‘Brooklyn Tenants United’ Makes Historic Progress in Fight for New & Improved Housing Court Building

Last Monday, October 24th, Brooklyn Tenants United (BTU) made history on the road to justice for tenants by holding the first Brooklyn Housing Court Taskforce meeting!  With this meeting, we created the first-ever platform for tenants to have a voice in decisions about Brooklyn Housing Court.

Flatbush Tenant Coalition was expertly represented at this inaugural meeting by Coalition leaders, Marie, Gloria, Redoneva, Beverly, Valerie, Jennifer, and Gordon. Congratulations to all our tenant leaders on the BTU committee for making this happen!

The most immediate next step from this meeting is that BTU tenant leaders will conduct a tour of the current court building together with the Chief Court Facilities manager, Thom Lotito, on Tues. Nov. 1st in the morning.

The purpose of the tour is to make joint decisions about the immediate changes that need to happen to the physical space at 141 Livingston Street.  If you would like to take part in this tour please email ftcoalition@gmail.com ASAP.

Making the task force a reality took many months of testifying at ULURP land use hearings, gaining commitments from elected officials, and putting significant pressure on the agencies and offices that have traditionally held exclusive power over construction & renovations at the city’s court buildings.

Joined at the task force by representatives from the offices of the Public Advocate Letitia James, Borough President Eric Adams, Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte, and Councilmember Jumaane Williams, our tenant leaders engaged with the state and city agencies charged with improving the current court building and constructing the new one.

At our next BTU leaders meeting (date & time coming soon), we will provide a full update on the issues covered & the decisions the task force made.