Something I think about a lot is how NYC's housing crisis leads to a lot of people getting caught up in the criminal system who wouldn't be there if we had abundant, affordable housing. This works in all sorts of ways, not just the ones you might expect.

An obvious one is that people get pushed off the bottom of the housing ladder & end up sleeping on the street, in shelters, or in unstable conditions, which makes it hard to keep everything together. It's easy to pick up minor cases, & sometimes major ones, for trying to survive.

But the housing crisis also means that people who do have housing often end up living on top of each other: in crowded multigenerational family homes, or with roommates they don't get along with, or in relationships that would end if it were easier to move out. Tensions brew.

Living in too-close quarters can lead to incidents (thefts, assaults, etc.), but it can also lead people to call 911 just to get someone out of the house. Making a criminal accusation, even if false or exaggerated, is often enough to instantly evict the accused housemate.

Based on a paragraph or two of all-caps text by a cop who responded to a 911 call, NYC's prosecutors will happily request a restraining order requiring the accused to stay away from the accuser & their home—even if it's the accused's home too. Judges almost always grant them.

You'd be amazed how quickly you can go from securely housed to homeless with only a 24-hour stay in police custody & a 2-minute court appearance in between. No one will care if you say you're falsely accused, even if you can prove it. That's for trial, which could be years away.

Often the only recognition that you're losing your home is an access order, which lets you get your belongings under police supervision if you show up at a specific time. Other than that it's a crime if you ever go back home or try to contact the people there who accused you.

It's not intended to be, but in a way the criminal system & its restraining orders are a horrifying, ineffective way of dealing with NYC's housing crisis. We pile people on top of each other & then, when they can't take it anymore, we remove someone & jail them if they return.

Here's an example from Brooklyn arraignments last year in which a @BrooklynDA prosecutor, Janesse Dawson, & Judge Hilary Gingold managed to kick a man out of his home for basically no reason: https://twitter.com/srfeld/status/1111973827595169792?s=20