New Leadership for Legal Services NYC-Bronx

Bronx, NY—March 29, 2011—The Board of Directors of Legal Services NYC
(LSNYC) is pleased to announce that Jennifer Levy has been selected to
lead Legal Services NYC-Bronx as Project Director. Ms. Levy brings to
the position nearly 15 years of experience within LSNYC, including time
served as Acting Director for two of its programs in Brooklyn (South
Brooklyn Legal Services (SBLS), and LSNYC Brooklyn Branch). Ms. Levy
succeeds longtime LSNYC-Bronx Project Director Steven B. Telzak, who
passed away in March 2010.  Ms. Levy’s tenure will begin on May 9th.

Ms. Levy began her LSNYC career at SBLS as a Housing Staff Attorney in 1997. By 2007, she was the Director of SBLS’s Housing Unit, which litigates approximately four hundred cases annually in Housing Court, Supreme Court, and Federal Court. In 2009, she served as the program’s Acting Director while permanent Director John C. Gray was supervising another program. For the past year, Ms. Levy has served both as Deputy Director for SBLS as well as Acting Director at LSNYC Brooklyn Branch.  Alongside others, she has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, including Linares v. HUD, a case that invalidated a regulation permitting “no cause evictions” in HUD-owned housing; Torres v. NYCHA, a case that resulted in major reforms to NYCHA's practices in administering the Section 8 housing subsidy program; and Goldstein v. Pataki, in which she helped represent the tenants in the footprint of the planned development of the Nets basketball arena in Brooklyn.

In addition to her work at LSNYC, Ms. Levy is an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University Planning School, where she teaches land use law. Since 1996, she has served on the Boards of both the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, which advocates for Housing Court Reform and provides assistance to pro se litigants in Housing Court, and the Bushwick Housing Independence Project, which works with low- income tenants facing displacement as the result of market pressures and facing eviction as the result of foreclosures.  She is a graduate of McGill University and New York University School of Law.

Said Ms. Levy of her selection to run LSNYC-Bronx, “I am delighted to have been selected as the Project Director of Legal Services NYC-Bronx, one of the most dynamic and effective legal services offices in the country. LSNYC-Bronx has a long history of meeting the basic needs of one of our country’s poorest communities with energy, persistence, and aggressive advocacy.  Last year alone, the office prevented the eviction of more than 2,000 people and obtained $9.5 million in benefits for poor New Yorkers.  It will be an honor to work with LSNYC-Bronx’s dedicated staff to continue to provide the kind of vital services that transform lives.”

Said LSNYC-Bronx Board Chair Ellen P. Chapnick, “I have known of Ms. Levy’s excellent work for many years and am thrilled that she has agreed to join the strong team in the Bronx. She is an innovative attorney who is dedicated to using a variety of tools to advance LS-NYC-Bronx’s mission of providing high quality legal services and access to the justice system for low-income residents. We are confident that she can guide our program into the future.”

Ms. Chapnick also expressed “deep gratitude to Jill Siegel, LSNYC-Bronx’s longtime Director of Litigation, for her leadership after stepping in as Acting Director of the program upon Mr. Telzak’s passing.”

"The Board could not be more pleased that Jennifer has accepted the job of leading the Bronx project. Jennifer Levy has extensive experience in legal services and poverty law, having worked with LSNYC offices for nearly 15 years," said Mark G. Cunha, LS-NYC Central Board Chair. "Her experience, enthusiasm, energy, tremendous ability and intelligence will help LSNYC-Bronx continue its important legal representation, advocacy and educational efforts on behalf of low-income New Yorkers."

“LSNYC is thrilled to have such a talented, dedicated individual to lead our Bronx program. The deep experience and enthusiasm that Jennifer brings to her new position will enhance the quality of an already great program, and will increase our ability to address the civil legal needs of the low-income population of the Bronx,” said LSNYC Interim Executive Director Michael D. Young.

Legal Services NYC—the largest organization exclusively devoted to providing free civil legal services in the United States—provides high quality legal assistance on cases involving housing, family law, domestic violence, public benefits, foreclosure, tax, employment, education, consumer rights and economic development.  For more than 40 years, Legal Services NYC’s staff of attorneys, paralegals, social workers and support workers has helped low-income New Yorkers with nowhere else to turn navigate the civil legal system.  The Legal Services NYC network is community-based and includes offices in low-income communities throughout New York City’s five boroughs.