Farmingdale Housing Discrimination Lawsuit Settled in Favor of Latino Plaintiffs

Victory! After calling the lawsuit 'offensive' -- How dare 9 Latinos demand justice! -- the Village of Farmingdale agreed to all of the plaintiffs demands, including building affordable housing and paying damages to the displaced residents. Which municipality is next?



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Housing Bias Against Latinos: LI's Dirty Little Secret Exposed in Court

We know that municipalities across LI, NY and the nation, have been working to limit and, in many instances, push out Latino and African American residents. The actions are often done quietly, justified as community upgrades or code enforcement. And the victims are rarely known or heard from. But this lawsuit brings to light some of what's really going on behind the doors of power and white privilege. If victorious, expect to see a string of new lawsuits on behalf of victims.



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Suffolk County Forces Homeless Immigrants into the Cold

Suffolk County in Long Island has a dark tradition of hate crimes and violence against Latino immigrants. The County government has long turned a blind eye, even fostering an atmosphere in which the color of your skin can get you attacked with a baseball bat or BB gun. Now, the town of Huntington has taken another, active step in the abuse, what a New York Times editorial deems "an exercise in needless cruelty": destroying a makeshift camp where homeless immigrants found shelter from the bitter New York cold.

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A Legal Clinic: The Housing Crisis - 3.29.09 Brentwood

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Severe & Deeply Rooted Housing Discrimination on Long Island

The advocacy group Education Research Advocacy Support to Eliminate Racism (ERASE Racism)'s latest report, The Racial Equity Report Card: Fair Housing on Long Island (pdf), concludes that African Americans and Latinos are still treated unfairly when searching for homes in Long Island (New York).

The discrimination, the report observes, is severe and deeply rooted in the highly segregated society that is Long Island.

A primary culprit? Real estate professionals.

The report found that some Long Island real estate agents routinely practice housing discrimination, despite efforts to crack down on it, including repeatedly steering African Americans and Latinos to rundown neighborhoods.

Seventy three percent (73%) of all housing race discrimination complaints on Long Island from 2000 to 2007 were filed against real estate professionals.

The report also found that local state and federal government agencies failed to act to stem housing discrimination based on race on Long Island.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under George W. Bush failed to oversee and monitor New York’s human rights cases.

The state’s Division of Human Rights under George Pataki dismissed most housing discrimination complaints. Between 1999 and 2007, 90 percent of the race-based fair housing complaints from Long Island received a “no probable cause” finding.

And local municipalities failed to take “any significant steps towards drafting and implementing community development plans that address inequities caused by racial segregation.”

Links:
Report: Housing discrimination on LI 'routine practice'
Not so fair housing on LI
Housing Barriers Persist on Long Island: New Study Reveals Housing Discrimination on
Long Island Is Severe and Deeply Rooted - report press release
The Racial Equity Report Card: Fair Housing on Long Island

No Debate: Hempstead is Struggling

Today a horde of journalists descends on the Hempstead Village (Long Island NY), to cover the third and final presidential debate.

But Steven Greenstreet of the American News Project left the pack to hear from people outside of the media spotlight, people hit hard by our nation's crises at home and abroad.

While Hempstead Village is known an African American enclave, it also has a large and growing immigrant Latino community. For example, local public school enrollment is now approximately half Latino and half African American.

New York's Governor David Paterson spent part of his youth as a resident of Hempstead.

Click here for the 6 minute documentary.

Photo: Gov Paterson greeting Latino students at Hempstead High.

Stay On Long Island

Long Island communities invest fortunes in educating young people.

Unfortunately, Long Island sees little return on these investments as most of its college graduates are forced to migrate to other states in search of jobs and affordable housing.

Seeking to stem Long Island's "Brain Drain" is a new Islip-based grassroots group called Stay On Long Island. The group seeks government action to spur the development of both better paying jobs and lower-cost housing.

Suffolk County Legislator Ricardo Montano introduces the group at the Suffolk County Legislature at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow, November 27th. The group also holds its first public meeting at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, November 29th, at The Suffolk Coummity College's Brentwood Campus.

Call Natalie at 631-943-9868 for more information.