City’s affordable housing lottery system is discriminatory: suit

Anti-Discrimination Center calls policy "entrenched segregation"

From left: Anti-Discrimination Center executive director Craig Gurian and Mayor Bill de Blasio
From left: Anti-Discrimination Center executive director Craig Gurian and Mayor Bill de Blasio

Fair housing group the Anti-Discrimination Center is suing the de Blasio administration, claiming that the city’s practice of reserving half of its affordable units in housing lotteries for those from local community districts is discriminatory.

The center filed the suit Tuesday, Capital reported, on behalf of three African American plaintiffs.

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“This preference serves to bar city residents living outside of the community districts from competing on an equal basis for all available units,” the lawsuit stated as cited by the website. The suit claimed also that the “outsider restriction policy” effectively is “entrenched segregation” that makes it hard for low income New Yorkers to move to neighborhoods with high quality schools, green space and better jobs.

Mayor Bill de Blasio has been applying for rezonings all over the city that would allow for more affordable housing. [Capital NY] — Claire Moses