NYS Senator Announces Housing, Code Enforcement Investigation

New York state Senator James Skoufis was in Newburgh Friday to announce an ongoing statewide investigation into housing conditions and code enforcement outside New York City. Newburgh is one of four municipalities, all in the listening area, at the heart of the investigation.

State Senator Skoufis of the 39th District is chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations. He stood outside a building on First Street in the City of Newburgh to discuss the investigation that began two months ago.

“So, the point of this investigation is this: what can the state be doing to step in and provide better tools? What laws can we be amending? Where in the state building code can we be looking at to change? Is there legal housing that’s deplorable that should be illegal housing?” Skoufis says. “What effectively can we all be doing to work together to make sure that people are not living in buildings like the one that we’re standing in front of today.”