Spitzer Reaches Agreement To Improve

Attorney General Spitzer was joined by Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll today to announce that his office has reached an agreement with the landlord and management company of a 200-unit residential apartment development with a history of drug activity. The complex is home to many children and senior citizens, and has been the site of dozens of arrests and gun violence.

Related Management Co., LP, and Onondaga Hilltop Homes, Inc., operate two residential apartment complexes located in an area of Syracuse known as Hilltop. One of the complexes, Sunset Terrace, has been identified by local law enforcement officials as a site of repeated illegal drug trafficking involving heroin, cocaine, and marijuana.

The agreement, the first of its kind in Onondaga County, is a continuation of the Attorney General's "Clean Sweep"anti-drug initiative, a cooperative venture with local law enforcement to clean up properties known for repeated drug activity and drive out drug dealers.

The Sunset Terrace agreement is the latest implementation of a legal strategy developed by Spitzer that has been successfully used in Albany, the Bronx, Mount Vernon, Newburgh, and Utica. It seeks to hold landlords accountable for persistent drug activity on their property.

"Known drug locations must not be tolerated in our neighborhoods," said Spitzer. "Today's agreement seeks to support traditional law enforcement to better protect the citizens harmed by these crimes, by ensuring that the property managers make immediate improvements in security and monitoring."

Syracuse Mayor Matthew Driscoll said: "We are very familiar with the successes of Spitzer's Clean Sweep program. The Attorney General has been working with the Syracuse Police Department over the past few months in preparation for the program to commence locally. We welcome and applaud the proactive steps that the Attorney General's office has demonstrated. In light of the recent tragic events, this initiative could not have been more timely."

Georgette Robinson, President of Rolling Green/Sunset Terrace Tenants Association said: "Our neighborhood has been torn apart by crime and drugs. Children cannot safely play outside and senior citizens are afraid. I am happy to see Mayor Driscoll and Attorney General Spitzer helping us with the Clean Sweep program."

Under the agreement signed Friday, Related Management Co., LP and Onondaga Hilltop Homes, Inc. must take a variety of measures, including:

• increasing private security patrols;
  
  
• repairing and maintaining building entrance locks, intercom systems, security cameras and lighting;
  
  
• conducting a thorough occupancy survey to improve information on who is authorized to be in the building;
  
  
• adding language to house rules and leases requiring tenants to refrain from drug offenses within 200 feet of the building, limit occupancy of their apartments, and assist management in tracking occupancy;
  
  
• screening new applicants for criminal history and barring anyone found to have a drug conviction within five years;
  
  
• securing vacant apartments from unauthorized entry;
  
  
• evicting residents upon conviction for a drug offense;
  
  
• cooperating with efforts of law-enforcement agencies; and
  
  
• submitting regular progress reports to the Attorney General's office.

The agreement was handled by the Attorney General's Syracuse Regional Office, Winthrop Thurlow, Assistant Attorney General in-Charge; and Assistant Attorneys General Timothy Mulvey, and Gordon Cuffy; and Assistant Attorney General Brian Stettin.

Spitzer has proposed legislation that would enhance the ability of landlords, tenants, and law enforcement agencies to prevent the operation of illegal businesses in residential buildings. The legislation would establish a legal presumption of the existence of an illegal business at a location where there have been two drug sale convictions within one year.