Ken Fisher comments on proposed changes to the structure of the New York City Housing Court in an article in The Real Deal. Under a newly proposed plan, judges in New York City Housing Court would become Municipal Court judges and the judges would be appointed by the mayor’s office instead of a judicial advisory council. Although the plan would not go into effect until after Mayor Bill de Blasio’s term has ended, some are concerned that this could create tense political climate for landlords considering the mayor’s pro-tenant history.

Ken indicated that he did not think the plan would substantially change the housing court and that while the courts would have more flexibility of how they allocate their resources, they would not be awarded any new resources.

“It’s not entirely clear to me what this would do at the housing court level except give the administrative judges more flexibility to surge judges into a particular county if they had a backlog that they were going to tackle,” Ken said. “It certainly doesn’t address the terrible working conditions that they’re under,” he continued, “so I think if it happens at all, it probably will have some small beneficial effect in being able to deploy judges where they’re needed. But without the other components, it’s not going to change the pressure cooker that all of the housing court parts are.”

To read the full article, click here.