As The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) plans to throw out a disabled senior citizen and longtime resident of the Red Hook West Houses, Assemblymember Felix Ortiz (D-Sunset Park, Red Hook) and advocates fight to stop the eviction.
Bernethea Curry, 69, has been avoiding eviction for the better part of six years – since 2013- after violating a permanent exclusion stipulation regarding her son Daryll Curry, who allegedly possessed and sold crack cocaine on or near the complex’s grounds in 2007.
Following the 2007 incident, NYCHA charged Curry with non-desirability and breach of rules and regulations, due to her son’s alleged criminal acts.
Curry, by stipulation, admitted the charges, agreed to permanently exclude Darryl from her apartment, and acknowledged that her tenancy would be terminated if the stipulation were violated.
But advocates for Curry, including Leslie Stone, founder of Golden Hands: Medical Marijuana For Aging Adults, Lillie Marshall, President of Red Hook West Resident Association, and NYCHA Chief Executive Officer of Communities Inc. Charlene Nimmons maintain that Curry has not had adequate legal representation.
Stone claims Curry, who is illiterate, has been misguided by legal aides and did not know what she was agreeing to in the stipulation.
In September 2009 NYCHA claimed Ms. Curry violated the stipulation, alleging that investigators had found Darryl in the apartment in June of that same year.
Darryl indeed visited his mother in the apartment after she had been ill. She says she wasn’t aware his ban was permanent.
In January 2015, NYCHA yet again charged Ms. Curry with violating the terms of the 2007 stipulation, alleging that around September 2013, investigators found Darryl in her apartment. After a hearing, it was concluded that Curry’s tenancy should be terminated.
If Curry is evicted, she will be placed in a shelter. She is currently without legal representation, said Stone.
“She had to go through multiple legal aid attorneys over this 12-year span. There’s been such a high turnover. So, someone comes in then, wow, he’s off the case. A new one’s appointed. Not to mention the turnover internally, within the house. There have been new people put into positions here in housing and management. Now, what does that do for her? That leaves her in flux, in limbo, with no progress,” says Stone.
Nimmons presented a clause, in the Fair Housing Act, during the most recent court appearance this month that granted Curry an extension. The clause regards eviction caused by guest activity and states: “Family member engaged in drug-related activity successfully completed an approved supervised drug-rehabilitation program or threat posed by behavior underlying the eviction no longer exist.”
Daryll Curry, who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, has successfully completed a drug-rehabilitation program.
Stone initially wanted to get the elder Curry into a different housing situation, yet after working with her for the past few months has come to a different conclusion.
“I’ve really gotten to understand her and see how she functions in her day to day world,” Stone says. “A lot of these people her age have lost their friends and people that are very close to them by this point in their life. So, Curry, she has several very close friends here, they are part of her day to day life and her routine. These are the people that help her get around. These are the people that help her survive every day.”
Her eviction and subsequent placement in a shelter will be her demise, says Stone.
“There’s something happening in New York City right now with housing, particularly where they’re looking to displace these seniors in these senior centers,” she said. “They want to close some of them down and they’re looking to get a lot of these seniors out.”
NYCHA Spokesperson Barbara Brancaccio responded that she didn’t understand the issues involved in Curry’s case, even though KCP provided NYCHA with an outline and a summary of the case.
Additionally, Brancaccio did not respond to questions regarding allegations that the agency is targeting senior citizens.
Meanwhile, Ortiz is vouching for Curry and fired off a letter to NYCHA Acting General Manager Vito Mustaciuolo. “As a disabled senior with partial hearing and vision problems, we have to advocate on her [Curry’s] behalf, not create a problematic situation nobody wants,” wrote Ortiz.
“When residents or their family members violate the law on development grounds, NYCHA is required to take action to evict tenants as required by their lease agreement. This resident was represented by legal counsel throughout the process, and was afforded full due process which has led to the same determination in terminating her tenancy,” said a NYCHA spokesperson.
