Courting cleanliness
Pols demand state does justice, tackles filth
The state agency that runs New York City’s filthy, unsanitary courthouses better break out the bleach.
More than a dozen state senators have sent a letter to the state’s chief administrative judge demanding the Office of Court Administration clean up nonpublic areas in the city’s courthouses following an exclusive Daily News report detailing the disgusting digs.
“As New York’s courthouses have generally reopened, court staff and attorneys have reported conditions such as stained surfaces, dust-encased air intake vents, evidence of pests like insects and rodents, moldy chairs, and insufficient ventilation systems,” reads a letter from 17 lawmakers to Judge Lawrence Marks.
“We again urge you to actively coordinate with your partners in government to remedy the unsanitary conditions highlighted in recent news reports.”
The News highlighted decrepit conditions in the city’s court buildings in the exclusive July 11 report.
Pictures behind the scenes in one of the city’s busiest court parts — AR1 in Manhattan — show moldy chairs, dirt-splattered walls and air intake vents black with soot are the norm in a meeting room where those arrested see and speak with their lawyers for the first time.
The ventilation in court buildings’ 500 prisoner holding cells — including where women and underage suspects are detained — was not upgraded the way the ventilation in public areas was, in the wake of the pandemic, The News reported in March.
Five government agencies work out of New York City courthouses: the state Office of Court Administration, the Citywide Administrative Services Department, the NYPD, the Correction Department and the Administration for Children’s Services.
Representatives for all of the agencies, and Mayor de Blasio, absolved themselves of blame when questioned about the neglected areas.
“Obviously, anything involving the courts, that’s the Office of Court Administration — the state,” de Blasio said when asked about The News’ investigation.
All of the city’s 29 court facilities are owned by the Citywide Administrative Services
Department, with the Office of Court Administration as a tenant.
Tuesday’s letter requests the Office of Court Administration initiate the upgrades.
“As the administrative arm of New York State’s judicial branch of government we feel [the Office of Court Administration] has a responsibility to ensure that all areas of court facilities are kept safe and sanitary,” reads the message sent from state Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Hoylman (D-Manhattan).
“Inaction and finger-pointing are inexcusable when it comes to the safety and well-being of all who pass through the courthouse doors.”
The note further demands that the Office of Court Administration provide the state Legislature with a comprehensive list of measures taken to meet recommendations made by an agency-commissioned consultant in December 2020.
“While, surprisingly, we have not yet received this letter, there will absolutely be a response,” said Office of Court Administration chief spokesman Lucian Chalfen.
“However, maybe next time the Legislature can extend us, as a co-equal branch of state government, the courtesy of providing a copy of their letter rather than first releasing it to the press.”