The city's housing authority says it has found traces of arsenic in the tap water at the Jacob Riis Houses in the East Village.

According to our editorial partner The City, NYCHA made this discovery two weeks ago, but tenants only found out Friday night. A NYCHA spokesperson disputed the timeline, saying the arsenic was found Friday.

City Comptroller Brad Lander said crews from the Department of Environmental Protection were expected to return on Sunday to do more testing. He advised residents not to drink or cook with tap water until further notice.

Over 2,600 people live at the Jacob Riis Houses in Manhattan, a complex located between Avenue D and the FDR Drive. It is one of NYCHA's biggest developments.

NYCHA began distributing bottled water to residents late Friday night. Mayor Eric Adams made an appearance at the complex.

New York City’s Emergency Management also distributed water, unloading a truck full of bottles on Saturday.

“It’s a tragedy for them to do things like this to us. They should give more people notice than that,” said resident Tyrone McGuinness.

According to the state's Department of Health, exposure to high levels of arsenic can cause nausea, vomiting, abnormal heart rate, damage to blood vessels and a sensation of “pins and needles” in the hands and feet. Eating or breathing low levels of inorganic arsenic for a long time can cause the darkening of skin and the appearance of small corns or warts on the palms, soles and body and can increase the risk for certain cancers.

The health effects of arsenic depend on the chemical form, how much and how it enters someone's body, how long the person was exposed, the person's health status and other factors, according to the department.

“There’s kids, babies, elderly, disabled. And management, every time there is a weekend and a holiday on a Monday, they go home. And then like on Saturday, we hear something like something is going on and then we can't go to management because they’re closed,” Shanna Miller, a resident, said as she picked up cases of water for her family.

NYCHA representatives say they will provide water indefinitely until the water in the buildings is safe to use.

On Saturday, workers were expected to go through the building floor by floor to attempt to flush the system by having residents turn on their faucets.

“I’m praying and continuing to do research on what they’re doing. But I’m going to go the safe way [and] get my bottled water,” McGuinness said.

Officials are waiting for more test results as they try to figure out why the arsenic levels came back elevated.