STRIKING DOWN a practice it said would perpetuate segregation, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday ruled that New York City cannot give working families apartment preferences in housing projects where more than 30 percent of residents are white.
The split decision affirms a ruling from Southern District Judge Robert W. Sweet, who in 1999 enjoined the City’s Housing Authority from applying its Working Family Preference (WFP) to 21 housing projects after minority groups filed suit. Yesterday’s ruling applies to 14 of the City’s 322 housing projects.
