Public Employee Press

Union backs City Council anti-discrimination co-op law

DC 37 is calling on the City Council to make it harder for co-ops to discriminate based on race, religion, family makeup, gender or sexual orientation. The Fair and Prompt Cooperative Disclosure Law, Intro. 326, would require co-ops to provide people with specific reasons why they were rejected for apartments in their buildings.

"This bill would bring New York City another step closer to fair housing for everyone," said DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts.

Introduced by City Council member Brad Lander, Intro. 326 would give rejected parties the right to at least as much information as they would get if they were turned down for a department store credit card. Co-ops would still be able to reject people for legal reasons.

The bill would discourage real estate agents from steering qualified buyers away from certain co-ops because of race and other demographic issues.

"Many of our members have experienced this housing discrimination firsthand," said Lawrence Kenchen, associate director of the DC 37 Political Action Dept. This bill would help the DC 37 members and all other qualified buyers access the cooperative market.

The 2000 census ranks New York City as the third most segregated city in the country, behind only Detroit and Milwaukee.

The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the New York Immigration Coalition, Fair Housing for All and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund also support Intro 326.