On February 24th Legal Services NYC, the largest provider of free civil legal services to the poor in the nation, released New Yorkers in Crisis.  The report provides the most extensive data available in one place on the mounting challenges facing low-income New Yorkers across all five boroughs. The report describes the vast unmet legal needs of the city’s 3.1 million residents with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL), or $34,300 for a family of three.

Click Here to download the full report (2.36 MB)

Click Here to download the Executive Summary (77.89 KB)

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Contact: Jackie Kessel, BerlinRosen Public Affairs, (646)452-5637 

Legal Services NYC Releases Groundbreaking Report Documenting Challenges Facing Three Million Poor New Yorkers

New Yorkers in Crisis is the first Comprehensive City Wide Human and Legal Needs Assessment, Aimed at Targeting Legal Resources to Those Most in Need of Economic Recovery

NEW YORK– Today Legal Services NYC, the largest provider of free civil legal services to the poor in the nation, released New Yorkers in Crisis.  The report provides the most extensive data available in one place on the mounting challenges facing low-income New Yorkers across all five boroughs. The report describes the vast unmet legal needs of the city’s 3.1 million residents with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL), or $34,300 for a family of three.

“This report seeks to give policymakers the full picture of the crisis facing New York City’s three million poor and working class residents” said Andrew Scherer, Executive Director of Legal Services NYC.  “It is clear from our findings that even before the current economic downturn New Yorkers faced an escalating need for legal help with problems related to unemployment, foreclosure, eviction, and the public benefits and child welfare systems in this City.”

“With the economy in steep decline, this timely report will help policy makers and the advocacy community strategically target legal services to those most in need,” said Raun Rasmussen, Chief of Litigation and Advocacy at Legal Services NYC, and primary author of New Yorkers in Crisis.

“Low income people need the same things all people need to lead healthy and productive lives:  shelter that is safe and affordable, easy access to quality healthcare, safety from personal harm and opportunities for employment and education,” said Rasmussen.  “Lack of sufficient income makes all of these essential needs much more difficult to secure.  Housing is unaffordable, substandard, and fear of eviction constant; City agencies are more likely to threaten to remove your child; adequate healthcare can only be found in emergency rooms; protection from violence is much more difficult to secure; and discrimination is more likely to adversely affect your ability to access necessary benefits and services.  Well coordinated, carefully targeted legal assistance is essential to help low income people solve these problems.”

The Dimensions of Need

The report contains the most up-to-date research documenting areas of human and legal need in New York City:

• PUBLIC BENEFITS. In January 2008, there were nearly 350,000 recipients of Temporary Assistance (TA).  The Human Resource Administration’s records show that one-third of those recipients are in the process of having their benefits cut each month. Recipients need legal assistance at fair hearings to prevent wrongful denials.


• HUNGER. 3.1 million New Yorkers, or 38% of NYC residents, reported having difficulty affording food in 2007.  Although much legal services and advocacy work has been done to increase enrollment in the food stamps program, as many as 500,000 New Yorkers are eligible but not enrolled because of lack of knowledge, burdensome application procedures, and hostile caseworkers.


• HOUSING. Static incomes, rising rents, the loss of subsidized and regulated housing, and the foreclosure crisis and the slow pace of affordable housing development have resulted in the highest number of homeless families and individuals in the city’s history, and the looming threat of eviction for those who are housed. In 2007, legal service providers confronted an epidemic: close to 300,000 eviction proceedings were commenced in Housing Court, with nearly 70% involving low-income tenants.


• FAMILY. There is a shockingly high incidence of domestic violence in New York City. In 2007 police responded to 229,354 domestic violence incidents, an average of more than 600 per day.  While all families experience destabilizing family problems, low income people face those problems with fewer supports: they don’t have easy access to competent lawyers, alternative housing, or the full range of social services to which those with insurance or money have access.


• CONSUMER. Credit cards have been largely a disaster for low-income households. The high cost of credit has been shifted to those least able to afford it. From 1989 to 2004, credit card debt among very low income ($9,999) credit card indebted households quadrupled. As a result, there has been an explosion of debt collection litigation in the past decade, with consumer debt cases accounting for more than 50% of the total cases filed in New York City Civil Court. The need for legal assistance in this area has skyrocketed as a result.


• EDUCATION. Statistics regarding children with disabilities are bleak.  One study reported that only 11.8% of students who receive special education services graduate from high school with a Regents diploma in New York City, as compared with 58% of the total population.  More legal services are needed to hold the school system accountable for these children.


• EMPLOYMENT. A majority of workers in New York City restaurants, domestic work, garment manufacturing businesses and nursing homes report minimum wage and overtime violations. Although workplace abuses and exploitation have been widely documented, more must be done to expand employment law services so that these problems can be addressed.

“The economic collapse provides harsh context for legal services clients. Housing and employment opportunities for low-income New Yorkers are being drastically reduced as landlords and small business owners lose their buildings and businesses to foreclosure and debt.  At the same time, domestic pressures will increase, jeopardizing family security, educational progress, health and overall well-being,” said Rasmussen.

Strategies for Legal Services Providers

“The collapsing economy makes it all the more important to understand the full scope of the civil legal needs of low-income New Yorkers, the barriers to addressing those needs, and how the advocacy community can work together to provide some legal solutions,” said Rasmussen.

“The economic crisis is negatively impacting the availability of public services and social supports and in turn, having a disproportionately harmful impact on low-income people who rely heavily on these resources,” added Scherer. “The ground-breaking report New Yorkers in Crisis illustrates the overwhelming need to improve access to benefits and services, address legal needs that are underserved, and remove barriers to a right to legal counsel where survival and well-being are at stake.”

For more information or to schedule an interview with Raun Rasmussen, author of New Yorkers in Crisis, please contact Jaclyn Kessel at (646) 452-5637. Complete information on New Yorkers in Crisis is available at http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/storage/lsny/PDFs/new_yorkers_in_crisis.pdf.