Oyster Bay Guardian: Town accused of housing discrimination
By Laura Lane
Appeared April 18, 2014
The United States Dept. of Justice is suing the Town of Oyster Bay and Supervisor John Venditto of housing discrimination. Filing a complaint in District Court on April 10, the prosecutors say the town and its supervisor have violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against black people at two of their housing programs, The Seasons in Plainview and The Seasons in Massapequa.
April is Fair Housing Month, a celebration of the April 11, 1968 Civil Rights Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. Title VIII of The Civil Rights Act, (the Fair Housing Act), prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of dwellings based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
Some people like V. Elaine Gross, president of ERASE Racism, do not believe that the Justice Department’s timing in filing the suit is coincidental.
“Before 1968 landlords and brokers could post a sign up or say we aren’t going to rent to you,” Gross said. “What’s significant about this is too many people only think of descrimination as something an individual does intentionally against another individual. This focuses on how a municipality in their action and policies can limit the access certain people will have to housing in their community.”
The two properties in question are a part of town zoning incentive programs. The “Next Generation” housing program was created for first time homebuyers and to help the adult children of people owning homes in the town to remain in Oyster Bay. Next Generation encourages developers to build below-market rate housing. In exchange for building the affordable housing, developers were then permitted to build up to 12 units per acre, more than what is ordinarily allowable.
The “Golden Age” housing program is similar, but it was created for senior citizens.
Both of these programs offer the dwellings only to residents and children of residents from the town. Since less than one percent of people living in the Town of Oyster Bay are black, and income eligible to buy a house in these programs, prosecutors are alleging housing discrimination.
The town has asserted that it will defend itself against allegations that its affordable housing programs for seniors and young families violate the Fair Housing Act.
“It is just plain wrong to suggest that the Town of Oyster Bay is anything but a welcoming community to all people regardless of race,” said Venditto. “We are now prepared to vigorously defend our housing programs in court, because these housing programs are vitally important to our community.”
The prosecutors reason that there are a much larger percentage of eligible blacks in the surrounding areas. It is discriminatory if these people are not able to compete for the housing.
“Nassau County is the 10th most segregated metropolitan region in the country,” said Gross. “We have such a long history of discrimination out here on Long Island. And these patterns have been set in stone.”
The Next Generation Program was created in Nov. 2004. At that time Venditto said the program was “to keep our children here, keep the generations flowing in the town. By providing our young people with an opportunity to achieve the personal and financial stability that accompanies homeownership, we are helping ensure that our town remains the best place to live and raise a family for present and future generations.”
Venditto’s belief in the programs has not changed. A statement from the town said that for nearly two decades, the Golden Age Housing Program has helped our senior citizens find affordable housing near their families and in the town that many of them helped build. For nearly a decade, the Next Generation Housing Program has helped our young people find affordable housing near their families and in the town that they have grown up in. “The Town of Oyster Bay established the Golden Age and Next Generation Affordable Housing Programs to meet the needs of Town of Oyster Bay residents, neither program was the product of racial bias,” said Venditto.
Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, who is listed on the complaint, said there isn’t anything wrong with trying to help the young and senior citizens purchase homes, but this help should be afforded to people of all races, including blacks. “To the extent residency preferences prevent families and senior citizens from purchasing homes because of race, ethnicity or color, the preferences violate federal law and cannot be tolerated,” she said in a press release from April 10.
Gross said her organization is watching the case closely. ERASE Racism has conducted housing discrimination investigations in the past including one in Mineola in 2012. They had black and white “testers “ pose as prospective renters asking about apartments in a 74 unit in a predominately white community. They found that the building superintendent discouraged blacks from renting by misrepresenting availability, not even showing them the available apartments and quoted them higher rents.
“I think people will continue to do what they are doing unless they are called on it,” Gross said. “The Dept. of Justice is calling attention to this problem which is not unique. You’d like to think people will say I didn’t realize I was doing this and change their ways. Who knows exactly how this will play out.”