The Nation : Yonkers Rejects Desegregation 2nd Time

The Yonkers City Council, risking fines that could bankrupt New York’s fourth largest city within weeks, meeting late into the night voted for the second time to defy a federal desegregation order requiring construction of 1,000 units of public housing in predominantly white neighborhoods. The 4-3 vote came after a tumultuous 4-hour public hearing in which Mayor Nicholas Wasicsko repeatedly ordered the expulsion of disruptive white homeowners who heckled the council and supporters of the desegregation plan. After an identical vote two weeks ago, federal Judge Leonard B. Sand ordered the city to pay fines that could wipe out its entire budget in three weeks. He also ordered the four councilmen voting against the court order to pay fines of $500 a day and ultimately go to jail. However, the city last week received a reprieve from the fines pending an appeals court hearing Wednesday.