Two lawsuits accusing the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) of negligence in a pair of homicide cases will head to trial after the state Court of Appeals ruled it could not unilaterally absolve the agency of responsibility.
Now, a jury of New Yorkers will decide whether or not NYCHA adequately protected two residents who were killed on its properties — the victims’ homes — in separate instances.
The decision, however, impacts more than just the NYCHA cases. Going forward, it potentially sets a new precedent — as landlords will not be able to rely on the “targeted victim” defense to write off their responsibility to provide proper security measures at apartment buildings.
According to both lawsuits, the murderers entered the buildings where the victims resided through broken, unlocked doors — something which NYCHA claims it cannot be held responsible for based on a state law that says landlords are not liable for protecting tenants in instances of “targeted” crimes.
The law reasons that if an attacker is determined to reach a specific victim, a locked door won’t stop them — hence, landlords could not be held responsible for providing extensive security measures.
The courts were split — the Manhattan Supreme Court agreed with NYCHA, ruling in 2019 the agency could not be held accountable in the killing of 18-year-old Tyshana Murphy, who was shot and killed at Grant Houses in 2011, because her killers were targeting her.
The First Department of the Appellate Division, which oversees Manhattan and the Bronx, upheld the ruling Murphy’s mother appealed, seeking a different answer.
But, in 2017, Brooklyn Supreme Court had decided differently on a very similar case. The court ruled it could not definitively say that NYCHA was off the hook for the 2007 murder of Bridget Crushshon, who was burned to death by an ex-partner at Cypress Hills Houses, and would send the case to trial.
NYCHA appealed the decision, but the Second Department…
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