The mayor is moving to tackle criminal activity in NYCHA developments from Harlem to Hollis.According to the Daily News, Mayor Bill de Blasio will institute policies to speed the eviction of of those with criminal records living at New York City Housing Authority complexes.
He’s also looking to expand on what warrants an eviction from the public housing developments. For example, previously, only crimes committed on NYCHA property were grounds for eviction. Now, the plan is to account for crimes committed anywhere by someone who gives an NYCHA address.
Tenants aren’t always the ones committing the crimes. Sometimes, it’s people who are staying on the property, but aren’t actually tenants. The new policies would target them as well. The goal is to expedite the process of eviction. It currently takes anywhere from two days to several months for police to refer a case to the housing authority and two weeks to several more months for legal action to begin. The new target time frame: two weeks from arrest to eviction.
This isn’t the first time the city has sought to speed up the process. There was an effort by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2004, but eviction numbers have since dropped off. Between 2011 and 2014, the number of eviction proceedings commenced have dropped 40 percent, from 1,581 to 942. In 2009, 172 people were evicted from NYCHA developments, That number’s fallen steadily since: in 2014, 45 were evicted and, as of October, 20 people have been evicted from NYCHA developments this year.
Become a Harlem Insider!
By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: . You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact
