NYC lawmaker implores Gov. Hochul to not sign bill that would ban criminal background checks to live in NYCHA buildings
NEW YORK -- Do you know who's living next door? Soon, you may not know as much.
A bill on Gov. Kathy Hochul's desk will ban criminal background checks for any person trying to get into NYCHA housing, and, as CBS2 has learned, the city could expand that to all buildings.
City Councilman David Carr said he is disgusted by the idea that people applying to live in NYCHA buildings might not have to undergo background checks.
"There are examples of individuals that we wouldn't want in a building. You have a building with young families. You don't want a pedophile be allowed to live there," Carr said.
@GovKathyHochul Don’t sign A7053A/S6895A. @NYCHA needs to be able to consider criminal backgrounds of tenants. No one wants to prevent access to public housing just bc a person was in jail. It’s their crimes that should keep them out of public housing https://t.co/g9GpDdFjQD
— Council Member David Carr (@CMDMCarr) December 14, 2022
Carr tweeted Gov. Hochul, imploring her not to sign the bill just passed by the state Senate.
"If we're not able to do criminal background checks. If we are not able to look at a person's criminal history and say this person won't make a good tenant for NYCHA, we're not able to do that. And that represents a clear and present danger to me, to all the people who live in NYCHA facilities like the one behind us right now," Carr said.
The City Council is considering a similar bill that would prevent landlords of all buildings from doing criminal background checks. Mayor Eric Adams said he isn't sold.
"No one should be denied housing based on their records, but I want to make sure residents in apartments, in buildings, in rentals in small units, that they get the protection that they deserve," Adams said.
An estimated 750,000 New Yorkers have a criminal background, including Leah Faria, who spent two decades in prison and now, as a member of the Women's Community Justice Association, advocates for others trying to turn their lives around.
"For somebody that is really trying to improve their lives, it's disheartening and it's discouraging. We talk about safety, we talk recidivism. It's like, it people don't have that, what do you expect people to do?" Faria said.
Faria said many people are operating based on emotions and misinformation.
"There is nothing that is statistically proven that if you rent me an apartment, that it's going to cause crime to go up. I think that a lot of people operate more off of fear than fact," Faria said.
There was no immediate word from the governor on whether she will sign or veto the Senate bill.
Mayor Adams is pushing for certain contingencies in the City Council bill before it is brought up for a vote.