Brooklyn Legal Services Opens Bed-Stuy Office

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A community legal service planted a new home in a Brooklyn neighborhood in growing need of help with housing displacement, deed theft and foreclosure.

Bed-Stuy residents this month saw Brooklyn A — short for Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A — open the doors to a Fulton Street office. The office may be new, but thousands in the neighborhood likely have direct experience with the organization.

“We’ve had a steady and growing client base in Bed-Stuy,” said Jessica Rose, executive director for Brooklyn A.

Brooklyn A first opened 51 years ago in Williamsburg as part of a national push to provide legal services to low-income neighborhoods. Last year, it reached about 192,000 New York City residents and helped prevent about 3,000 evictions, according to the organization’s numbers.

Rose said its services extend beyond preserving affordable housing and fighting against landlord harassment. It helps tenant associations, small businesses on lease matters, develops community programs and advocates for social and economic justice, she said.

There’s another service with special significance for Bed-Stuy: foreclosure help.

“Bed-Stuy has unfortunately been one of the hotspots in the city with the foreclosure crisis,” Rose said.

Rose said foreclosures, ongoing problems with deed theft and long-standing tenant issues were all factors which led the organization to build a permanent location in Bed-Stuy.

The Bed-Stuy office held a ribbon-cutting last week in an event attended by state Sen. Kevin Parker and city councilmembers Robert Cornegy and Chaim Deutch.

Rose said the 20-staff office operates on appointments, but walk-in visitors are welcome.
“Clients will be able to speak to somebody about the services we offer,” she said.

From there, prospective clients will have an appointment set. Many staff are bilingual and translation services are available.

Rose said the office doesn’t offer criminal defense help, but can help refer people to other offices and services which do.

“We’re just really excited to get the word out that we’re here,” she said.

More information about Brooklyn A can be found at its website.