The Nation - News from March 19, 1989

Four Yonkers, N.Y., city councilmen cited for contempt last year for refusing to vote for a court-ordered housing desegregation plan voted about $300,000 in city funds to pay their legal costs stemming from the dispute. One of the councilmen, Nicholas Longo, said the fees may eventually total $600,000. Voting against the measure were Mayor Nicholas Wasicsko and Councilman Harry Oxman. District Judge Leonard Sand last year ordered the city to begin integrating its housing by building 1,000 units of low-cost housing in predominantly white areas of town. The City Council balked, and the city and councilmen were fined.