New York State Attorney General Letitia A. James delivered opening remarks at a Brownfield/Superfund 2019 Update program co-sponsored by the environmental and energy law section and the environmental law committee of the New York City Bar Association. Photo: David Handschuh/NYLJ
A group of small New York state landlords sued Attorney General Letitia James in federal court Wednesday, arguing that New York’s COVID-19 eviction moratorium law is unconstitutional.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Akiva Shapiro and Randy Mastro, who are representing the landlords, argued that some of their clients’ tenants are tens of thousands of dollars behind in rent. In some cases, Shapiro and Mastro wrote, issues with the tenants began months before the pandemic reached New York, but the landlords have been unable to take action because of the statewide restrictions on eviction.
