You could ask your local health department for advice on where to get lead test done.

Don't know but Check out: http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/services/lead_information.html

In NYC you can call 311 for a large variety of City agency info.

I am also attaching the link for NYC Dept. of Health.

I have read somewhere that lead seems to be worse near the bridges.

Here is a link that might be useful: NYC Dept. of Health

You can try Cornell or the "Health Department" but to get the answer you want, collect a sample yourself and send it to a commercial environmental testing laboratory. Most college soil testing programs are aimed at nutrient analysis. Most health department testing programs are for lead in blood attributable to lead paint. Lead in the environment like water, air or your backyard soil is the domain of your State's environmental agency NYDEC.

I looked at the DEC website to find what lead soil concentration they deem acceptable for the protection of human health in a residential setting like your yard. They don't have one, that I could find. NY clean ups are to background lead conditions. Not much help to you in an urban setting.

However the NJ DEP and the PA DEP residential lead direct contact standards are 400 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg,respectively. Mg/kg are also known as part per million (ppm).

There are commercial labs both local and national that you can find in a web search. I use a few in NJ. For about $100-$150 you can get the 8 RCRA (haz waste) heavy metals including arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, selenium, silver and mercury. The lab may also be able to do just lead for maybe $25-$50. They can mail you a sample jar for the sample. Or you can buy a large plastic spoon and bowl/bucket at the dollar store, collect a portion of soil from several yard locations, mix the soil in the bucket then take enough soil from the composite mix to fill a clean glass mason jelly jar (or even a ziploc plastic sandwich bag. Send it to the lab and in about 2-3 weeks you should get the results. Some labs will take credit cards.

Good luck but don't be surprised by what you find particulary in a dense urban setting. High lead around a bridge is likely old lead paint residue both from weathering as well as sand blast residue prior to painting. Soil concentrations are only part of the complete risk picture. If the concentration is higher than YOU like, not just what the DEP/DEC standard is, then take whatever steps YOU feel are necessary to give you peace of mind about your backyard garden and its crop.

The Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory does what they call a "Total Sorbed Metals Test" for $55 (in addition to the $9 standard fertility test).

I just got my results back this week for my backyard in Brooklyn, and now I have some research to do about the 334.35 mg/kg lead. Do I plant vegetables?

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn State Agricultural Analytical Services Laboratory