Keeping Public Housing Open to Ex-Cons Could Help Them Stay Out of Jail

One must swallow hard to support any legislation passed by the overwhelmingly liberal New York State legislature — especially that sponsored by the Brooklyn Democratic-socialist state senator, Julia Salazar.

And those who believe that law enforcement is the friend of low-income, minority neighborhoods, not their threat, will naturally be suspicious of a bill currently on Governor Hochul’s desk.  

But the legislation to bar public housing authorities from denying occupancy to “formerly-incarcerated individuals” deserves more than knee-jerk opposition. 

To be sure, the massive New York City Housing Authority system of nearly 180,000 apartments in 335 “campuses” already suffers from higher rates of crime than the rest of the city.  

In 2020, for instance, there were 71 murders in NYCHA projects alone — 15 percent of all killlings in the city. Only six percent of city residents live in public housing. Many more occur on the projects’ periphery to which gang rivalries spill over.

Yet if we seek somehow to deter those who have committed previous crimes from doing so again, the bill on which Ms. Hochul must decide by year’s end merits consideration. 

Nationwide, according to the Department of Justice, some 10,000 prisoners are released from state and federal prisons each week.  That they were behind bars in the first place is not the problem, contra those who denounced “mass incarceration.”  Locking people up kept cities safe and saved Black lives, especially, by reducing crime in minority neighborhoods.

Yet those “re-entering” are typically woefully unprepared.  Many owe states for unpaid child support.  They lack savings and even basic forms of identification.  Their way, in other ways, points back to the “informal” crime economy. Some 60 percent, says the DOJ, return to prison.

Shelters and halfway houses are not the same as an apartment with a permanent address, shared perhaps with family members, even relatively distant relations. 

NYCHA is plagued by under-occupied apartments with empty bedrooms.  An astounding 30 percent of NYCHA residents are estimated to be “overhoused,” the Housing and Urban Development department reports. 

Given its crime rate, it is far from unlikely that there are tenants who already know those who have been “justice involved”, as it is said.

Ex-offenders who get jobs in our tight labor market could help pay the rent, as lodgers in low-income neighborhoods have historically done. Getting a paying, formal job, no matter how modest, is the path away from crime. 

That said, these ex-cons should not be protected from peremptory eviction if arrested. Asking them to wear ankle bracelets so law enforcement can track their whereabouts would make sense.  

The bill on Ms. Hochul’s desk should not be confused with New York City Council legislation that would bar any landlord from inquiring about a prospective tenant’s criminal history. Private landlords are not providers of last resort housing, a la public housing.

They should have the chance to factor criminal histories into their rental decisions. Mayor Adams is rightly opposing the bill. It would be up to ex-offenders to demonstrate their rehabilitation, whether through employment or a credit history. 

Broadly, however, we have to face the fact that a huge wave of one-time criminals are returning to society. It’s crucial to public safety to enable their law-abiding re-entry.