News & Press

City Limits Highlights MFY’s Battle with Bushwick Landlord

MFY’s lawsuit on behalf of tenants at 159 Suydam Street in Brooklyn was highlighted in an article in City Limits, which laid bare the problems faced by tenants in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods and the difficulties in getting aggressive enforcement of city regulations in small buildings where tenants are faced with unlivable conditions. MFY will be …

MFY Attorney Honored for Consumer Rights Work

The Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office (CLARO) honored MFY Senior Staff Attorney Ariana Lindermayer for her expertise and assistance to low-income New Yorkers with consumer debt problems at CLARO clinics throughout the city. MFY participates regularly in advising people with consumer debt at CLARO’s court-based clinics as part of our Consumer Rights Project.

City Council Honors MFY Paralegal

City Council Member Margaret Chin presented a proclamation from the City Council to MFY Paralegal Fanny Chan in recognition of her tireless work over the past decade to help low-income residents of Chinatown with housing and public benefit issues. The presentation took place at a Lunar New Year celebration on February 29, 2016.

MFY Rallies with Bushwick Tenants to End Harassment and Neglect

Scores of tenants at 159 Suydam St. in Brooklyn held a press conference today to publicize their lawsuit against their landlord and their demand that the city appoint a 7-A Administrator to manage their building. For many months the tenants have endured severe harassment and neglect, including illegal evictions and hundreds of uncorrected housing violations. …

Hundreds of Affordable Apartments in Manhattan Are Used as Hotel Rooms

MFY Legal Services’ SRO Law Project is one of the many organizations working to preserve SRO housing and fighting against illegal hotel rooms in SROs, which are a critical part of NYC’s housing stock.  The practice of short-term rentals in residential SROs is widespread on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, significantly contributing to the lack of …

Advocates Troubled over Consolidation of Brooklyn Foreclosure Cases

Advocates voiced concerns over the decision to concentrate foreclosure cases with three judges in Brooklyn Supreme Court, instead of spreading them out among 27 judges as has been the practice. With close to 12,000 cases pending, advocates worry that judges will not be able to spend the time needed to properly analyze and adjudicate the …

MFY Supports Tightening NYC Rules to Protect Tenants during Building Renovations

MFY testified today in support of NY City Council legislation to require landlords to reduce the number of hazardous violations in their buildings before receiving permits for renovation and construction, and to obtain a certificate of no harassment before receiving building permits. These bills merely require what should not be controversial: that landlords ensure the …

Judge Orders Three-Quarter House to Stop Harassing Tenants

A Manhattan judge granted a preliminary injunction barring a three-quarter house landlord from harassing tenants. After three tenants represented by MFY Legal Services won eviction cases in Housing Court, the three-quarter house operator cut off heat, discarded tenants’ food, and required them to move to different rooms every 28 days in an attempt to evade …

MFY Urges NYS to Ban Mandatory Arbitration

In testimony before NYS Assembly committees investigating mandatory arbitration clauses in contracts, MFY Staff Attorney Nicole Arrindell  showed how this system is biased and rigged against low-income consumers and low-wage workers, and urged the Assembly to ban it.

Three-Quarter House Tenants Win Injunction Prohibiting Evictions

Three-quarter house residents represented by MFY won a preliminary injunction prohibiting NRI Group, a large operator, from evicting tenants without court process, mistreating tenants so as to pressure them to move out, and retaliating against tenants who have resisted eviction. Although the tenants had won illegal eviction cases against NRI in housing court, the operator …

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