Temporary Restraining Order Prevents City From Stopping April Advantage Rent Subsidies For 15,000 Current Advantage Recipients

Here is the latest on the fight by the Legal Aid Society to prevent NYC from reneging on its promises to Work Advantage tenants and landlords. Hopefully NYC will come to its senses and avoid squandering millions on more costly shelters. It's interesting and comforting to see a heavy hitting law firm like Weil, Gotshal & Manges get in the mix. Kudos to them for working with the Legal Aid Society on a social issue as important as this one.

Gregory
************

Temporary Restraining Order Prevents City From Stopping April Advantage Rent Subsidies For 15,000 Current Advantage Recipients
THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011

New York County Supreme Court Justice Judith J. Gische issued a temporary restraining order late Monday preventing the City from terminating Advantage rent subsidy payments due in April for 15,000 formerly homeless families and individuals. The Legal Aid Society and the law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manages LLP filed a class action lawsuit on Monday seeking a class-wide injunction to prevent the City from stopping Advantage rent subsidies for these 15,000 formerly homeless households before their Advantage subsidy agreements expire.
Steven Banks, Attorney-in-Charge of The Legal Aid Society, told the New York Law Journal that "moving forward with rent cut offs for 15,000 households would wreck havoc with the shelter [system], overwhelm the housing court and cost millions of dollars in the long run in increased shelter placements." He said the affected families and individuals "would never have moved into these apartments that they can't afford without these subsidies."
Steven Banks, Judith Goldiner, Jane Sujen Bock, and Joshua Goldfein are handling the case for The Legal Aid Society with paralegal support provided by Christina Schrum-Herrera. Representing the plaintiffs from Weil, Gotshal are Konrad Cailteux, Debra Dandeneau, Isabella Lacayo, Jesse Morris, and Adam Lavine, together with paralegal Elizabeth McConville.