A proposal to bring a 40-unit affordable housing complex to ritzy Amagansett has proven to be every bit as controversial as expected. But town officials say residents opposing the development aren’t racists, they’re just good old-fashioned classists.
“Most opponents would prefer the people who mow their lawns, cook their food and baby-sit their children live elsewhere,” East Hampton Housing Authority director Catherine Casey, who is behind the $18 million housing proposal, told the New York Post. “It’s not that they don’t want Latinos, it’s that they don’t want poor people.”
From 2000 to 2010, the populations of Latinos in the area has increased 166 percent, mostly due to jobs maintaining the homes of the super rich.
Some 200 East Hampton residents have signed a petition protesting the town’s plan to build affordable housing.
“The town will be changed for the worse and forever if the construction is permitted,” wrote Amagansett resident Alan Blum.
Latino leaders in the area responded with a counter petition, which had 187 signatures at the time of this report.
A hearing on the plan is scheduled in August. The affordable housing is slated for completion in 2019. [NYP] – Christopher Cameron