The City’s Independent Budget Office released a report in September that included the following information: “Based on data from both the compliance and free residential test groups from 2006 through 2016, the highest rate of lead tests exceeding the EPA action level were in community districts in Staten Island, outlying parts of Queens and the Bronx, as well as central and southern Brooklyn… community districts with the highest rates of lead water test levels above the EPA threshold include the neighborhoods of Ridgewood, Glendale, and Maspeth in Queens… Each of these areas had more than 6 percent of samples above the action level over the 2006-2016 period. The housing stock in these areas generally dates from the early 1900s and the pipes are more likely to contain lead.” To order a free water testing kit for lead, please call 311 or log onto nyc.gov/311.