New York State’s Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law §87 et. seq.) is known as “FOIL”. FOIL allows members of the public to access non-privileged records of governmental agencies. Anyone can file a FOIL request, seeking to either review and/or copy a MHACY record. Requests for access to MHACY records must be in writing and mailed or faxed to the following address:
Records Access Officer
Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers
1511 Central Park Avenue
Yonkers, New York 10710
Fax: (914) 793-6916
Where the request is limited to an inspection of the records, that inspection is available at no cost to the public. The Records Access Officer will acknowledge receipt of the request and provide the requestor with his/her name, title, and phone number to schedule an appointment at a mutually convenient date and time for the inspection of the record. Appointments are available between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.
Where the requestor seeks copies of MHACY records, the Records Access Officer will acknowledge receipt of the request and notify the requestor of the copying cost, which must be paid in advance by check or money order made payable to the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers. MHACY charges $.25 per page for all copies.
Records or portions thereof which are privileged or prohibited from disclosure pursuant to FOIL will be redacted or omitted from the documents produced. Whenever documents are withheld from the production, the requestor will be notified of the reason(s) for the redaction(s) and of the procedures to appeal to MHACY’s Executive Director.
MHACY’S FOIL APPEAL PROCEDURES
Any person denied access to a record may within thirty days appeal in writing to:
Executive Director
Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers
1511 Central Park Avenue
Yonkers, New York 10710