish a

publicly run bank.

Mr. Murphy signed the order

Wednesday alongside labor and

other advocates in Newark. The

former Goldman Sachs executive

called for the creation of a state

bank during his 2017 campaign,

but the effort largely has stalled

since he took office.

The order creates a 14-mem-

ber panel that must hold its first

meeting within 30 days and is-

sue a report in a year.

The bank could provide capi-

tal to worthwhile projects such

as financing low-income housing

and student loans, the adminis-

tration says. The bank’s deposits

would come in part from state

funds already held by private

banks.

North Dakota is the only

other state with a public bank.

—Associated Press

In 2018, 3,866 children

tested positive for elevated

blood-lead levels, with almost

all of them living in private

housing and 112 residing in

public housing, said Kathryn

Garcia, the city’s senior adviser

for citywide lead prevention.

The majority of children

with elevated blood-lead levels

are exposed to lead through

paint, said city Health Com-

missioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot.

Consumer products, such as

pottery and toys, are the sec-

ond source for potential expo-

sure, she said, and those two

areas represent the focus of

investigative and preventive

efforts.

The city’s push to reduce

lead exposure in children fol-

lows investigations into the

New York City Housing Au-

thority, the largest public-

housing authority in North

America and landlord to more

than 400,000 New Yorkers. In

recent years, hundreds of chil-

dren living in those apart-

ments were found to have

been exposed to lead hazards.

In January, New York City

Mayor Bill de Blasio rolled out

a $12-million-a-year Lead-

FreeNYC initiative to eliminate

childhood lead exposure dur-

ing the next decade, with a fo-

cus on private homes. The ef-

fort expands the number of

lead-paint inspectors and au-

dits of landlords. It also covers

the costs of remediating

homes, as well as public

awareness campaigns.

Earlier this year, the City

Council passed a package of 10

bills that attempts to limit

lead exposure and improve ed-

ucation around lead poisoning.

Both the mayor’s and the

council’s efforts are intended

to strengthen a 2004 law.

Nonetheless, council mem-

bers criticized health, educa-

tion and housing officials on

agency coordination, from

when lead is first suspected in

a home or school, how inspec-

tions are conducted and en-

suring every child gets a

blood-lead level test.

In September, New York

City Comptroller Scott

Stringer released a report that

showed city agencies didn’t

work together to prevent lead

hazards. “Lead inspection was

often flat-footed and almost

always reactive, instead of be-

ing proactive,” he said

Wednesday during the hearing.

Council Speaker Corey

Johnson admonished city offi-

cials for failing to show re-

morse that nearly 2,000 chil-

dren were poisoned by lead in

New York City this past year,

despite strengthening local

laws and increasing preven-

tion efforts.

“I think we should say

we’re screwing up, it’s a prob-

lem, we know we need to do

better,” said Mr. Johnson, a

Democrat, at the hearing.

Council members were es-

pecially concerned that there

isn’t enough enforcement of

current laws, with not enough

fines levied and collected.

In the past year, more than

13,000 violations were issued

for peeling paint conditions,

said AnnMarie Santiago, dep-

uty commissioner for enforce-

ment and neighborhood ser-

vices at the Department of

Housing Preservation and De-

velopment.

Louise Carroll, HPD com-

missioner, said her agency’s

focus has been on preventing

lead exposure and bringing

landlords into compliance with

laws.

“We are on the right path,”

she said.

Councilman Mark Treyger,

a Brooklyn Democrat, re-

minded city officials that a

year ago, at a hearing on the

same topic, “We were told all

was fine.”

“It is clear to me that we

have a lot more work to do,”

he said.

New York City has seen a
slight decrease this year in the
number of children with ele-
vated blood-lead levels, city
officials said Wednesday.
In the first six months of
2019, 1,794 children were re-
ported to have an elevated
blood-lead level of 5 micro-
grams per deciliter, officials
testified at a City Council
hearing. That represents a 10%
decline when compared with
the same period a year before.

BYMELANIEGRAYCEWEST

Fewer Children Show Elevated Blood-Lead Levels

1,

Children with elevated levels

in the first six months of 2019.

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