The Daily Dirt: Legal Aid wades into housing court fight

As one of the city’s biggest landlords takes housing court to court, tenant attorneys are trying to get the case thrown out.

The LeFrak Organization filed a lawsuit in February against the city’s Office of Court Administration and Civil Court, which handles eviction cases. The complaint points to a state law that requires the court to set a trial date or hearing in a rent non-payment case three to eight days after the tenant responds to the complaint. Initial court dates are being delayed 60 days or more, according to the complaint.

The lawsuit also claims that the court improperly adjourns cases on a regular basis, forcing landlords to “wait months on end for the issuance of warrants to which they inarguably have an immediate right upon obtaining a judgment of possession.” LeFrak seeks to force the court to abide by the three- to eight-day timeframe and to only grant adjournments when parties in the case specifically ask for them.

The Legal Aid Society on Friday filed a motion seeking to intervene and urging the state Supreme Court to deny LeFrak’s petition. The group argues that the landlord lacks standing to bring the case because the lawsuit fails to establish “concrete harm” to any of the 16 LeFrak entities listed as plaintiffs.

Legal Aid’s motion calls LeFrak’s complaint an “attempt to turn the courts into a conveyor belt for evictions” and “ignores the court’s autonomy and its inherent powers over proceedings.” The group points to previous court decisions that the legislature has no authority to require a court to impose specific case schedules “regardless of circumstances.” Legal Aid argues that eviction cases are often adjourned to allow tenants to find an interpreter.

Attorneys for LeFrak reject the group’s arguments and say it is “nonsensical” that the law dictating trial schedules cannot be enforced.

“It was drafted not to expedite evictions but to facilitate expedient resolutions of housing disputes,” the attorneys for LeFrak — Craig Gambardella, Nativ Winiarsky and Eric McAvey — said in a joint statement. “Allowing matters to languish for months at a time without court appearances at which such disputes could conceivably be resolved between the parties serves neither landlords nor tenants.”

The delays are the court’s fault, the statement added.

Legal Aid’s Ellen Davidson agreed that the housing court backlog is a problem, but said it is the result of an underfunded court system. Legal Aid argues that the speedier timeline being sought by LeFrak would undermine the city’s Right to Counsel program.

LeFrak’s case, she claimed, essentially says that “it is more important that cases move quickly than that they move fairly.”

What we’re thinking about: How much housing will be built on the Red Hook waterfront now that the city is taking ownership? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: One of the original red granite eagles that perched on the original Penn Station’s cornice will return to Vornado Realty Trust’s Penn 2 when its redevelopment is complete. I’m told it does not have an official name, so if you have ideas, please send my way.

Elsewhere in New York…

— The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday designated the Heckscher Building (aka the Crown Building) at 730 Fifth Avenue a landmark. The skyscraper is one of the earliest surviving buildings to conform to the 1916 Zoning Resolution, according to the commission.

— GrowNYC says it needs to close 44 of its community composting sites by the end of Sunday because of the mayor’s budget cuts, Gothamist reports. The sites could be reopened if funding is restored in the final spending plan. The fiscal year begins July 1.

— I mean, of course this happened? The technology art sculptures dubbed the Portal were placed in Manhattan and in Dublin to show video streams from each city, giving passersby a glimpse of people from the respective faraway cities. But within a few days, people were making obscene gestures, showing inappropriate images, flashing the camera … you get the idea. Dublin City Council hopes to find a solution and reboot the livestream later this week, the Washington Post reports.

Closing Time 

Residential: The priciest residential sale on Tuesday was for a duplex penthouse at 138 East 50th Street in Turtle Bay for $24.6 million. The Centrale unit is 5,400 square feet. Douglas Elliman’s Joan Swift, Diane Johnson and Bertrand Buchin had the listing.

Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was at ​​8 West 14th Street for $57.5 million. The Greenwich Village property is six stories and once served as 110,000 square feet of office space. Legion Investment Group and real estate firm EJS Group were the buyers.

New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was a penthouse condo unit at 39 Crosby Street for $27.3 million. The Soho triplex is 6,100 square feet. Compass’s Shannon Eidman has the listing. — Joseph Jungermann