Federal ruling tightens the city’s fair housing policy

City Planning will have to seek more input from communities on bias and other issues

From left: Julian Castro and Carl Weisbrod
From left: Julian Castro and Carl Weisbrod

The city’s Department of City Planning will have to reach out to communities to talk about issues that have to do with fair housing and bias as a result of a new ruling by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Under the new rules, community groups and advocates will have to be more engaged in the process of reforming housing bias in neighborhoods as part of the Obama administration’s effort to end housing segregation, according to WNYC.

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“In a city like New York with a lot of real estate pressure, (the new rules) really give community groups and residents a voice to say, this is what we’re seeing, this is what we’re concerned about,” Barika Williams, deputy director at Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, told the radio station. Mayor Bill de Blasio commended the new ruling.

Since 2005, the Department of City Planning has completed a report every year that it sends to HUD about the city’s fair housing performance. [WNYC] — Claire Moses