A prominent New Haven attorney confirmed he will “soon” file a class-action lawsuit against Northland Investment Corp. on behalf of the families living at the crumbling Church Street South housing complex.
“What has been done and is being done to these families is being done to them not because of what they did, but because of who they are, because they have the misfortune of being vulnerable and needing to rely on others to fulfill their social and legal responsibilities,” the attorney, David Rosen (pictured), told the Independent. “The main point about what is hapepning here is that it isn’t just being done to one person or one family, but that it’s being done to a whole segment of our community.”
Rosen said families from Church Street South contacted him seeking representation in a civil suit to recover damages they’ve suffered — ranging from lost furniture to health problems— because of conditions at the federally subsidized apartment complex across from Union Station.
The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has declared Northland, the complex’s Massachusetts-based owner, in default of its contract for over $3 million a year in rental subsidies for the project. The city has condemned many of the apartments and ordered massive repairs. Northland is now working with the city and HUD to move some families temporarily into hotel rooms and all families to permanent new housing elsewhere over the coming year.
Lawyers form New Haven Legal Assistance represent over 60 of the families living at Church Street South in efforts to seek repairs and safe new housing. But legal aid does not file civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages.
That’s where Rosen now comes in.
Thomas MacMillan File Photo
Rosen has practiced law in New Haven for 45 years, handling high-profile cases ranging from the 1970 murder trial of Black Panther Bobby Seale to
class-action cases discrimination and wrongful-death cases. He is one of the lawyers suing the state executive branch in an educational-equity case. He won a $900,000 jury verdict against East Haven police on behalf of Emma Jones (pictured with Rosen) in the killing of her son Malik. (An appeals court subsequently overturned that award.)
Northland CEO Larry Gottesdiener declined comment on the pending suit.
Previous coverage of Church Street South:
• First Attempt To Help Tenants Shuts Down
• Few Details For Left-Behind Tenants
• HUD: Help’s Here. Details To Follow
• Mixed Signals For Church Street South Families
• Church St. South Families Displaced A 2nd Time — For Yale Family Weekend
• Church Street South Getting Cleared Out
• 200 Apartments Identified For Church Street South Families
• Northland Asks Housing Authority For Help
• Welcome Home
• Shoddy Repairs Raise Alarm — & Northland Offer
• Northland Gets Default Order — & A New Offer
• HUD, Pike Step In
• Northland Ordered To Fix Another 17 Roofs
• Church Street South Evacuees Crammed In Hotel
• Church Street South Endgame: Raze, Rebuild
• Harp Blasts Northland, HUD
• Flooding Plagues Once-Condemned Apartment
• Church Street South Hit With 30 New Orders
• Complaints Mount Against Church Street South
• City Cracks Down On Church Street South, Again
• Complex Flunks Fed Inspection, Rakes In Fed $$
• Welcome Home — To Frozen Pipes
• City Spotted Deadly Dangers; Feds Gave OK
• No One Called 911 | “Hero” Didn’t Hesitate
• “New” Church Street South Goes Nowhere Fast
• Church Street South Tenants Organize