New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed a program on Friday to improve the security and safety of NY housing projects by having building doors opened only by a resident’s fingerprint.
Bloomberg stated that the recent ruling that stop-and-frisk practices in the city were unconstitutional will make it more difficult to protect New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings, FOX News reports. Bloomberg opponent and mayor hopeful Bill Thompson, far from agreeing that fingerprint access to NYCHA buildings would cut down on crime, stated that the idea, "[j]ust like stop-and-frisk […] is another direct act of treating minorities like criminals."
Many public housing tenants are not happy about the possibility of such a program either. Chelsea Houses resident Nino Alayon told CBS New York, “That’s like invading someone’s privacy or something,” while another resident Deborah Gatling added, “Why? For what? We live here all these years, I mean, what seems to be the problem? This is not jail.”
Others, such as Darius Charney of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CRR), have proposed the much simpler solution of fixing door locks and security systems, rather than the excessive fingerprinting measure, for problems of trespassing and crime in public housing.
Photo courtesy of Jim Henderson, Wikimedia Commons