DOJ files lawsuit against NY developer for disability discrimination

From The NY Times August 14:

The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan on Wednesday against AvalonBay Communities, one of the largest apartment developers in the United States, accusing the company of illegally discriminating against disabled people by failing to provide them with sufficient access at a 361-unit rental building on the Lower East Side.

In a statement, the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York said the case was “the government’s first lawsuit in Manhattan alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act in the design and construction of multifamily housing.”

The lawsuit concerns Avalon Chrystie Place, at 229 Chrystie Street, between East Houston and Stanton Streets. Opened in 2005 at a cost of $149 million, it was constructed on a formerly desolate site in what was known as the Cooper Square Urban Renewal Area. A Whole Foods Market is on the ground level of the building, which includes a rooftop deck, a fitness center and a residents’ lounge with a pool table.

The seven-page complaint, filed in United States District Court, says the building has common areas that are inaccessible to the disabled. Furthermore, federal prosecutors said in a statement, the building “lacks routes into and through dwellings, reinforcements in bathroom walls to allow the installation of grab bars, and kitchens and bathrooms usable by a person in a wheelchair.”

Along with AvalonBay, the complaint names several of the company’s subsidiaries and development partners, including SLCE Architects, a Manhattan-based design firm.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was expanded in 1991 to require that the design and construction of new housing accommodate people with disabilities. AvalonBay has faced several suits brought by the Equal Rights Center, a fair-housing group based in Washington, asserting that the developer has failed to follow the law. (The Justice Department has filed papers supporting the center in those cases.)

In a statement, Fred Harris, senior vice president of AvalonBay, a real estate investment trust based in Alexandria, Va., said, “Contrary to the Department of Justice allegations, Avalon Chrystie Place was designed and constructed, and is operated, with a view to full compliance with all accessibility codes and laws.” He said the project complied with Local Law 58, a New York City statute that he said “has long been understood to satisfy the accessibility requirements of both federal and local law.”

James Davidson, a partner at SLCE Architects, said, “We as a firm feel we have been complying with Local Law 58 and the accessibility standards, as we understand them.”

The federal complaint seeks a court order barring the developer “from designing or constructing multifamily housing in the future that does not contain the accessibility features required by federal law.” It also seeks monetary damages to compensate victims and a civil penalty.

“Housing must be available to all Americans without regard to disability,” Michael J. Garcia, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. “We will continue to pursue those who fail to design and construct accessible housing as required by federal law.”

Two assistant United States attorneys, Susan E. Light and Brian M. Feldman, are handling the case for the Justice Department.

Michael G. Allen, a lawyer in Washington who works with the National Fair Housing Alliance, an advocacy group that is not involved in the case, said that developers had often flouted the 1991 requirements even though following them would add only a small amount to building costs.

“I can only conclude that after 17 years of outreach, education and enforcement that people who make these mistakes make them knowingly,” he said in a phone interview.