A state judge ruled that the city terminated the homeless center’s contract without rational basis, ensuring the Midtown East center can continue to operate until 2026.
“While from time to time, our system does hold people of wealth, power, and/or influence accountable for their violations of the law, these kinds of cases do not represent the bulk, or even close to it, of the criminal prosecutions that take place here.”
“Collectively, we spent 69 years in prison for crimes we did not commit. We are now outside of prison because we were granted clemency and parole, respectively, but having yet to be exonerated, in many ways we are still not free.”
“The harsh reality is that, despite the possibility that a rich and powerful man may now be in for his just deserts, our criminal legal system is daily marked by widespread unfairness and a stark racial bias.”
The process, called an administrative dismissal, is enshrined in state law. The Office of Court Administration wiped out a category of older eviction cases that property owners started before the end of 2020 seeking to recover unpaid rent, in which tenants never filed a response and the landlords took no further action.
In a six-page decision Thursday, a panel of Third Department judges sided with Albany landlords in finding that state property laws preempt and nullify the city’s 2021 good cause eviction protections. The ruling makes the need for similar protections at the state level more urgent, tenant advocates say.
The city’s trailblazing program guaranteeing legal representation to the city’s poorest tenants facing eviction has been falling short since the state eviction moratorium was lifted last year; many still face housing court alone. State officials told City Limits the program has declined more than 10,000 cases since March 2022.
The owners of three buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens are accused in the suit of falsely registering initial rents with the state Division of Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) in order to charge tenants more money than legally permitted at renewal or on new leases.
“By seeking credible data and nurturing a values-based conversation that better elevates justice, state leaders can both serve public safety interests and avoid an unjust burden on individuals and communities.”
“There is currently no right to public defense in immigration proceedings, but having a lawyer to navigate this notoriously complicated system advances the cause of justice.”
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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