On the evening of November 6, 2025, at 6:00 p.m., I attended an affordable-housing forum in Yonkers that promised to bring clarity to a crisis shaping life for so many Westchester families. It was held in the large community room on the second floor of the Riverfront Library, sunlight fading into the Hudson as the room filled with both hope and hesitation.
Dozens of organizers from across Westchester County gathered, clipboards and questions in hand. Among them sat only a handful of Yonkers residents, the very people whose daily lives are most defined by housing costs and displacement. I also saw housing advocates for the disabled, whose quiet presence reminded us that accessibility is as much a part of affordability as rent or zoning.
The evening began with gratitude. Moderator Ron Abad, CEO of Community Housing Innovations, opened by acknowledging Kisha D. Skipper, president of the Yonkers Branch NAACP, whose leadership continues to tie equity to action. He spoke of partnership and shared responsibility. The applause was sincere; the optimism, genuine.
The panel included:
- George Asante, Director of the Westchester County Office of Housing Counsel (OHC)
- Angela Davis-Farrish, Executive Director of The Southeast Bronx Community Organization Development, Inc. (SEBCO); former Executive Director of the New Rochelle Municipal Housing Authority (NRMHA); and Countywide President of the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus
- Tim Foley, CEO of The Building & Realty Institute and Member of Welcome Home Westchester
- Brendan McGrath, Esq., General Counsel of the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers (MHACY)
- Samantha Valencia, Vice President of Property & Asset Management at Westhab
- Shanae Williams, Westchester County Legislator (via Zoom)
Together, they explored the intersection of policy, development, and affordability. Angela Davis-Farrish centered the human reality:
“We can’t talk affordability without talking access. The people who make Westchester run, teachers, health workers, home aides, should be able to live here too.”
George Asante spoke briefly about the Good Cause Eviction law, noting its potential to provide some level of protection for tenants facing displacement. Yet for many in the room, the explanation raised more questions than it answered: how would it actually work, and who would it truly protect?
Because while the topic was housing, the heart of the matter was home.
Complex terms, “developer opt-outs,” “Affordable Housing Trust Fund,” “Housing Needs Assessment”, floated through the room without translation. When one resident asked how these policies affect working families, the answer was polite but abstract.
And there were no Yonkers elected officials present. Not one. For a city-centered forum, that absence hung heavy.
That absence hit differently when you remember history. As Karen, Vice President of the Yonkers Branch NAACP, reminded attendees, this moment echoes a larger accountability gap. She called for follow-up and notification to the Hudson River Community Association (HRCA), NAACP, and Indivisible regarding the 2006 Anti-Discrimination Center Fair Housing lawsuit filed against Westchester County while Andrew Spano was County Executive.
That federal case exposed how the county had failed to meet its fair-housing obligations and perpetuated segregation through zoning and development practices. Nearly two decades later, the question remains: How many new affordable housing units have actually been built throughout the county?
Because it’s not just about numbers, it’s about whether Westchester has truly learned from that lawsuit or simply built taller walls with different names.
Looking around, I saw the faces of those who keep the city alive, seniors with folders of eviction paperwork, mothers balancing childcare with note-taking, young renters leaning forward, hungry for clarity. We came seeking relief, not rhetoric. As one attendee whispered, “We were reminded that the work is still ours to do.”
As someone who has spent a decade as a Crisis Management Specialist within New York State Corrections, I’ve seen how systems respond under pressure and how people are often left to navigate those systems without translation or empathy. That perspective made this moment in Yonkers feel all too familiar: people searching for understanding in spaces that weren’t designed for them to fully belong.
The forum wasn’t without purpose; it just missed its translation. Policy needs people, and people need language they can understand. Without that, the conversation turns to performance.
One attendee captured it best:
“Developers and agencies can sign all the community agreements they want, but it’s the residents who live with the results. You can’t assess what’s broken if you’re not close enough to see the cracks.”
That truth stayed with me. It’s why I keep showing up, as a writer, advocate, and witness. Because real progress doesn’t start in conference rooms; it starts in community rooms, where the people still believe their presence matters.
Yonkers doesn’t need more forums about the people. It needs forums with the people, where questions meet translation, and expertise meets empathy.
Until policy becomes accessible, transparent, and participatory, these conversations will keep circling the same questions: Who gets to stay? Who gets to build? And who, ultimately, is the conversation really for?
Because in Westchester, patriotism isn’t performance.
It’s participatory, an act of listening, learning, and leading collectively.
The Cultural Lens We Need
True collaboration takes more than panels; it takes translation. As someone who’s spent years bridging the language between policy and people, I believe Yonkers has an opportunity to model something new: a culturally fluent approach to housing and civic engagement.
Our city is filled with voices that can guide how information is shared, how trust is built, and how accountability becomes community culture. If we want inclusive outcomes, we need inclusive communication, and that begins with inviting the community into the process, not just to witness it.
Because until Yonkers learns to see through a cultural lens, its best ideas will keep missing the very people they were meant to serve.
Reporter’s Reflection
As the forum ended and we stepped out into the November night, the air was sharp with cold and the city lights shimmered against the Hudson. I watched residents drift toward the parking lot, still talking, still questioning, still hopeful. The library windows glowed behind us like a beacon, but it struck me how many of our brightest ideas stay trapped behind glass. Until the rooms where we meet reflect the people we serve, transparency will remain a word, not a practice.
Great article, clear and concise.