Oyster Bay to strike law giving town residents priority for affordable housing

Oyster Bay will hold a public hearing next month to eliminate a housing policy that prioritizes town residents, part of a deal to end state and federal claims of discrimination. 

For years, Oyster Bay has given priority to town residents and their family members for spots in an affordable housing program. The program, known as Next Generation, is geared to first-time homebuyers. Developers can build denser housing and sell the properties at reduced prices. 

In 2014, the U.S. Justice Department filed a lawsuit alleging that two of the town’s housing programs, including another one for seniors, were discriminatory because they gave preference to Oyster Bay residents and relatives. The town has an overwhelmingly white population. The New York Division of Human Rights filed a separate lawsuit in 2015, alleging the programs violated the state’s Human Rights Law.

Last month, the town agreed to drop the residency preference in the Next Generation program as a condition for settling the lawsuit, town documents show. But Oyster Bay is not changing the preference for its senior program, known as Golden Age Housing, and available for those 62 and older.

The town board on Tuesday unanimously approved setting a June 16 hearing on the law change. 

Elaine Gross, president emerita of Syosset-based ERASE Racism, said she supported eliminating the residency preference, which she said perpetuates discrimination. The policy, she said, walls off housing to people outside the town and constricts Long Island's already narrow supply of affordable housing.

"The restriction should have never been there in the first place," Gross said in a phone interview. Oyster Bay’s population is about 70% white and 2% Black, according to 2024 U.S. Census Bureau data.

The town board agreed to a settlement last month requiring it to repeal the preference for residents in only the Next Generation housing program. A total of 56 units have been built for that program at two developments: The Seasons at Plainview and The Seasons at Massapequa. State and federal officials agreed to drop their claims against the Golden Age Housing program, according to town documents. Golden Age accounts for 1,476 units in Bethpage, Massapequa and Woodbury.

Attorneys for the U.S. Justice Department and Oyster Bay agreed to settle the federal case on April 30, court filings show.

At the time of the settlement, housing advocates told Newsday they were frustrated that the residency preference would remain for the senior program. Gross said in an interview that neither program should have a residency requirement. The settlement allowed for town policy, through its senior program, to continue to use housing rules to segregate Black people from the town, Gross said.

Town officials are also required to attend annual fair housing training for three years, according to settlement documents. 

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino said in a statement that the agreement brings "closure to a decades-old lawsuit that predates my administration while safeguarding our commitment to ensuring seniors can continue to live in our community."

By Joseph Ostapiuk

joseph.ostapiuk@newsday.com@OstapiukJ