Brooklyn affordable housing manager loses HUD funding due to discrimination

(Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

By Curtis Brodner

(NEW YORK) The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) cut off funding to a Brooklyn housing management group after an investigation revealed it violated anti-discrimination laws by not providing proper access to people with disabilities.

An HUD press release says Carbrook Associates were notified of the “widespread architectural barriers” that violated federal discrimination law in 2019, but the company refused to bring the buildings in question into compliance.

The investigation found Carbrook received over $11.5 million from HUD over the 10 years preceding the inquiry to operate two housing developments for low income families — apartments at 1577 Carroll Street and 440 Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights, according to a letter from the agency.

A separate HUD investigation is currently underway into racial discrimination in Carbrook managed buildings. The press release notes the company’s properties are occupied almost exclusively by white tenants.

“HUD is committed to ensuring that individuals with disabilities, racial minorities and other underserved communities have an equal opportunity, as guaranteed by federal law, to enjoy accessible, affordable housing.” said Jeanine Worden, HUD’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, in the press release. “HUD will not tolerate housing providers taking federal housing funds while shirking their civil rights obligations and refusing to cooperate with federal civil rights investigations.”

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