Brooklyn DA revives warrant-clearing event for minor summons cases

A local route to address old warrants

On October 2, Gothamist reported that Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office had scheduled a “Begin Again” warrant- and ticket-clearance event for Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It was set for Bridge Street AME Church on Stuyvesant Avenue in Bed-Stuy.

The event concerns warrants issued after people miss the deadline to respond to criminal summonses. Gonzalez described the underlying allegations as low-level offenses, including being in a park after dark, walking a dog off leash, or smoking where it is prohibited.

Legal services and a temporary courtroom

The DA’s office is partnering with the Legal Aid Society, local judges and elected officials. Participants can consult free attorneys, then go to a church room serving as a temporary courtroom, where a judge will address warrants and other penalties.

Gonzalez told Gothamist that people would not be arrested for attending. He also said undocumented New Yorkers with summons-related warrants would not face immigration consequences for attending.

Why the program returned

The event is the first since a similar program was paused in 2018, according to the report. The DA’s office said the initiative was urgently needed and cited hundreds of thousands of outstanding criminal warrants related to unpaid tickets.

The return follows increased quality-of-life ticketing: public data showed more than 220,000 summonses for minor civil and criminal violations citywide in the last fiscal year, a 13% increase from the prior year. City Hall spokesperson Sam Raskin said old summons warrants can make it harder to get a job, obtain housing or apply for citizenship, and may deter engagement with law enforcement.