Posted on February 16, 2017 by Oscar Perry Abello in Next City Next City, By Oscar Perry Abello On Sunday, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the city would fund universal access to legal services for tenants facing eviction in New York City Housing Court. City Council will also pass legislation that effectively establishes tenants’ rights to counsel in housing court for the first time in the largest U.S. city. Directly behind the mayor at the announcement at a Manhattan high school, in their signature orange T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts, stood the leadership team for Community Action for Safe Apartments, or CASA, a volunteer group of residents primarily from the South Bronx who led nearly three years of organizing efforts to get support for the right to counsel from a veto-proof 42 out of 51 council members. They overcame years of resistance from the mayor and others who were concerned such a program would be too costly for the city.
