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Lawyers who work in Brooklyn’s civil court are apprehensive about the state’s plan to reopen the cramped courthouse they say is unsafe to use during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Office of Court Administration has planned a Saturday “walk-through” of the Downtown Brooklyn building where civil and housing courts operate before it reopens.
“We don’t need a walk-through with a measuring tape to figure out if it’s going to work. We know from memory it’s an unworkable place in light of the pandemic,” said Sharone Miodovsky, a lawyer who practices in the building at 141 Livingston St.
“The hallways are narrow. The courtrooms are tiny. The bathrooms are nasty. The toilets don’t flush. The sinks don’t work,” she said. “Everything is cramped and narrow. There are very few elevators.”
Even higher-ups in the court system recognized the unique challenges that the Brooklyn courthouse poses.
“There is no facility that poses more difficulties to a ‘safe’ reopening, whatever that is, than 141 Livingston St.,” said Citywide Administrative Judge of the Civil Courts Anthony Cannataro in a video call with housing lawyers on May 26. “It is a cramped structure. It was never really designed to host a court,” he said.
“It is very difficult to create a safe working space at 141 Livingston St.,” Cannataro continued.
The judge said there would be changes made to lessen the crowds at the building, such as expanded reliance on virtual hearings in court cases. He even said that some matters could be heard outside, if both parties and a judge agree.
“141 Livingston Street presents unique challenges to the resumption of in-person court operations, both in terms of the layout of the physical space and the volume of cases heard in that courthouse,” said OCA spokesman Lucian Chalfen. “Nevertheless, all the courts in New York City have committed to resuming in-person operations in conjunction with the government’s phased reopening. No official date has yet been set.”
Lawyers expect a backlog of new cases to be filed in the housing court when Gov. Cuomo’s eviction moratorium expires June 20.
“The courts need to take a breath and include us in the conversation. It seems like they’re just barreling forward with no real plan,” said Joanna Laine, a co-chair of the Brooklyn Tenant Lawyers Network.