The Bridge and Tunnel Fair Housing Battle Continues in Westchester

Image Credit: Ant-Discrimination Ctr. of Metro N.Y. 

The state of fair housing in high-income areas has been the subject of several posts on this blog (and much coverage in the Times' Real Estate section) and, this week, Westchester County, home to many well-heeled New York suburbs as well as low-income cities like Yonkers, came under judicial and administrative scrutiny for failure to comply with previous orders to prohibit housing discrimination based on sources of income. In 2009, a federal court mandated that Westchester County would undertake the construction of more than 750 affordable housing units in largely white and affluent communities (similar to the Montgomery County, Md. model, though on a smaller scale) and market them to minority and low and moderate-income tenants living in other parts of the county and the region, thus attempting to address the county's pattern of de facto racial and economic segregation. See U.S. ex rel. Anti-Discrimination Ctr. of Metro N.Y., Inc. v. Westchester Cnty., 668 F.Supp.2d 548 (S.D.N.Y. 2009). While county officials claim that they have taken considerable steps toward the construction of such housing, HUD spokespeople claim that the district court's decision, upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last month, obliges the county to put in place mechanisms to prevent housing discrimination based on sources of income, including Section 8 vouchers, alimony, and child support. See U.S. ex rel. Anti-Discrimination Ctr. of Metro N.Y., Inc. v. Westchester Cnty., No. 12-2047 (2d Cir. Apr. 5, 2013). Citing the County Executive's 2010 veto of the Board of Legislature's ban on income-based housing discrimination and the county's lack of meaningful review of its fair housing ordinances, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York's office stated that Westchester was not in compliance with previous orders and placed a deadline of this week to reintroduce legislature banning source-of-income housing discrimination. Additionally, HUD has threatened the revocation of more than $7M in funds allocated to Westchester County if the county does not comply with these measures. Last week, the Board of Legislatures voted to further challenge the lawsuit but the County Exceutive's recent statement that he would sign the anti-discrimination bill he previously vetoed if the legislature passes it again and strong statements in favor of more inclusive housing policies from many Westchester residents point toward a possible bright spot on the long road toward income-based house fairness in many of the nation's more affluent municipalities.