Tenants’ rights coalition hosts ‘right to counsel’ town hall in Queens

Image via Google Maps.

By David Brand

Organizations advocating for a right to counsel for tenants facing evictions will host a town hall in Elmhurst Wednesday evening as part of an effort to expand the law and ensure all tenants know about it.

Catholic Migration Services and the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition organized the event, which will take place in St. Bartholomew Church, located at 44-15 Judge Street at 7 p.m.

After a three-year campaign by the coalition, the city instituted a right to attorney for all low-income tenants facing an eviction in housing court. 

“Right to Counsel has proven to be incredibly effective at stopping evictions. Data has shown that 84 percent of tenants who had a lawyer through Right to Counsel were able to remain in their home,” the coalition said in a statement.

The new measures pushed by the coalition include a bill that would require the city to support organizations that spread awareness of the law and a bill that would raise the income eligibility level so that more tenants qualify for free counsel.