A 185-unit apartment building on Garden Street in New Rochelle is at the center of a new federal lawsuit accusing its developer of shutting out residents with disabilities. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York filed a Fair Housing Act complaint against Stagg Group, alleging the New Rochelle-based firm designed and built West View Apartments at 26 Garden St. with a curb ramp too steep for wheelchair users and door obstructions blocking an accessible route into the laundry room.
Six Buildings, One Alleged Pattern
The lawsuit, first reported by Daily Voice, names five additional Stagg Group properties in the Bronx alongside West View: Riverdale Tower at 3745 Riverdale Ave., The Station at 5959 Broadway, The Hudson at 6327 Broadway, The Stables at 6375 Broadway, and The Equestrian at 1680 Pelham Parkway South. According to the Department of Justice, federal inspections found all six buildings inaccessible to people with disabilities, with prosecutors detailing non-automatic front entrance doors requiring excessive force to open and mailboxes mounted too high for wheelchair users to reach.
The complaint also points to Stagg Group's role in designing and constructing 223 Willett Ave. in Port Chester, alleging the pattern of accessibility problems may extend beyond the six inspected buildings. Prosecutors did not identify specific accessibility problems at the Port Chester address among those detailed for the other properties. Federal officials allege the conditions across the portfolio violate the Fair Housing Act's design requirements for multifamily housing, which under 24 CFR § 100.205 mandate that non-exempt buildings of four or more units built for occupancy after March 13, 1991 include accessible entrances, usable doors, and accessible common areas, per HUD.
What Federal Prosecutors Are Seeking
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to require Stagg to retrofit apartments and public and common areas to comply with federal accessibility requirements, and to take steps ensuring future projects meet those same standards. The government is also seeking monetary damages for people allegedly harmed by the inaccessible conditions, along with a civil penalty. The lawsuit's allegations remain unproven in court.
The case fits into a much longer enforcement record in the region. Over the past two decades, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has brought 21 separate federal Fair Housing Act lawsuits against developers, architects, and construction firms over accessibility design non-compliance, according to the Department of Justice. Past targets of that enforcement have included major regional builders such as Related Companies, The Durst Organization, Glenwood Management, Silverstein Properties, Atlantic Development Group, and Toll Brothers.
A Major Player In Regional Housing
Stagg Group is not a small operator. Founded in 1996 by President Mark Stagg, the company manages more than 5,000 apartments and roughly 2 million square feet of residential real estate across New York City and Westchester County, according to Westfair Communications. The firm has an active development pipeline that includes QWest Towers, a 229-unit affordable Mount Vernon project built with Simone Development that includes 12 mobility-adapted and seven sensory-adapted units, and a proposed 12-story, 600-student dormitory tower with Maddd Equities at 2740 Webster Avenue in Fordham targeted for 2029 occupancy.
It remains unclear whether Stagg Group will negotiate a settlement involving retrofits and financial compensation, as other developers have done in past SDNY accessibility cases, or fight the allegations in court. People who believe they experienced discrimination because of inaccessible conditions at any of the named properties can contact the U.S. Attorney's Office's civil rights unit.
