December 2018 E-Newsletter
Civil Rights and Personal Injury and General Practice Law Firm, Dedicated to Social Justice
Following a 13-year legal battle, a federal judge cemented a landmark victory for non-profit affordable housing developer MHANY Management Inc. (MHANY) and New York Communities for Change (NYCC).
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit previously confirmed that the Village of Garden City on Long Island engaged in unlawful, intentional racial discrimination when it enacted an exclusionary zoning ordinance in 2004. In 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York also held that Garden City’s zoning decision had an unlawful, unjustified disparate impact on African-Americans and Latinxs. On November 27, 2018, the court awarded attorneys’ fees to MHANY and NYCC totaling more than $5 million. When passing the Fair Housing Act 50 years ago, Congress required those who discriminate to pay the attorneys’ fees of victorious plaintiffs like MHANY and NYCC in order to ensure that lack of access to legal counsel would not prevent the realization of open, inclusive communities free from discrimination.
“This ruling sends a strong message to local governments and housing providers that discrimination does not pay,” said Thomas Silverstein, Counsel in the Fair Housing & Community Development Project at the Lawyers’ Committee. “Attorneys’ fees in civil rights cases are essential to expanding access to justice for marginalized communities on Long Island and around the country.”
The case grew out of Garden City’s 2004 decision to rezone a large parcel of land in a way that made affordable housing impossible, in reaction to racially charged protests from residents. Plaintiffs proved at trial in 2013 that the decision was both “intentionally racially discriminatory” and that it had an “unjustified disparate impact.” In affirming the district court’s finding of intentional discrimination, the federal appeals court described the public outcry against affordable housing in Garden City as “eerily reminiscent” of the events that led to the landmark Yonkers affordable housing litigation portrayed in the HBO miniseries “Show Me a Hero.”
Commenting on the ruling, Hogan Lovells Senior Counsel Stanley Brown, who has led the legal team for more than a decade, said, “This has been a hard-fought case with many talented people working together. Housing discrimination is a pervasive problem in too many communities across the country. It has numerous negative impacts on its victims, from segregated schools to a lack of job opportunities. If Garden City had worked with MHANY and NYCC early on, this long and expensive litigation could have been avoided and steps towards more racially integrated communities could have actually begun years ago. We hope that other communities will take a lesson from this result.”
Garden City remains subject to a remedial order that the district court entered in 2014. That order required Garden City to adopt and implement an inclusionary zoning ordinance requiring developers to provide affordable housing units in most new developments. The order also required Garden City to join the Nassau Urban County Consortium, which disburses federal housing and community development funds. As a member of the Consortium, Garden City must promote integrated housing to meet its duty to affirmatively further fair housing. “It has been a long road to get here. Garden City has fought tooth and nail to defend their right to discriminate and segregate and keep their village lily white. There is a price to be paid for that,” said NYCC Long Island Chair Mary Crosson. “This decision is vindication that our cause is right and just. Garden City should be ashamed, and they are paying the price.”
Added MHANY Executive Director Ismene Speliotis, “MHANY’s long-sought dream is to build housing that will result in inclusive, racially, and economically integrated communities for low- and moderate-income people of color. MHANY is prepared to work in consort with communities and governments — including Garden City — to develop affordable housing and begin breaking down the seemingly intractable barriers based on race. We believe, through our work, historical prejudices and stereotypes can be replaced with the true benefits that racial, ethnic, and economic diversity can bring to communities.”
Frederick Brewington of the Law Offices of Frederick K. Brewington, who represented the plaintiffs, said, “This case and the results show that there is a price to be paid for discrimination and abuse of governmental authority. When those who are elected break the law and then refuse to address their misdeeds, housing discrimination laws are the great levelers in seeking justice. We hope that other municipalities realize that making decisions to shut certain people out was never and is not acceptable. Garden City now stands as the poster child to prove that fact.”
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