Matinecock Court housing complex's opening in East Northport touted by Hochul, other officials

Janaya Silva had nearly lost hope after years of trying to find an affordable home on Long Island for herself and her four children.

Silva, 44, said she lost her home in Copiague several years ago after a divorce and financial hardships. She thought she might have to leave Long Island until she won a housing lottery last year at the Matinecock Court co-op housing complex in East Northport.

Silva was the first resident to move into the 146-unit $98 million affordable housing complex in December.

"What I thought was going to be a couple of days in a hotel turned into years of trying to find a place to live," Silva said. "Trying to find a place that would accept me and my four children was really, really hard. So this was an absolute miracle and a dream come true. It came at the right time, and to have a place where I can call home."

State officials, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, pointed to the complex as the type of affordable housing needed on Long Island during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday.

The development by Levittown developer D & F Development Group along with the Greenlawn-based Housing Help Inc., a nonprofit housing agency, was completed after nearly 50 years of litigation, including a fair housing lawsuit arguing racially disproportionate zoning.

The Huntington branch of the NAACP filed a fair housing lawsuit against the Town of Huntington after the town opposed rezoning the site when it was proposed in 1978. The case was settled following a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, affirming a U.S. Court of Appeals case in 1988.

"It's a symbol of the past, of why it took so long. But today, as we go forward, I want this to be also a symbol of the future," Hochul said. "A new attitude about housing and the value that housing brings to communities who their resistance was so misplaced, so ill-founded to create all these hassles to let a product like this, so people can have the dignity of a roof over their heads where they feel safe and have family."

The Matinecock Court co-op opened with a housing lottery last year, including eight units for developmentally disabled adults, four units for veterans and the rest for residents between 50 to 80% of the average median income, or between $40,000 and $98,000, Newsday previously reported.