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 landmark Right to Counsel law was the country’s first to guarantee legal representation in housing court to low-income tenants most at risk for eviction. But advocates and providers say it’s been undermined in recent months as the courts schedule eviction cases faster than there are available housing attorneys to take them. “When the law was first passed, it worked,” Ruth Riddick, a Flatbush tenant, testified Friday at a city hearing on the initiative.
“While states like New York emphasize supporting vulnerable women and children as a priority, there has been too little focus on the need to improve the child support system to do so—especially within family courts. Instead, these courts—which handle hundreds of thousands of cases per year—have been historically neglected.”
‘While the scourge of domestic violence is found within all communities, ultra-Orthodox Jewish women face additional and unique challenges. Understanding how someone’s culture heavily informs the choices they make, enables us to better serve domestic violence survivors and also eliminates barriers.’
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