OATH ‘pop-up court’ allows Flushing residents to fight summonses close to home

Councilmember Peter Koo helped bring the OATH pop-up court to Flushing. Photo courtesy of Koo’s office.

By Sheik Floradewan

The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings will set up a “pop-up court” at the Flushing Branch of the Queens Public Library on June 20, thanks to the efforts of local Councilmember Peter Koo.

This will be the third pop-up court OATH has held in Queens, and the second this month after a successful initiative at Councilmember Robert Holden’s office. It is the first time OATH has visited Flushing.

“Giving residents access to the OATH Courts right in their backyard can serve as a tremendous benefit to both the city as it looks to resolve backlogs of violations and to residents by expediting the court process,” Koo said.

Individuals can respond to several types of non-criminal summonses at the pop-up court, including violations issued by the Sanitation Department and Parks Department and the Health Department, for alleged pest control and rodent violations. OATH also handles citations for low-level misconduct, like having an open container of alcohol, public urination, being in the park after dark, littering, spitting and excessive noise.  

Pop-up courts are convenient for local residents and help alleviate clogged dockets

“OATH’s top priority is to make it as easy as possible for those who have been issued summonses from city enforcement agencies to have their day in court,” said OATH spokesperson Marisa Senigo. [OATH] brings the court to where you work and live so that fighting city summonses and accessing justice at OATH is more convenient and less time consuming.”

OATH does not hold hearings on parking tickets, traffic or speeding tickets, red light camera tickets or MTA turnstile violations at its pop-up courts.

To inform all respondents with eligible summonses, OATH will send out letters to those who live in zip codes immediately surrounding the library.