By Diane Jeanty and Scilla Alecci

Flint, Mich., put the spotlight back on lead poisoning in the U.S., but hundreds of children are still being poisoned each year in New York City, not because of lead in the water but because of lead paint. The city passed Local Law 1 in 2004 to hold landlords more accountable for such contamination — and the number of children poisoned each year has dropped by more than two thirds since then. But children like Zoe (above) still test positive for dangerous levels of lead every year. An investigation by WNYC and The Huffington Post reveals that some of the city’s worst landlords, known to officials, are issued hundreds of violations and repeatedly sued.

Ved Parkash, named by the public advocate as the worst landlord in the city, at his office in the Bronx. His buildings have more than a hundred open lead paint violations.

(Scilla Alecci)

The problem is found mostly in poor neighborhoods in the Bronx, upper Manhattan and Brooklyn, in buildings that have hundreds of other housing code violations. Who's to blame? You can listen to our story above and read more about it at The Huffington Post.