On March 31, the weather in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood was warm — in the 70s; it should have been the perfect day to sit out on a stoop and talk with friends.
It did start out that way at 212 Jefferson Avenue. But the friends who showed up to sit and talk were really coming to help defend the home’s owner, Carmella Carrington, who was preparing to fight off what she says is an illegal attempt by a developer to evict her and her family from their property. Carrington said her family was facing an imminent eviction.
“I was preparing to fight off what I say is an illegal attempt by a developer to evict me and my family,” Carrington said. She described how police cruisers, marshals, and a pickup truck loaded with plywood arrived, ready to board up her home. “They blocked off our street. The sheriff’s department blocked all the traffic so nobody could come up,” she said. The show of force included officers in bulletproof vests, despite no evidence of violence or weapons. “There was no threat … so to have that kind of level of response was, it’s just, like, that anything concerning us, it seems that’s their normal response to us,” Carrington added.
Councilmember Chi Ossé arrived soon after and intervened with law enforcement to prevent a violent eviction. “I really do not want to see any violence, any type of violent eviction take place. I still believe that there should be some time for the courts to come to a decision on whether deed theft is taking place at this property,” Ossé told the Amsterdam News.
He was able to talk with both the sheriff and marshals to get Carrington and her family more time. Ossé went with Carrington and testified in court to get a temporary stay on the eviction — so the eviction was halted for the day, and Carrington’s supporters have started a GoFundMe page to help her pay for her legal expenses.
But Bed-Stuy residents and activists are still talking about the psychological toll these constant confrontations are taking on them. “You have a certified deed, and yet the system moves to dispossess you,” one person who had come to support the Carringtons noted. “It’s the kind of terror they’re trying to strike in people’s hearts,” added Ayisha Doyle, who witnessed Carrington’s ordeal and has been facing the threat of deed theft herself.
Ayisha Doyle photos
Bed-Stuy’s Black homeowners are reporting illegal evictions
Ayisha and her mother, Phillipa Doyle, have also been fighting to keep their property at 234 Jefferson Ave., just up the street from the Carringtons. The house has been in the Doyle family since the 1940s, but now faces a partition lawsuit from Arlo 67 LLC, a real estate company that says it bought a 75% stake in the property from a Doyle relative for $300,000. Arlo 67 LLC is trying to force a sale of the home or to buy the remaining shares in the property.
The Doyles complain that while trying to ward off Arlo 67, they’ve gotten caught up in a confusing court process, with cases that seem to be marked as closed before any orders are ever filed. They have filed official complaints alleging manipulation of their electronic court records — naming judges and attorneys — and claiming that evidence suppression has ruined their chances of getting justice in their case.
Phillipa Doyle states in her complaint, “This falsifying of court documents has been reported repeatedly with evidence by other victims.” The New York Attorney General’s office, which is investigating the Doyles’ deed theft complaint, filed a motion to halt the sale of their house; the motion was initially granted and later vacated, and the appeal continues, with the house sale paused for now.
But the legal proceedings have left the Doyles feeling isolated and frustrated, with Ayisha commenting, “Everybody’s being very like, ‘Let me just find the most diplomatic way to say nothing.’ There’s something very fishy going on.”
The cases at 212 Jefferson and 234 Jefferson are not isolated. Across the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Black homeowners have been reporting illegal evictions, fraudulent foreclosures, and a sense that the courts are being weaponized against them. “The Bedford-Stuyvesant minority community has been attacked with illegal evictions, unlawful possession of property, and fraudulent foreclosures,” Phillipa Doyle wrote in her legal complaint.
Activists and legal experts also point to systemic problems like a lack of oversight, vague court procedures, and limited resources for homeowners. Community members have been organizing and using their own funds to respond quickly to urgent cases — such as evictions or court cases. And members of the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft started working with Councilmember Ossé to urge the city and state to do more to help deed theft victims.
In February, Ossé wrote a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to enforce a temporary eviction moratorium for residents at risk of deed theft and fraud. Ossé has called on the governor to declare a public state of emergency and halt evictions, while also urging Mayor Mamdani to create a citywide agency dedicated to preventing deed theft.
“We need the state to step up. We need the courts and DA offices to do right by our neighbors and make sure they are able to stay in their homes,” Ossé said. He has pressed for city and state resources to be allocated to legal aid and nonprofit organizations serving affected homeowners. “The governor has the power to implement an eviction moratorium — a temporary stay on evictions — where those who are dealing with pending deed theft cases are able to stay in their homes and not live with the stress of being forced out,” Ossé said.