The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-05-02
1000 MAY DAY
EVICTION CASES
IN COURT HERE
Judges to Force Landlords
Suspected of Profiteering
to Reveal Gains.
CHURCHES FOR HOMELESS
Mayors Committee Has Law
Yer in Each Court to Aid
Dispossessed.

Nearly 1000 tenants, served with
dispossess notices by their landlords,
appeared in the various Municipal
courts of the greater city Yesterday
the year when they may be evicted
within three hours for failure to pay
rent. or in the event that a lease has
expired. Ordinarily it takes from Ave
to seven days to accomplish this re-
suit.
That portion Of the tenement AM
apartment house owning population
which is determined to reap as rich a
harvest as possible during the present
acute scarcity Of homes Of every
grade, frankly confessed to extreme
annoyance at the Mayors Committee
on Rent Profiteering which had an at
torney in every Municipal court ready
to appear without cost In behalf Of
tenants who found themselves in diff
ficulties.
Must Reveal Their Fronts.
As a result OF the activities Of the
committees lawyers. landlords who are
suspected of profteering (every man
jack OF them Indignantly denied that he
even dreamed OF such a thing) or of at
tempting to take an unfair advantage Of
the housing situation. are 20 be COM
PEELED to produce their books In court
and disclose exactly what the receipts
and expenses of their various properties
are and precisely what percentage OF
profit they are making.
The Mayors Committee announced
yesterday that it had accepted an offer
by the Joint Centenary Committee of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. for the use
OF all Methodist churches in Manhattan
for the temporary shelter of persons
eNlCted by rent proflteers. Ten churches
were ready for occupancy last night,
more will be ready to-day and the com
mittee said that all of the hfty-nine in
Manhattan and The Bronx would be
available II needed. It is proposed to
throw open those in Brooklyn, Queens
and Richmond II necessary. 1t is esti-
mated that 1000 families can be shell
tered in them. The Mayors Committee
last night sent out an appeal for the use
OF cots and blankets.
The churches available last night
were: Beekman Hill. 321 East Fiftieth
street; Church of the Saviour. lllth
street and Lexington avenue. and Cornell
Memorial. 2Sl East Sixty-hrst street /:
Church of All Nations :. Second ave-
nue. jefferson Park, also Wood Memo
rial Cformerly Trinity.) 3l7 to 32l East
llSth street: Mott Avenue Church, 1877
East l50th street; Peoples Home
Church and Settlement, 543 East Elev-
enth street: fremont Church, 454 Fast
l7Sth street: West Side Church, 1877
East 150th street; Hadley Rescue Hall.
2s3 Bowery
In order 70 get action yesterday all
the landlord was required to do was
to inform the tenant fve days before
the end OF April that he wanted the
premises on April 80. II the tenant re-
fused TO move, the owner might apply at
the Municipal courts between IL and
o'clock for n summary dispossess precept
which compelled the tenant TO appear at
. o'clock and present some eXtraordi-
nary reason why a dispossess warrant
should not be issued. Sickness Ia about
the only excuse recognized by the law
Inability to find other quarters Is, le-
gally, no reason at AL.
In the event the landlord insists the
court Is compelled to issue the dlspos-
sess papers and the city marshals must
enforce them. The clause was originally
incorporated In the law to protect land
lords who made leases from May to
May and often were prevented from
carrying ont contracts because tenants
refused to move.
Judges Are Ientent.
All OF the judges yesterday showed the
utmost leniency with the tenement and
ali were given until Monday to find
new quarters and in some instances
the time limit was fixed at a week and
even ten days. Attorneys for the May
or's Committee in number OF cases
were able 10 show that the bread win
ner OF the family was in the army or
navy. In which event eviction is now i'm
possible under three months
The largest number OF cases came
from the lower East Side, The Bronx
and Brownsville. There were many In
stances In which the iandlord-evldent-
~ unwilling to appear in court as de-
manding higher rent-simply sought pos
session OF his premises presumably for
the purpose OF renting them TO other
tenants at an increased rate. In many
OF these instances the owners will be
required to show exactly what they
are receiving from their properties In
the way OF revenue.
Assemblyman Samuel Dckstein, rep
resenting the Mayors Committee. an
peared for tenants served with notices
before Judge Hoffman in the Second
district court. 264 Madison street. the
heart OF the lower East Side tenement
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