4 THE QUEENS COURIER • NOVEMBER 22, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Housing attorney services expand in Queens
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@cnglocal.com
@QNS
Th e de Blasio administration has
provided free housing legal services
to nearly a quarter of a million New
Yorkers in the past year, and now the
city is launching its second phase of
the “Universal Access” initiative and
expanding the program to Jamaica,
Elmhurst, Ridgewood and Glendale.
Th e fi rst phase provided access to
free legal representation in Housing
Court to low-income New Yorkers
in 15 ZIP codes across the city that
were identifi ed as experiencing high
risks for eviction and loss of aff ordable
housing.
“New Yorkers shouldn’t have to
choose between paying for a lawyer
to fi ght to keep their home and putting
food on the table,” Mayor Bill de
Blasio said. “Our unprecedented commitment
to ensuring low-income New
Yorkers facing eviction in Housing
Court have access to legal assistance
has already served more than 250,000
New Yorkers and this new expansion
to fi ve more zip codes will allow us to
reach even more people in need.”
Th e initiative, which is overseen by
the Offi ce of Civil Justice at the Human
Resources Administration, is expected
to provide legal services to 400,000
residents facing eviction and displacement
when fully implemented in 2022.
“With the launch of Universal Access
to Legal Services last year, New York
City became the fi rst jurisdiction in
the nation to guarantee legal assistance
to all low-income people facing eviction,”
Department of Social Services
Commissioner Steven Banks said.
“Now, one year late, this initiative has
provided thousands of New Yorkers
the fi ghting chance they deserve to
avoid eviction and harassment, having
a positive impact not only for those
who are able to remain in their homes
but for the city overall.”
In 2013, only one percent of tenants
facing eviction in Housing Court had
legal representation.
Th e Universal Access to Legal
Services Implementation Report,
released last week, revealed that by the
end of Fiscal Year 2018, in the fi ft een
zip codes targeted for legal services in
the fi rst phase of the initiative, 56 percent
of the tenants who appeared in
Housing Court to face eviction proceedings
were represented by an attorney.
Citywide, 30 percent of tenants who
appeared in eviction cases in Housing
Court were represented by counsel.
“Low income New Yorkers facing
eviction should not lose their housing
simply because they cannot aff ord the
steep legal fees to defend themselves,”
state Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi
said. “By increasing access to free legal
services, the city has helped thousands
of people remain in their homes.”
Th e report further details that
city-funded lawyers represented tenants
in more than 9,000 eviction cases
that concluded in Fiscal Year 2018, and
in those cases the tenants were able to
remain in their homes 84 percent of
the time, meaning nearly 22,000 New
Yorkers whose tenancies were threatened
by evictions were able to stay in
their homes.
“Access to Counsel is making New
York City a fairer place, and giving
tenants a chance to fi ght eviction and
harassment from landlords,” City
Councilman Rory Lancman, the chairman
of the council’s Committee on
the Justice System, said. “I am pleased
to see this landmark program expand
into Ridgewood and Glendale so more
Queens residents can receive free legal
representation in Housing Court.”
Psych exam for
Flushing double
murder suspect
Th e man accused of fatally stabbing a
couple at their Flushing home last week
will undergo a psychiatric evaluation,
according to court records.
Sai Chun Lam, 52, was arrested on Nov.
17 on second-degree murder charges aft er
being identifi ed as a person of interest
in the Nov. 14 double homicide on 37th
Avenue between Parsons Boulevard and
147th Street.
According to the New York Daily News,
members of Lam’s family turned him
into the 109th Precinct stationhouse in
Flushing on Saturday morning.
Law enforcement sources said Lam
allegedly stabbed Chunfu Lu, 67, and Deyu
Zhai, 64, multiple times inside of their
home.
Th eir bodies were discovered at 10:20
a.m. on Nov. 14 aft er offi cers from the
109th Precinct responded to a 911 call.
Lu and Zhai were pronounced dead at the
scene.
Th e Daily News reported that Lam,
who had been living with the victims,
allegedly knifed the couple aft er learning
that they wanted him to move out.
Lam was arraigned in Queens Criminal
Court on Nov. 17 and ordered held without
bail, pending a psychiatric evaluation.
He’s scheduled to return to court on Dec.
10. If deemed fi t to stand trial, he could
face up to 25 years to life behind bars if
convicted.
Jenna Bagcal and Robert Pozarycki
Food pantry opens
to help Queens
College students
Students and staff at Queens College offi -
cially opened on Nov. 20 the Knights Table
Food Pantry, a new service designed to
help students in need of food.
Queens College President Felix Matos
Rodriguez said that the food pantry is
accessible to registered students throughout
the academic year. It’s part of Governor
Andrew Cuomo’s “No Student Goes
Hungry Program” announced in August.
New York State public colleges at Th e
State University of New York (SUNY) and
Th e City University of New York (CUNY)
will have a food pantry or stigma-free food
access for students by the end of the fall
semester. New York is the fi rst state in the
nation with a comprehensive program to
combat student hunger.
Financial support for the Queens College
Knights Table Food Pantry — sponsored
by the Offi ce of Student Development and
Leadership at Queens College — will be
provided by the Carroll and Milton Petrie
Foundation Inc., the campus community,
and by food drives and fundraisers to
be held both on and off campus, Matos
Rodriguez noted.
Th e pantry — located at the Queens
College Student Union, Lower-Level,
Room 29 — received donations from
members of student clubs, organizations,
administrators and faculty members.
Carlotta Mohamed
Photo via Shutterstock
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