LANDLORD DEFENDS HOUSING 4 EX-CONS

Landlord Charlie Manolakos had a vacant house on Eleanor Avenue in Mastic when an agency that works with the Suffolk County Department of Social Services asked him in June to take in four Level 3 sex offenders who needed housing.  According to experts, a new county residency restriction law prohibiting sex offenders from living within a quarter-mile of places where children congregate makes it difficult for many offenders to find suitable housing.  Because of these laws, you're forcing housing in more rural or suburban areas and Mastic happens to be one of these areas, Manolakos said.  I understand nobody welcomes sex offenders, but they have a constitutional right to live somewhere, he said.

(New York)