Court Permits Nonprofit Tenant Organizations to Join Lawsuit Against NYCHA

The federal government sued NYCHA, claiming pervasive violations of federal health and safety regulations, systemic indifference, and a culture of dysfunction and deceit. The complaint cited peeling lead paint, mold, insufficient heat, broken elevators, pests, and vermin plaguing NYCHA apartments. Two organizations, the City-Wide Council of Presidents Inc. (CCOP) and At-Risk Community Services, Inc. (At-Risk), asked permission to intervene in the case. CCOP is an elected body of NYCHA tenant leaders. At-Risk is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is "to secure human rights and economic justice for public housing residents in NYC." The court ruled for the organizations. Although they didn't show that the government could not adequately represent NYCHA tenants' interests in decent, safe, and sanitary housing, their intervention was warranted, although limited to opposing a proposed consent decree that the organizations claimed was insufficient. 

U.S. v. NYCHA: Index No. 18 cv 5213, NYLJ No. 1536941119 (SDNY; 9/13/18; Pauley, DJ)