Legal Aid Society, housing advocates calling for more counsel funding
May 08, 2023, 9:18pmUpdated 4d agoBy: News 12 Staff The Legal Aid Society and housing advocates are coming together to demand more funding to help New Yorkers stay in their homes. Advocates want a city budget increase for the 'right to counsel' – which would provide free legal services to qualifying New Yorkers who are facing eviction. This comes as the rent increase proposed by the city's Rent Guidelines Board looms over the residents of rent-stabilized apartments. Nakeeb Siddique, an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, says that there are about 120,000 eviction cases citywide filed in housing courts – and there are concerns that number will rise if increases are approved for the over two million New Yorkers in rent-controlled housing. “We have a huge tidal wave, or tsunami,…