Coney Island lawmakers including State Sen. Diane Savino, Assemblywoman Pam Harris and City Councilman Mark Treyger, along with neighboring Bath Beach/Bensonhurst Assembly Member Bill Colton today demanded that NYCHA authorities crack down on its policy of not allowing sex offenders to live in public housing.
The lawmakers’ demand came in front of NYCHA’s Carey Gardens complex in Coney Island and follow a shocking report that State Senator Jeff Klein (D-Bronx/Westchester) and Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) released this week titled “Sex Offenders in Public Housing” that found 110 sex offenders living in NYCHA complexes – including 40% of those living in Brooklyn public housing.
The report are notes that despite federal law prohibiting sex offenders from residing in public housing, the number of sex offenders residing in NYCHA housing has increased over the past five years.
“The fact that we have sexual predators living on our NYCHA developments causes huge concerns for my colleagues and me. It is our job as elected officials to hold agencies like NYCHA accountable for their regulations or lack thereof especially when it comes to issues concerning the safety of our constituents and its time they explain why they have failed to monitor this problem,” said Savino.
Treyger said the report comes as the many NYCHA residents in his district are already dealing with mold, faulty temporary boilers, un-repaired apartments, or instances of violence and other criminal activity within the hallways of their developments.
“The last thing they need is another reason to worry for their safety and security. NYCHA must act to ensure that dangerous sex offenders are not allowed in NYCHA residences, period. I applaud Senator Klein and Council Member Torres for highlighting this serious issue and demanding swift action and accountability on behalf of our constituents’ safety,” said Treyger.
Other key findings of the report include:
Of the 110 sex offenders found, 66 are Level 2 Sex Offenders (moderate risk of repeat offense) and 44 are Level 3 Sex Offenders (highest risk of repeat offense)
Of the 110 sex offenders found, 41 have been designated by DCJS as a violent sexual offender.
Of the 110 sex offenders found, 68 have committed crimes against children under the age of 17 with four victims aged under the age of five.
The finding of 110 sex offenders in public housing represents an increase of over 36 new sex offenders living in Public Housing as compared to a survey of the same complexes five years ago.
In Brooklyn the NYCHA developments with the most registered sex offenders are Breukelen Houses in Canarsie, and the Van Dyke Houses and Glenmore Plaza both in Brownsville with all three developments housing three sexual predators.
“NYCHA needs to seriously rework the screening process for new residents. These individuals are not legally allowed to reside in these developments, and it is NYCHA’s responsibility to make sure that the letter of the law is followed,” said Harris. “The one place above any other where people need to feel safe is at home, and NYCHA needs to ensure that their apartments comply with all federal, state, and city laws in order to adequately protect their residents.”
The report proposes a two-step plan to address the danger with the first being conduct an immediate survey to cross-check the sex offender registry with NYCHA housing. Any apartments with sex offenders should be immediately inspected in order to exclude offenders currently in residence
Secondly, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development must identify those residents who are legally living in NYCHA’s apartments with illegally residing sex offenders, in order to determine if any fraud was committed in failing to list them as a household member.
“Residents of public housing should have the peace of mind of knowing no registered sex offenders are living in their developments. NYCHA must protect its residents by establishing procedures to cross-check the names on the sex offender registry with those residing in public housing developments,” said Colton.
