New York City’s first Office of Civil Justice coordinator is set to leave his job on Friday, having overseen the rollout and expansion of the city’s Right to Counsel program for tenants facing eviction, which expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic to cover income-eligible tenants across the city.

More than 71% of tenants who appeared in Housing Court for eviction matters in late spring and early summer 2021 were represented by counsel, an increase from 38% in the second half of 2019, according to the New York City Human Resources Administration’s most recent report on access to legal services. In 2013, before the rollout of the access program, the citywide representation rate was 1%, according to the report.