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NEW YORK, NY August 28, 2006 —Attorney General candidate Mark Green is accusing his rival, Andrew Cuomo, of failing to protect children from pesticides when he headed the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

Green first made the accusation at this month's debate between the Democratic candidates, but with two weeks to go before the primary he's now honing his arguments. Green pointed to language in current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's lawsuit against HUD. The suit cites a study that found children in housing authorities across the state were exposed to dangerous chemicals - even though a 1996 law urged all federal agencies to promote safer pesticides.

The suit was filed in 2004, but it covers the period when Cuomo was in charge of housing. Cuomo has accused Green of negative campaigning and did not want to comment on tape. But he says he did promote safer pesticides and would have taken immediate action had Spitzer or anyone else brought the complaint when he WAS in charge.