Letitia James

New York officials challenge Trump’s federal funding freeze

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January 29, 2025

New York officials challenge Trump’s federal funding freeze

New York officials are scrambling to respond to President Donald Trump’s federal funding freeze, a move that threatened essential services for millions of New Yorkers. The freeze, which was announced in a memo on Monday, would strip the city of billions in federal grants and loans, potentially putting funding for housing assistance, school lunch programs, and other vital resources at risk. Attorney General Letitia James joined attorneys general from 22 states and the District of Columbia in suing the Trump administration to stop the directive. A federal judge temporarily blocked the order on Tuesday before it would have taken effect. Update 1/29/25: On Wednesday, the Trump Administration rescinded the memo "to end any confusion on federal policy created by the court ruling and the dishonest media coverage."
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Policy

February 24, 2022

NYC reaches $2.25M settlement with notorious Crown Heights landlord duo

By Aaron Ginsburg

Mayor Eric Adams and New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday announced a $2.25 million settlement against Gennaro Brooks-Church and Loretta Gendville, who attempted to illegally evict tenants at their Brooklyn property during the pandemic in violation of the state's moratorium, and reportedly ran an illegal hotel operation over the course of several years. By terms of the settlement, the property located at 1214 Dean Street in Crown Heights will be turned over to the city and transformed into affordable housing, with the previous owners paying $250,000 in fines.
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April 28, 2017

Nearly 900 affordable housing apartments are currently empty

By Devin Gannon

An investigation by Public Advocate Letitia James’ office found that nearly 40 percent, or 884, of the 2,322 apartments in the Tenant Interim Lease (TIL) program sit unoccupied. After hearing multiple complaints from constituents at town halls, the public advocate’s office launched a full review of the program and discovered it does not meet its goal of providing New Yorkers with self-sufficient, low-income rentals (h/t NY Post). Even more shocking, at one TIL building on 615 West 150th Street, tenants had to move out in 1996 for what was supposed to be a two-year renovation. Per a policy briefing by the public advocate, they still have not been able to return to the units, and their possessions are locked up without access.
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October 14, 2016

Public Advocate’s office releases watchlist of NYC’s 100 worst landlords

By Michelle Cohen

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James released this year's annual "Worst Landlords Watchlist" Thursday at a tenants' rights rally in lower Manhattan. The interactive database lists the top 100 building owners who have racked up the most violations (like rats, roaches and dirty elevators, to name just a few) relative to the number of buildings they own. This data is gathered from the Department of Buildings and Department of Housing. Three of the city's five worst landlords according to the list have been on it for two years in a row. The top three offenders–Harry D. Silverstein, Allan Goldman, and Efstathios Valiotis–own buildings throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Silverstein received 2,032 HPD violations and 50 DOB violations over 575 units in eight buildings.
Find out if your landlord is on the list

Letitia James

New York officials challenge Trump’s federal funding freeze

NYC reaches $2.25M settlement with notorious Crown Heights landlord duo

Nearly 900 affordable housing apartments are currently empty

Public Advocate’s office releases watchlist of NYC’s 100 worst landlords

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