Legislative intent.
The Suffolk County Legislature hereby finds and determines that
in the County of Suffolk, with its diverse population, there is no
greater danger to the health, morals, safety, and welfare of the County
and its inhabitants than the existence of groups and individuals reflecting
prejudice against one another and antagonism to each other because
of actual or perceived differences of race, creed, color, sex, disability,
religion, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, age,
gender, or national origin. Many persons have been compelled to live
under substandard, unhealthful, unsanitary, and crowded living conditions
because of discrimination and segregation in housing.
The Legislature also finds that housing segregation creates
economic instability by limiting individuals' access to quality
education, health care and job opportunities for professionals and
skilled workers, which manifests into unequal wealth accumulation.
These factors create pockets of poverty, and limit the financial resources
available to those neighborhoods. As businesses relocate to other
communities, the neighborhoods left behind lose a sustainable tax
base, to the social and economic detriment of the entire County.
The Legislature further finds and declares that acts of prejudice,
intolerance, bigotry, and discrimination which deny a person the opportunity
to sell, purchase or lease, rent, or obtain financing for the purchase
or lease of housing accommodations because of actual or perceived
race, creed, color, sex, disability, religion, familial status, marital
status, sexual orientation, age, gender, or national origin threaten
the fundamental rights and privileges of the inhabitants of the County
of Suffolk and undermine the foundations of a free democratic state
and the economic stability of the region.
The Legislature further declares it to be the public policy
of the County of Suffolk to eliminate and prevent discrimination and
segregation based on actual or perceived race, creed, color, sex,
disability, religion, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation,
age, gender, or national origin and to safeguard the right of every
person to sell, purchase, lease, rent, or obtain financing for the
purchase or lease of housing accommodations without regard to actual
or perceived race, creed, color, sex, disability, religion, familial
status, marital status, sexual orientation, ape, gender, or national
origin.
The Legislature also finds that housing segregation creates
economic instability by limiting access to quality education, health
care and job opportunities for professionals and skilled workers.
It creates pockets of poverty and increases the cost of housing in
all neighborhoods. It limits the availability of housing for enterprises
whose workforces reflect the efficiencies of diversity, and this limitation
reduces the County's capacity for economic development, to the
social and economic detriment of the entire County.
Therefore, the purpose of this law is to address and eliminate
such discriminatory practices and obtain certification by the United
States Department of Housing and Urban Development that this law is
substantially equivalent to the federal Fair Housing Act, so that
the County can be eligible for federal and state funding for enforcement
and administration of this law.