Bronx
What’s Happening This Week in NYC Housing? March 23-29
Ryan Pullido |
City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.
City Limits rounds up the latest housing and land use-related events, public hearings and upcoming affordable housing lotteries that are ending soon.
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.
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.
Following the arrival of more than 27,000 asylum seekers, many of whom have struggled to find attorneys in the midst of a historic backlog of cases in New York’s immigration courts, state officials, affected families, and immigrant advocates launched a renovated campaign to guarantee statewide legal representation in deportation proceedings.
“The tragic attack in Buffalo should be a wake-up call: It’s up to all of us—but especially City and State lawmakers—to stand up against white supremacy in all its forms. That includes clearing a path for immigrants to make a new home in New York and become full members of our community where they belong.”
“Our goal is to intervene and disrupt the eviction process,” one organizer said at a rally outside Bronx Housing Court Thursday. “We’ve always known the eviction moratorium is a temporary measure [but] it made it possible for our members to dream of a world without evictions.”
“What we need to do is to ensure that, no matter how much money you’re making, you can access a free attorney if you’re at risk of eviction,” North Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler said during an appearance on WBAI’s City Watch Sunday.
Kathy Hochul’s first State of the State proposal included sweeping plans for affordable housing, free legal assistance for low-income tenants and sending social workers into the subways to conduct homeless outreach. But the governor failed to address other high-profile issues, like the end of pandemic eviction protections and the “Good Cause” eviction bill.
All tenants in New York City Housing Court now have a right to legal assistance, with lower-income renters eligible for full representation from nonprofit attorneys through an initiative funded with $166 million in the latest budget.
Many tenants facing eviction in housing court are unaware of their right to a publicly funded lawyer, Bronx advocacy organizations contend.