Pubdate: Wed, 20 Sep 2000
Source: Times Union (NY)
Copyright: 2000, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation
Contact:  Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212
Fax: (518) 454-5628
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Author: ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Staff writer

RULING NOW MAKES LANDLORDS LIABLE

Albany -- Judge sets precedent in allowing suit against owner of a property 
where, police say, drugs were sold

The state attorney general can hold landlords accountable when their 
property is used by tenants for drug dealing or other crimes, a state 
Supreme Court justice has ruled in a precedent-setting decision.

The state's test case centered on what police described as the headquarters 
of a local drug ring in a South End house owned by an Albany landlord 
Deborah L. Landy.

Landy was sued by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in February for allegedly 
turning a blind eye to the illegal activity in her building.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Ferradino ruled in favor of Spitzer and 
issued an injunction against Landy, which bars her from "permitting the 
sale of illicit drugs or any other unlawful trade, manufacture or 
business'' at her 64 Alexander St. property, which is currently vacant.

"Now that we've got the judge's opinion, we have the authority and the 
legal principals to go out and assume control of other houses that have 
been used by drug dealers,'' Spitzer said Tuesday. "What's most important 
is that a precedent has been set, and we will be able to invoke our 
jurisdiction to bring charges against more properties.''

Spitzer said his office is researching other places across New York that 
could be targeted under what has been dubbed the "Clean Sweep'' initiative.

Four men who Albany police say had intermittently lived and ran a marijuana 
dealing operation at 64 Alexander St. -- Charles Robinson, Edward Robinson 
Jr., Mark Robinson and Steven Robinson -- were named along with Landy in 
the attorney general's suit. The judge ordered the Robinsons not to come 
within 200 feet of the building.

If any of them violate this order, they could be arrested for criminal 
contempt and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail, said 
Brian Stettin, the assistant state attorney general handling the Clean 
Sweep lawsuits. If Landy fails to comply with Ferradino's orders, she could 
be fined up to $5,000 for every day she is in violation.

During the past five years, Albany police raided the house at least 14 
times, seizing marijuana, weapons and crack cocaine. At the time he 
launched the initiative, Spitzer said the arrests made at the house 
resulted in more than 20 convictions.

South End residents heralded Spitzer's efforts to run drugs out of their 
neighborhood and credited his initiative with moving dealers off Alexander 
Street and out of a small park on nearby Elizabeth Street, where parents 
used to be too afraid to let their children play.

"The Robinsons are not easily scared off a location, especially one as 
profitable (as 64 Alexander St.),'' said Linda Miller, founder of the South 
End Weed and Seed anti-crime program. "But since they got sued. They've 
stayed away from here. We couldn't ask for anything better than this.''

In May, Weed and Seed opened its headquarters in a renovated brownstone 
across the street from Landy's house and next to the park on Elizabeth 
Street. Throughout the summer, the organization ran a youth program for 132 
children and is now operating an after-school program for 86 pupils. The 
brownstone at 59 Elizabeth St. is within the 200-foot protected perimeter 
surrounding 64 Alexander St. Miller said she won't hesitate to call the 
police if she spots any of the Robinsons nearby.

"We've been very good eyes and ears for the police in the South End,'' 
Miller said. "The community isn't willing to overlook this stuff. Not when 
we're here and the kids are here.''

Ferradino has also ordered that Landy evict any remaining tenants at 64 
Alexander St., but that is largely moot because the house has been vacant 
since Spitzer filed his lawsuit last February, neighbors said. Also, much 
of the wood-frame duplex was gutted by a July 18 fire that investigators 
labeled "suspicious.''

Landy is due in City Court Sept. 27 to outline her plans for fixing up the 
house.

Landy's attorney, Eugene Grenz, had argued that Spitzer's lawsuit was 
unconstitutional. Grenz did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.
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