A Syracuse-area landlord has agreed to pay for lead paint cleanup at 22 low-income properties under the watch of an independent monitor, while also paying $5,000 apiece to 16 children suffering from lead poisoning.
William D’Angelo, 76, of Liverpool, promised to foot the bill for $230,000 in cleanup and $80,000 in payments to the families of poisoned children, the state Attorney General’s Office announced in court Thursday.
The deal marks a new strategy for the AG’s office in pursuing Syracuse’s worst lead-paint landlords. Instead of forcing the offending landlord out of business, the state actually went to court to keep D’Angelo as the landlord until he completed necessary repairs at his expense.
Under the deal, D’Angelo is barred from selling 22 properties with lead-paint violations until he pays for cleanup and hires a third-party monitor to confirm the repairs were made properly, Assistant AG Patrick Omilian said in court.
The other $80,000 will be placed in a “tenant relief fund” that will be distributed to families with children who have documented high lead levels, Omilian said.
D’Angelo has been under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office after local authorities cited him for 336 lead paint violations in 7 1/2 years. The AG sued D’Angelo last year, demanding he pay for cleanup.
“William D’Angelo cut corners and failed to address serious lead hazards at his properties, putting countless children and their families in danger,” AG Letitia James said in a news release.
The AG has placed liens on the 22 properties with lead violations that won’t be lifted until the repairs are made.
It’s a different strategy than ones used in the past to go after landlords with lead-paint violations.
The first recent prosecution came from the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office in 2017 against Brooklyn landlord Mendy Kletzky. He walked away a year later with no conviction, no punishment and no requirement he make lasting repairs to his properties.
The AG took former Syracuse landlord John Kiggins to court in 2021, getting an agreement a year later that barred him from owning or managing residential properties in the state. Kiggins also paid $215,000 into a fund with a vague mission: preventing lead poisoning in the region and/or provide assistance to families affected by lead poisoning.
By comparison, D’Angelo’s settlement is much more focused on fixing the problems: He must make $230,000 in repairs while under scrutiny from a third-party monitor. He must also pay $80,000 to a fund that will directly benefit 16 kids poisoned in his apartment.
The AG appears to be pursuing a similar strategy with another landlord with a history of lead-paint violations: Todd Hobbs. The AG sued Hobbs last year. The case remains pending.
Children exposed to lead paint can experience problems with growth, behavior and ability to learn. Lead paint can also cause anemia, kidney damage and hearing loss. The most common way children are poisoned is by breathing in or swallowing dust from old lead paint.
Oceanna Fair has an adult brother who still deals with the effects of lead poisoning as a child. She attended D’Angelo’s court appearance Thursday with other residents and advocates fighting for better lead-paint enforcement.
Forcing D’Angelo to fix up his properties is a step in the right direction, she said. But only $5,000 for a poisoned kid who might suffer a lifetime of diminished abilities is “a drop in the bucket,” Fair added.
State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Lamendola wasn’t expecting a settlement Thursday. He’d scheduled the case to hear arguments over whether D’Angelo could sell his roughly 40 properties while being sued for lead paint violations.
Instead, the assistant AG stood up in the courtroom and announced the settlement. D’Angelo will be able to sell 17 properties with no lead paint violations. And once he fixes up the 22 properties with violations, he can sell those, too.
All the terms of the settlement will be put in writing in coming weeks before it goes to the judge’s desk for approval.
Staff writer Douglass Dowty can be reached at ddowty@syracuse.com or (315) 470-6070.