Coalition Statement Urging Rejection of the Recommendations of the New York City Department of Investigation’s Report on NYCHA and Permanent Exclusion (April 2017)

April 19, 2017

Coalition Statement Urging Rejection of the Recommendations  of the New York City Department of Investigation’s Report on NYCHA and Permanent Exclusion

NEW YORK – The report issued by the Department of Investigation (DOI) on March 28, 2017 regarding the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and its response to residents who are arrested represents a misguided and irresponsible approach to safety in NYCHA. The undersigned organizations urge the New York City Council and NYCHA to reject its findings and recommendations. Evicting families will not increase public safety, it will just create bigger problems. Putting armed investigators in NYCHA will not make residents feel safer, it will just raise tension with residents, and create the potential for the often tragic consequences of use of force. We are disturbed that the DOI report fails to recognize the complexities of this issue and its connections to other serious issues in the city like homelessness and alienation between the community and occupying forces.

Punitive policies, like evicting a family when someone in their household is arrested or convicted, do not protect public safety. They damage people, families and communities. When a person loses the place they live, they become homeless. Deprived of stability, they are driven toward desperation. They are separated from the family and community supports that are proven to reduce recidivism and help a person engage fully in rehabilitative programming. This approach is also at odds with research that says that violence is reduced when the connection between young people and the community is strengthened. DOI’s recommendation that NYCHA pursue more evictions is another example of the failed criminal justice policies that have resulted in mass incarceration, marginalized communities, and the perpetual punishment experienced by poor people who come into contact with the law.

New York City is in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. Affordable housing is scarce and shelter use has reached the highest levels ever. When NYCHA excludes an individual or evicts a family, there are few other housing options. The City has been working hard to address the lack of affordable housing and devoting resources to keeping families in existing housing. It is surprising to see DOI working at cross-purposes to these efforts by recommending punitive policies that uproot families and contribute to homelessness.

While the DOI report gives numerous case examples of serious crime and failures of NYCHA to enforce past exclusions, these examples are designed to shock and instill fear at the expense of truth. DOI’s case examples rely only on arrest records, without examining court records or tenant circumstances that may paint a different story. An arrest is not proof that a crime has been committed, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has told public housing authorities that taking adverse action against tenants based only on arrest records violates Federal law. Yet, repeatedly, DOI cites cases of arrest allegations without reference to the court proceedings and whether there was a finding of guilt. This sensationalist approach to examining a complex issue ignores the full facts that should be considered by NYCHA in its decision-making process.

In many cases, the DOI asserts that a person arrested is living in NYCHA simply because they report a NYCHA address when arrested. Residents, public housing stakeholders, and experts know that, for many people, using the address of a family member living in NYCHA is the most reliable way that they can be reached. People unstably housed or living in shelters often use family addresses to get mail because it is the only way that they can be reached. Thus, when a law enforcement or government official demands an address, they use the best address at which they can receive a court notice or get a message, even when they are not living there.

NYCHA has been working earnestly with residents and stakeholders to refine their use of permanent exclusion to target individuals who pose an actual risk to the safety of tenants. They should be credited for their efforts to keep families together while contributing to resident safety. NYCHA recognizes the importance of keeping families together and preserving housing as it is addressing serious physical safety issues. DOI cavalierly criticizes NYCHA and promotes evictions, urging NYCHA to throw children, teenagers, parents, and grandparents out of their homes while their colleagues in city government are trying to find housing for and stabilize families. It doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t build on what we know about effective approaches to reducing violence.

It does not appear, based on the report, that DOI spoke with any NYCHA residents or community members during its investigation. While it is true that the number of shootings on or near NYCHA developments is a matter of great concern, residents know better than anyone that NYCHA needs investments to fix broken locks at their buildings and increased economic opportunity in their communities. These are real solutions to the problem. DOI’s senseless call to evict families and put people on the streets helps no one.

DOI calls for NYCHA investigators to be armed with bulletproof vests, despite the fact that they can cite no instance where an investigator faced any harm while doing an inspection. Again, if DOI had consulted with residents or given any thought to what residents want, they would know that residents don’t want their buildings more militarized.

The approach that DOI recommends represents a call to move backward, to regress into punitive policies that are proven failures. It puts sensationalism ahead of truth, and the desire to shock ahead of common sense. Lawmakers and agency officials must reject these recommendations, and instead support progressive policies and NYCHA’s existing efforts to address safety while supporting families and healthy communities.

Endorsing Organizations: 

The Bronx Defenders
Brooklyn Defender Services
CASES (Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services)
Coalition for the Homeless
College and Community Fellowship
Community Service Society of New York
The Correctional Association of New York
The Drug Policy Alliance
Federal Defenders of New York
The Fortune Society
Friends of Island Academy
FUREE (Families United for Racial and Economic Equality)
GOLES (Good Old Lower East Side)
Hour Children
Housing Court Answers
Housing+Solutions
JustLeadershipUSA
Legal Action Center
The Legal Aid Society
MFY Legal Services, Inc.
New York Civil Liberties Union
Office of the Appellate Defender
Osborne Association
The Prisoner Reentry Institute at John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Urban Justice Center, Community Development Project
VOCAL-NY
Youth Represent