Westchester County Executive George Latimer announced on August 4 that, “After 12 long years, Westchester County is finally able to close the book on the Affordable Housing Settlement. We recently received notification from U.S. District Judge Denise Cote that Westchester County was in substantial compliance with the Consent Decree, and a federal housing monitor was no longer needed. We did not do this alone, and we have to thank our non-profit housing organizations, the local municipalities and the many developers for all that they did to help get us here.
“I do not attempt to take credit for all of the affordable housing that was developed over the past 12 years. It was a long road, and much of it was traveled before I walked in the door as County Executive. But, I think we have proven time and again that fair and affordable housing is something that we believe in. We consistently put significant money aside, we conducted a Housing Needs Study, and we understand fully how great that need is. More than 11,000 units are needed to satisfy the demand for young families and seniors on fixed incomes, and we want to see these projects come to fruition all across Westchester.
“We know that we have a long way to go, but I want to thank the Department of Justice for recognizing our commitment to this cause. We made every effort to satisfy the terms of the case, and I am thrilled that we are able to put it behind us.”
In 2006, the Anti-Discrimination Center filed a lawsuit against Westchester County over the lack of affordable housing in many of the smaller, wealthier communities in the county.
This resulted in a settlemenet between HUD, the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Westchester County government, and former County Executive Andy Spano in 2009. The settlement called for the County to build 750 units of affordable housing spread out across the small towns and village in Westchester.
Former County Executive Rob Astorino allowed the affordable units to be built, while pushing back on some of the other demands of the Federal monitor appointed to oversee the settlement.
