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Boro has 2nd−fewest sex felons in projects

The number of registered sex offenders living illegally in New York City Public Housing complexes grew over the last year, but Queens has the second fewest of any borough, a study conducted by City Councilman Eric Gioia (D−Sunnyside) found.

Gioia, chairman of the Council’s Committee on Oversight and Investigation, found that 126 sex offenders have addresses in public housing, up 12 percent from the 112 listed in 2008.

Of those, however, only eight lived in Queens. Some 42 were registered in Brooklyn, 37 in Manhattan, 36 in the Bronx and three in Staten Island.

Federal laws prevent sex offenders from living in public housing developments.

The study also found that 37 of the sex offenders had the same address listed as the year before, meaning the city’s Housing Authority failed to evict them.

Gioia called for a system to be put in place that would identify public housing addresses and alert authorities when a sex offender moved there.

The study was first issued in 2006, resulting in the formation of a federal task force that found and evicted 78 sex offenders illegally living in public housing in 2007.

— Jeremy Walsh