The Legal Aid Society (LAS) pulled up to the St. Nicholas Houses offering free legal services and “know your rights” education this past Tuesday, June 4. It was the third stop for the public defense organization’s Mobile Justice Bus Tour, which intends to provide such resources to 30-some NYCHA developments this summer.
A team of several outreach workers and legal staff tabled on Eighth Avenue between 128th and 129th from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. They kept an open door for locals to approach them about any and all things related to local or state law and government. Some locals engaged with legal questions of their own, while others stopped by as team members rattled off a list of free services available to them. And outreach workers canvassed the surrounding area to see if others needed resources.
The advocates were especially busy aiding passersby with applying for the Section 8 waitlist, which opened this past Monday, June 3 for the first time since 2009. With just a one week application window, the LAS crew encouraged anyone who would listen to apply for the housing subsidy with particular urgency.
Beyond Section 8, the advocates also provided assistance with filing police misconduct complaints to the CCRB and requesting public records on the NYPD’s elusive gang database. They also provided information about the Clean Slate Act, which will go into effect this upcoming November and will seal many eligible state law criminal convictions.
Staff Attorney Katie Ringer fielded questions about housing and criminal law. Rap sheet reviews are offered for New Yorkers with criminal convictions so they remain informed of what programs they are and are not eligible for. Those who couldn’t be helped directly on site left their information so the appropriate LAS unit could connect with them.
Takeasha Newton, the lead community organizer for the LAS Community Justice Unit, believes such efforts are critical towards brokering peace in historically disinvested communities.
“In order to end the violence in the community, whether it’s gun violence, physical violence [or] emotional violence, we have to tackle the day-to-day that people are dealing [with like] homelessness, employment [and] education,” Newton said. “We want to be able to provide tangible resources. So we have attorneys to answer questions. We’re letting them know now about Section 8 and highlighting it all over Legal Aid platforms… if we are here, giving them tangible information we can end that violence [by informing] our youth about the over-polluting in [their communities] and teaching them about their rights and how to navigate face-to-face encounters with police.”
Tuesday’s tabling coincides with the start of June, the official National Gun Violence Awareness Month. The LAS Community Justice Unit adheres to the “Cure Violence” model, which aims to stop shootings through “wraparound services” to mitigate reasons why at-risk communities pick up guns in the first place. These services include housing, employment and education.
The Mobile Justice Bus dates back to Hurricane Sandy, originally used to provide legal services to New Yorkers displaced by the 2012 storm. Big and gray with the LAS logo decaled on the side, it’s hard to miss on the streets. The wood-grained interiors allow attorneys to provide the free advice in confidence. A cot, kitchen and bathroom are all inside for the team to tackle extensive outreach requiring a home away from home and an office away from the office.
The bus will return on the road next Wednesday, June 12. Newton says the goal is to reach a new NYCHA development each week this summer. The next location is to be determined but LAS intends to stop at four other Harlem and East Harlem locations: Polo Grounds Towers, the James Weldon Johnson Houses, Thomas Jefferson Houses and the Robert F. Wagner Houses.
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member and writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.