BY LUAN ROGERS

DOWNTOWN  — Mayor Mamdani became the first sitting New York mayor to visit Housing Court when he came to the Brooklyn Civil Courthouse on Monday morning. After speaking with judges, lawyers, advocates and tenants, the mayor promised “to confront the concerns” he heard.

In a post on X, Mamdani said that “what I saw will stay with me for a long time.” He described seeing “families on the brink of losing their homes,” as well as tenants “searching for justice in an overwhelming system.”

While the Mayor was inside, tenant organizers and legal services workers led a rally for tenant protections outside the court house.

“We’re glad to see the mayor paying attention to the eviction crisis that New Yorkers are continuing to go through,” said Khadija Hussain, a campaign organizer with the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition. “We’re excited to work with the mayor’s office to protect tenants in housing court.”

Sabrina Simon, deputy director of the Flatbush Tenant Coalition, had hoped to get a chance to speak with the mayor. “We had arranged to participate in the walk through with the mayor but he ended up with the judges,” she said. “I thought he might come say hi, but he was rushed out of here.”

Other organizers were less than impressed with the mayor’s hasty departure from Housing Court. “He ran out on us,” said Rachel Cyprien, an activist with the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft. “Shame on him,” she added.

Deed theft, an issue that disproportionately affects Black homeowners in New York, occurs when property titles are changed without the owner’s consent. According to an investigation by CBS New York, there has been a 240% increase in deed theft complaints from 2023 to 2025.

“We hope he saw the dehumanization that goes on in these courts,” said Omar Hardy, an organizer with the People’s Coalition To Stop Deed Theft. “That’s the first step,” he added. “But we’ve got a lot more work to do.”

After the mayor left, some members of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) appeared with tenants outside. When asked whether the Right Counsel program will receive additional funding in the upcoming City budget, MOPT director, Cea Weaver, said that it was “too early to tell.”

The City Council introduced the landmark Right to Counsel program in 2017. The first of its kind in the nation, the program provides free legal assistance to low-income tenants facing eviction. Tenants’ household income must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty line to qualify. The city is contracted with public defenders who then represent the tenants in housing court.

As eviction filings increase, public defenders are struggling to meet tenants’ demands for representation. Christina Brown, a public defender with the New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), explained how there are not enough lawyers to provide assistance. “Everyone who is qualified should get a lawyer in housing court,” she said. “We end up having to turn away eligible tenants.”

Brown identified issues with pro-landlord bias within the court. “Housing court really operates as an eviction bill and collection agency for landlords,” she said. An April 2025 report by the New York State Bar Association referred to the housing court process as “cattle-call justice” with each case receiving only limited individual attention because of the high volume of cases.

The City Council released the Preliminary Budget response last week, allocating $16.9 million for housing and domestic violence-related legal services. Meanwhile, advocates and public defenders have pushed for more funding amid ongoing budget negotiations.

“We have demanded that the city allocate at least $350 million for Right to Counsel in the budget,” said Hussain. “We hope that that’s what we get from the mayor.”