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Elevated levels of lead have been found in Albany's West Hill neighborhood.

New York has long employed a cruel and ineffective way of combating rental properties contaminated by lead: Authorities waited until a child showed evidence of poisoning, then investigated the unit for signs of the problem.

The tactic doesn't prevent lead poisoning, obviously. Instead, it addresses contamination after the fact, using the state's children as veritable canaries in coal mines, with action required only when damage — including neurological damage that's considered irreversible — has been done.

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Thankfully, that's set to change with the introduction of a registry that will require owners of older buildings in 25 communities, including Albany, Amsterdam, Gloversville, Newburgh, Schenectady and Troy, to get their units........

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