On April 26, 2023, the New York Attorney General and the New York City Law Department intervened in a case brought by ECBAWM to help defend the constitutionality of the State’s and City’s Human Rights Laws prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s source of income. ECBAWM has brought multiple cases against Parkchester Apartments, a large Bronx apartment complex with 6,000 rental units, challenging its discriminatory policies and continuing refusal to rent apartments to applicants with housing vouchers. Last year, ECBAWM won a preliminary injunction in one such case, securing housing for a previously homeless woman and her two children who had been denied a Parkchester apartment even though she had a voucher to pay the full rent. Parkchester recently asked the Court to dismiss this case, challenging the constitutionality of the source-of-income laws. ECBAWM is proud to be working with the State and City to defeat this challenge and protect voucher holders from discriminatory policies like those employed by Parkchester.

ECBAWM attorneys Diane L. Houk, Vivake Prasad, and Eric Abrams represent the plaintiffs in the complaints filed against Parkchester. Housing Works Senior Staff Attorney Armen H. Merjian is co-counsel in the case defending the constitutionality of the source of income laws.