YONKERS EVICTS 25 HOUSEHOLDS FROM PUBLIC HOUSING FOR DRUGS

YONKERS -- The city Municipal Housing Authority's
one-strike-and-you're-out anti-drugs policy led to the evictions of
25 households from public housing in 2005 for drug-related crimes.

Eight of the convicted drug offenders lived in the housing projects,
while the other offenders were not registered tenants but were
staying with an apartment's leaseholder or using an apartment in
public housing for their illegal activity. Housing Authority Director
Peter Smith said outsiders are responsible for most crime in public housing.

"Eighty percent of the arrests on project grounds are people who
don't live in the projects. That's been consistent over the years," Smith said.

Smith released the eviction figures in response to a Journal News
inquiry about the fate of two men arrested in a Dec. 8 drug sweep in
the city's southwest quadrant, called Operation Impact II by police.
William King, 30, of 55 School St., and Ronnie Morales, 26, of 49
Mulford Gardens, both were arrested that day and charged with
third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance near school
grounds, a felony.

The eight-month Operation Impact investigation involved 120
undercover purchases of crack cocaine and heroin and led to the
arrests or indictments of 76 suspects, many of whom were apprehended Dec. 8.

Smith said neither King nor Morales were registered tenants of the
public housing addresses they gave. He said there would not be
repercussions against the leaseholders at those addresses unless the
accused were convicted of crimes or the housing authority determined
they actually lived there.

Yonkers has 2,609 public housing units.

Some residents at the Ross F. Calcagno Houses on School Street said
they had noticed fewer people hanging out and other positive changes
in the complex over the past year. Kenneth James, 56, a boiler
maintenance worker, did not agree.

"I've seen the (overall) decline. You see the grounds. The tenants
have to take care of their own floors," said James, who does not live
at School Street but was visiting his mother-in-law.

Residents in and near the Mulford Gardens complex hailed the police
crackdown and said they've noticed changes.

"There's been a big improvement in the past year in terms of getting
rid of the drugs, the dealers, cleaning up the projects," said Joe
Williams, 50, a teacher who has lived in Mulford Gardens for 18
years. "I don't think there is anything more that they can do that
they are (already) doing, because they are doing a good job."

Lawrence Young, 52, an assistant pastor at the Mount Hebron Apostolic
Temple at 27 Vineyard Ave., next to 70 Mulford Gardens, has a
bird's-eye perspective on the public housing complex because of his
location. He's lived in the neighborhood for 29 years.

"It's gotten quieter. We used to have gunshots through the night,"
said Young, noting there has been an increased police presence and
that the police response time to phone calls has improved.

"You used to have a lot of people hanging out in the street, but you
don't have that anymore."