HUD: Town of Hempstead excluded disabled people from public housing
The Town of Hempstead Housing Authority excluded disabled people for at least a decade from public housing it rents to low-income seniors, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determined.
The alleged exclusion — which the housing authority disputes — is behind the state this week denying the housing authority millions of dollars in tax credits to raze and rebuild its “beyond repair” Dogwood Terrace public housing complex in Franklin Square, a Newsday investigation found.
While the authority views the majority of its public housing as senior-only facilities, HUD said the official designation should be for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. HUD also found the residents of some housing complexes the authority runs are “disproportionately white,” government records show.
“The housing authority denies these meritless allegations,” Town of Hempstead Housing Authority Executive Director Ed Cumming said in an emailed statement Wednesday when asked about HUD’s decision and its relationship to the tax credit denial.
HUD’s decision leaves 68 residents uncertain about their housing future. Engineers commissioned by the housing authority in 2021 described Dogwood Terrace as “dangerously structurally unsound.” The engineers had suggested either vacating the building or making temporary repairs.
The town needed separate approvals from the federal government to demolish and rebuild Dogwood Terrace and from the state for tax credits to finance the planned public-private redevelopment. The HUD disapproval — which came last August but has not been previously reported — is the reason the state this week declined awarding the project tax credits, according to the state agency of Homes and Community Renewal.
“If the Town of Hempstead Housing Authority is unable to dispose of the property and finance a redevelopment, the property, for safety reasons, will have to be vacated and abandoned and housing for 104 residents will be lost,” the housing authority’s 2023 federal application to demolish and rebuild the property said, according to documents Newsday obtained in a public records request.
Housing authority leadership had told residents they intended to go forward with the redevelopment this year, after delays from COVID-19, a zoning dispute and a previous financing denial.
In January, the authority approved a five-year capital improvement budget for Dogwood Terrace with no money budgeted after this year. Some tenants packed clothes into boxes, preparing for a move from a facility with, according to engineers hired by the housing authority, cracks in the walls, a sinking foundation and suspected mold.
Cumming did not provide Newsday with specifics on the plan for Dogwood Terrace residents now that the tax credits were denied.
HUD approval would have allowed a public-private redevelopment of the 104-unit building to move forward, with relocation funded by the authority.
“How long can we suffer in these conditions?” John Heaphy, an 81-year-old retired grocery store union steward and Dogwood Terrace resident advisory council representative, told Newsday this week.
Prior to the tax credit denial, Cumming in a statement had dismissed the HUD decision as partisan.
“Under the Biden Administration, HUD officials engaged in a purely political agenda in an effort to systematically dismantle the affordable senior housing program under the local housing authority,” said Cumming, a leader of the Garden City GOP.
He said the housing authority has been “transparent and open” to the town’s senior population and is “committed to building senior communities of which everyone can be proud.”
The housing authority “deterred and denied housing to otherwise eligible applicants” as it promoted “elderly only policies” at the exclusion of those who are disabled, Jesse Ramos, a program analyst for HUD’s office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in an August email to colleagues.
The redeveloped facility would “take away future housing opportunities for persons with disabilities,” Ramos said in the email, which Newsday obtained last month in its public records request.
The housing authority had been “recalcitrant in negotiations to resolve” the “many violations” HUD had found in its compliance review, which began two years prior, Ramos wrote.
Cumming said “no allegations of individual discrimination have ever been lodged against the authority” and that it will “vigorously defend any false accusations against it.”
The authority, however, has faced at least five fair housing complaints in the last decade, according to its 2023 state tax credit application. All five complaints were closed either without merit or were withdrawn, the housing authority’s application said.
Dogwood Terrace had no people with disabilities under 62 years old, according to the housing authority’s 2023 redevelopment application to HUD.
Newsday previously reported the development was among a collection of Long Island public housing complexes primarily servicing seniors that failed a recent HUD inspection.
Phaedra Mapp, a HUD official who works in its special applications center, told Newsday the town housing authority has not had an active application for the redevelopment since the disapproval in August.
Cumming countered that a consultant had filed a new application, but neither he nor the developer provided proof.
The Town of Hempstead Housing Authority excluded disabled people for at least a decade from public housing it rents to low-income seniors, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determined.
The alleged exclusion — which the housing authority disputes — is behind the state this week denying the housing authority millions of dollars in tax credits to raze and rebuild its “beyond repair” Dogwood Terrace public housing complex in Franklin Square, a Newsday investigation found.
While the authority views the majority of its public housing as senior-only facilities, HUD said the official designation should be for low-income seniors and people with disabilities. HUD also found the residents of some housing complexes the authority runs are “disproportionately white,” government records show.
“The housing authority denies these meritless allegations,” Town of Hempstead Housing Authority Executive Director Ed Cumming said in an emailed statement Wednesday when asked about HUD’s decision and its relationship to the tax credit denial.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Town of Hempstead Housing Authority excluded disabled people from senior housing, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development determined.
- The alleged exclusion is behind the state this week denying the authority tax credits to finance a redevelopment of its ailing Dogwood Terrace public housing complex in Franklin Square.
- The authority calls HUD’s allegations “meritless” and views the majority of its public housing as senior-only facilities.
HUD’s decision leaves 68 residents uncertain about their housing future. Engineers commissioned by the housing authority in 2021 described Dogwood Terrace as “dangerously structurally unsound.” The engineers had suggested either vacating the building or making temporary repairs.
The town needed separate approvals from the federal government to demolish and rebuild Dogwood Terrace and from the state for tax credits to finance the planned public-private redevelopment. The HUD disapproval — which came last August but has not been previously reported — is the reason the state this week declined awarding the project tax credits, according to the state agency of Homes and Community Renewal.
“If the Town of Hempstead Housing Authority is unable to dispose of the property and finance a redevelopment, the property, for safety reasons, will have to be vacated and abandoned and housing for 104 residents will be lost,” the housing authority’s 2023 federal application to demolish and rebuild the property said, according to documents Newsday obtained in a public records request.
Housing authority leadership had told residents they intended to go forward with the redevelopment this year, after delays from COVID-19, a zoning dispute and a previous financing denial.
In January, the authority approved a five-year capital improvement budget for Dogwood Terrace with no money budgeted after this year. Some tenants packed clothes into boxes, preparing for a move from a facility with, according to engineers hired by the housing authority, cracks in the walls, a sinking foundation and suspected mold.
Cumming did not provide Newsday with specifics on the plan for Dogwood Terrace residents now that the tax credits were denied.
HUD approval would have allowed a public-private redevelopment of the 104-unit building to move forward, with relocation funded by the authority.
“How long can we suffer in these conditions?” John Heaphy, an 81-year-old retired grocery store union steward and Dogwood Terrace resident advisory council representative, told Newsday this week.
Prior to the tax credit denial, Cumming in a statement had dismissed the HUD decision as partisan.
“Under the Biden Administration, HUD officials engaged in a purely political agenda in an effort to systematically dismantle the affordable senior housing program under the local housing authority,” said Cumming, a leader of the Garden City GOP.
He said the housing authority has been “transparent and open” to the town’s senior population and is “committed to building senior communities of which everyone can be proud.”
Behind HUD’s decision
The housing authority “deterred and denied housing to otherwise eligible applicants” as it promoted “elderly only policies” at the exclusion of those who are disabled, Jesse Ramos, a program analyst for HUD’s office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in an August email to colleagues.
“…our review suggests that these elderly-only policies deterred and denied housing to hundreds of otherwise eligible applicants who are persons with disabilities and/or families with children.” – Jesse Ramos, a program analyst for HUD’s office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, in an email to colleagues.
The redeveloped facility would “take away future housing opportunities for persons with disabilities,” Ramos said in the email, which Newsday obtained last month in its public records request.
The housing authority had been “recalcitrant in negotiations to resolve” the “many violations” HUD had found in its compliance review, which began two years prior, Ramos wrote.
Cumming said “no allegations of individual discrimination have ever been lodged against the authority” and that it will “vigorously defend any false accusations against it.”
The authority, however, has faced at least five fair housing complaints in the last decade, according to its 2023 state tax credit application. All five complaints were closed either without merit or were withdrawn, the housing authority’s application said.
Dogwood Terrace had no people with disabilities under 62 years old, according to the housing authority’s 2023 redevelopment application to HUD.
Newsday previously reported the development was among a collection of Long Island public housing complexes primarily servicing seniors that failed a recent HUD inspection.
Phaedra Mapp, a HUD official who works in its special applications center, told Newsday the town housing authority has not had an active application for the redevelopment since the disapproval in August.
Cumming countered that a consultant had filed a new application, but neither he nor the developer provided proof.
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