Directs New York city housing authority to first offer vacant apartments to mobility impaired tenants living on a higher floor.

---

S2184-2013 Actions

• Jan 14, 2013: REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

S2184-2013 Memo

BILL NUMBER:S2184

TITLE  OF BILL:   An act to amend the public housing law, in relation to
granting tenants, with a physically  disabling  condition  that  affects
their  mobility,  a  preference in occupying a vacant dwelling unit on a
lower floor in the same building in projects operated by  the  New  York
city housing authority

PURPOSE:    Allows current mobility impaired tenants in NYCHA housing to
move to a lower floor if a unit becomes available.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:  Amends Section 402 of the public housing law  by
adding  a  new  subdivision  10 that gives preference to current tenants
upon a vacancy in their project to move to a lower floor if  the  vacant
unit  is  the same size or smaller, and they or any other legal occupant
residing with the tenant have a disabling condition that affects mobili-
ty. If more the one individual would qualify to move,  preference  would
be given to the tenant that has lived in the project the longest.

JUSTIFICATION:   On May 29, 2009 a fire at Carlton Manor, a public hous-
ing project in Far Rockaway, resulted in the death of a woman who  lived
with  and  cared  for her daughter who was confined to a wheelchair. The
fire began in their apartment which was on the tenth floor.  This  death
highlighted  the  concern of public housing residents who live in higher
floors of public housing projects and have a physically disabling condi-
tion that affects mobility, to be given preference to move  to  a  lower
floor if a vacancy dwelling unit becomes available.

People  with  mobility  impairments  should  be  located as close to the
ground floor as possible. This bill only impacts public housing projects
owned and managed by the New York City Housing Authority.

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.7898 of 2010: Passed Senate  S.4455  of  2012:  Referred  to  Housing,
Construction, and Community Development

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None to the State.

EFFECTIVE DATE:  On the thirtieth day after becoming law.

S2184-2013 Text

                      S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
  ________________________________________________________________________

                                    2184

                         2013-2014 Regular Sessions

                              I N  SENATE

                              January 14, 2013
                                 ___________

  Introduced  by  Sen.  SMITH  -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
    printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction  and
    Community Development

  AN ACT to amend the public housing law, in relation to granting tenants,
    with  a  physically disabling condition that affects their mobility, a
    preference in occupying a vacant dwelling unit on a lower floor in the
    same building in projects  operated  by  the  New  York  city  housing
    authority

    THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
  BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


    Section 1. Section 402 of the public housing law is amended by  adding
  a new subdivision 10 to read as follows:

    10.  NOTWITHSTANDING  ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW TO THE CONTRARY, UPON
  THE VACANCY OF A DWELLING UNIT IN ANY PROJECT OPERATED BY THE AUTHORITY,
  SUCH VACANT DWELLING UNIT SHALL FIRST BE MADE AVAILABLE FOR OCCUPANCY TO
  ANY TENANT WITHIN THE SAME PROJECT WHO LIVES ON A HIGHER FLOOR THAN  THE
  VACANT  DWELLING  UNIT, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, THE VACANT DWELLING UNIT MUST
  BE THE SAME SIZE OR SMALLER THAN THE UNIT OCCUPIED BY SUCH  TENANT,  AND
  THE  TENANT  OR  ANY  OTHER  LEGAL  OCCUPANT CURRENTLY RESIDING WITH THE
  TENANT HAS A DISABILITY, AS DEFINED BY SUBDIVISION TWENTY-ONE OF SECTION
  TWO HUNDRED NINETY-TWO OF THE EXECUTIVE LAW, THAT AFFECTS MOBILITY.   IF
  TWO  OR  MORE TENANTS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR SUCH VACANT APARTMENT, PREFERENCE
  SHALL BE GIVEN TO THE INDIVIDUAL THAT HAS RESIDED IN THE PROJECT FOR THE
  LONGEST PERIOD OF TIME.
    S 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day  after  it  shall
  have become a law.


   EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                        [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                             LBD01747-01-3