Elected Officials Rail Against NYCHA For Failing To Protect Residents From Sex Offenders

Elected officials railed against NYCHA Monday for allowing registered sex offenders to to live illegally in public housing.

Following a report released last week that found the number of convicted sex offenders living in NYCHA properties had increased by almost 50 percent during the last five years, assemblymembers Pamela Harris and Bill Colton joined with Councilman Mark Treyger and State Senator Diane Savino to call on NYCHA to better protect tenants in public housing from sexual predators.

“The fact that we have sexual predators living on our NYCHA developments causes huge concerns for my colleagues and me,” Savino said in a press release. “It is our job as elected officials to hold agencies like NYCHA accountable for their regulations or lack thereof.”

Las week, a report authored by State Senator Jeffrey Klein and Councilman Ritchie Torres found that the number of registered sex offenders living in NYCHA properties had risen from 74 in 2010 to 110 in 2015. That number includes 41 “violent sex offenders” and 68 convicted of assaulting children under 17.

Federal law prohibits sex offenders from residing in public housing.

Brooklyn led all five boroughs with having the greatest number of sex offenders living in public housing.

“NYCHA needs to seriously rework the screening process for new residents,” 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.”

Klein and Torres proposed a two-step plan to clear out sex offenders living illegally in public housing. First NYCHA and the NYPD must survey the properties to determine if residents are on the sex-offender registry. Any apartments with sex offenders should be immediately inspected in order to exclude offenders currently in residence.

Second, NYCHA must determine if residents living legally in NYCHA properties are hosting registered sex offenders and failing to claim them as a member of the household.

The report on sex offenders in NYCHA buildings comes on the heels of several other damning reports exposing prolonged neglect of public housing by the agency. Last week, an audit by Comptroller Scott Stringer determined that NYCHA was “woefully unprepared” to handle another Sandy-sized storm.

“Whether it is mold, faulty temporary boilers, unrepaired apartments, or instances of violence and other criminal activity within the hallways of their developments, NYCHA residents already have enough problems to deal with. The last thing they need is another reason to worry for their safety and security,” Treyger said.