Matter of NYP Holdings, Inc. v New York City Dept. of Social Servs. 2024 NY Slip Op 32540(U) July 24, 2024 Supreme Court, New York County Docket Number: Index No. 158909/2023 Judge: John J. Kelley Cases posted with a "30000" identifier, i.e., 2013 NY Slip Op 30001(U), are republished from various New York State and local government sources, including the New York State Unified Court System's eCourts Service. This opinion is uncorrected and not selected for official publication. INDEX NO. 158909/2023 NYSCEF DOC. NO. 47 RECEIVED NYSCEF: 07/24/2024
SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK NEW YORK COUNTY PRESENT: HON. JOHN J. KELLEY PART 56M Justice ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X INDEX NO. 158909/2023 In the Matter of MOTION DATE 07/12/2024 NYP HOLDINGS, INC., and NOLAN HICKS, MOTION SEQ. NO. 001 Petitioners,
-v- NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES DECISION, ORDER, AND and NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF HOMELESS JUDGMENT SERVICES,
Respondents. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------X
The following e-filed documents, listed by NYSCEF document number (Motion 001) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 were read on this motion to/for ARTICLE 78 (BODY OR OFFICER) .
In this CPLR article 78 proceeding, the petitioners seek judicial review of the May 9,
2023 partial denial of their administrative appeal from a March 23, 2023 New York City
Department of Social Services/New York City Department of Homeless Services (DSS/DHS)
Records Access Officer’s (RAO) determination that had denied their request for agency records
pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law (Public Officers Law § 84, et seq.; hereinafter
FOIL). The DSS/DHS answers the petition, submits the administrative record, and opposes the
relief sought by the petitioners. The petition is granted, and, on or before August 26, 2024, the
DSS/DHS shall produce the documents requested by the petitioners, but the petitioners are
preliminarily enjoined, until September 25, 2024, from publishing the addresses of the homeless
shelters that were the subject of their FOIL request, to permit the DSS/DHS to appeal this
decision, order, and judgment, and seek a either a continued injunction or stay pending appeal
from the Appellate Division.
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In its initial FOIL request, dated March 15, 2023, the petitioners---the corporate owner of
the New York Post newspaper and an individual reporter for that newspaper---requested that
the DSS/DHS produce “[a] spreadsheet or database of shelter locations, number of beds
provided, operator and landlord.” In his denial, the RAO explained that,
“[a]ddresses of individuals applying for or receiving public assistance, including DHS shelter addresses, are confidential pursuant to NYS Social Services Law (SSL) §136 and are therefore withheld under NY Public Officers Law §87(2)(a).
“However, while this information cannot be provided under FOIL for the above reasons, in handling requests from representatives of bona fide news organizations the Agency will acknowledge that there is a separate entitlement to access information contained in the Agency’s books and records of disbursement, including addresses, so long as the relevant statutory requirements are met. Specifically, SSL 136(1) requires the news organization to ‘give assurances in writing that it will not publicly disclose, or participate or acquiesce in the public disclosure of, the names and addresses of applicants for and recipients of public assistance and care . . .’ It is for these reasons the Agency requires completion of the attached agreement prior to release of the requested information, which would otherwise be exempt pursuant to NY POL §87(2)(a).
“Once we receive the completed form, the Agency will work to compile responsive records and provide a response.”
Rather than executing and submitting that form to the DSS/DHS, the petitioners administratively
appealed that determination to the DSS/DHS’s Records Access Appeal Officer (RAAO).
In a May 9, 2023 determination, the RAAO explained that Social Services Law § 136
prohibited
“the release of ‘the names or addresses of persons applying for or receiving public assistance.’ More specifically, the statute provides that ‘[t]he names or addresses of persons applying for or receiving public assistance and care shall not be included in any published report or printed in any newspaper . . .’ SSL §136(1) [emphasis added]. It is acknowledged that the underlying legislative intent of this section of the SSL is ‘to preserve the dignity and self-respect of the recipient of social assistance and to assure the integrity and efficiency of the administration of the related programs.’ Malowsky v. D’Elia, 160 A.D.2d 798, 800 (2d Dep’t 1990) (citing Early v. Cnty. of Nassau, 98 A.D.2d 798, 790 (2d Dep’t 1983). Courts and the Agency also recognize the law’s intent to ‘prevent a recipient’s exposure to exploitation or embarrassment’ (People v. Prim, 47 A.D.2d 409, 416). DHS agrees that the legislative intent behind SSL §136 is what drives this conversation. The dignity, self-respect, and additionally the safety, of our clients is of the utmost importance. The Agency’s plain language reading and application of the statute support[ ] these goals.” 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 2 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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The RAAO rejected the petitioners’ reliance upon the decision in Krauskopf v Giannelli (121
Misc 2d 186, 190 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County 1983]), for the proposition that “the demand for
addresses requires minimal intrusion into the confidentiality of records and cannot serve, as
such, to embarrass, demean or exploit either the assistance recipient or the program
administration.” In this regard, the RAAO explained that Krauskopf involved the disclosure of
the addresses of only three particular public assistance recipients in the context of a grand jury
subpoena related to a homicide investigation. As the RAAO characterized it, apart from the fact
that Social Services Law § 136(1), by its very terms, already contemplated grand jury
disclosures, limited to the “names and addresses and the amount received by or expended for”
public assistance, the Krauskopf court explicitly noted that the disclosures there in dispute were
“not being made to the general public, but only to a small and select group, all of whose
members are obligated by law to keep secret information they receive” (Krauskopf v Giannelli,
121 Misc 2d at 190).
In response to the petitioners’ arguments that “addresses do not implicitly identify
inhabitants,” and that “[a]n individual receiving public benefits cannot be deduced from the
existence of a shelter at a particular building,” the RAAO emphatically asserted that these
contentions were “not necessarily true.” Specifically, she adverted that,
“[t]he fact that an individual resides at a DHS shelter location is in itself confirmation that they are receiving public assistance and care. These addresses, for all intents and purposes, are DHS clients’ ‘home’ addresses during the time in which they reside there. Disclosure of addresses enables third parties both to identify and locate individuals residing at the sites as recipients of public assistance, the result of which is the potential exploitation and embarrassment of Agency clients that SSL §136 aims to avoid. There is no requirement under the statute that addresses be ‘tethered’ to names of recipients before the statutory protections apply. In fact, as emphasized above, SSL §136 couches the language in terms of either/or: prohibiting the disclosure of names or addresses.”
According to the RAAO, under the New York City Identifying Information Law (Admin. Code of
City of N.Y., §§ 23-1201-23-1205), which is applicable to the DSS/DHS, “information obtained
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by or on behalf of the city that may be used on its own or with other information to identify or
locate an individual” (Admin. Code of City of N.Y., §§ 23-1201, ¶ 6 [emphasis added])
constitutes “identifying information” that can be disclosed only in limited circumstances,
regardless of whether that individual is a recipient of DSS/DHS benefits. Hence, the RAAO, in
reaching her decision, concluded that the Identifying Information Law lent further support to the
applicability of Social Services Law § 136 as a basis for denying access to the records sought,
and bolstered her determination also to withhold the disclosure of documents containing such
addresses under Public Officers Law § 87(2)(b), so as to avoid any unwarranted invasions of
personal privacy.
The RAAO further characterized, as “inaccurate,” the petitioners’ allegation that
DSS/DHS inconsistently applied Social Services Law § 136 because it had disclosed shelter
addresses in other contexts, and that the examples of disclosure cited in the petitioners’ appeal
letter were distinguishable from their current request to release a complete list of shelter
addresses to a member of the public under FOIL. Rather, according to the RAAO, the
examples cited by the petitioners did not include situations in which the addresses of homeless
shelters were published in a wholesale fashion in one easily or readily searchable or widely
publicized single place or document. Rather, she explained that the DSS/DHS previously had
disclosed or otherwise made public DHS shelter addresses solely for purposes directly
connected to the administration of public assistance and shelter programs, and to fulfill those
agencies’ various legal obligations related to procurement, proposed contracts, and public
hearings. Hence, she concluded that, “[w]hile the Agency may be required under some
circumstances to provide address information in limited forums, this does not mean that the
Agency should or must shirk its duty to protect this information outside of those limited contexts
to the fullest extent permitted under the law.” In this regard, the RAAO noted that the
Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers identified by the petitioners as having
previously been identified to the public were not DHS homeless shelter sites. 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 4 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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Nonetheless, the RAAO granted the petitioners’ administrative appeal to the extent of
directing the DSS/DHS FOIL office to provide materials responsive to the portions of the
petitioners’ request seeking non-confidential records and data, specifically, the identities of the
“operator[s] (i.e., contracted shelter providers)” and “number of beds provided.” She otherwise
denied the appeal on the ground that the remaining documents were exempt from disclosure by
virtue of Public Officers Law § 87(2)(a) (records specifically exempted from disclosure by the
Social Services Law) and Public Officers Law §87(2)(b) and §89(2) (records that, if released,
would create an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy). This CPLR article 78 proceeding
ensued.
“While the Legislature established a general policy of disclosure by enacting the
Freedom of Information Law, it nevertheless recognized a legitimate need on the part of
government to keep some matters confidential” (Matter of Fink v Lefkowitz, 47 NY2d 567, 571
[1979]). When denying a FOIL request, a state or municipal agency must “state, in writing, the
reason for the denial of access” (Matter of West Harlem Bus. Group v Empire State Dev. Corp.,
13 NY3d 882, 884 [2009]). If the requesting party administratively appeals the denial, the
agency's appeals officer must also provide written reasoning for upholding the denial (see id.).
“[O]n the issue of whether a particular document is exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law, the oft-stated standard of review in CPLR article 78 proceedings, i.e., that the agency's determination will not be set aside unless arbitrary or capricious or without rational basis, is not applicable”
(Matter of Capital Newspapers Div. of Hearst Corp. v Burns, 109 AD2d 92, 94 [3rd Dept. 1985],
affd 67 NY2d 562 [1986]; see Matter of Prall v New York City Dept. of Corrections, 129 AD3d
734 [2d Dept 2015]; Matter of New York Comm. for Occupational Safety & Health v Bloomberg,
72 AD3d 153 [1st Dept 2010]). Rather, upon judicial review of an agency's determination to
deny a FOIL request, the court must assess whether “the requested material falls squarely
within a FOIL exemption” and whether the agency, upon denying such access, “articulat[ed] a
particularized and specific justification for denying access” (Matter of Capital Newspapers Div.
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of Hearst Corp. v Burns, 67 NY2d at 566). In other words, the court may only review an
agency’s FOIL determination to ascertain whether the determination to invoke a particular
statutory exemption was affected by an error of law (see Matter of Abdur-Rashid v New York
City Police Dept., 31 NY3d 217, 246 & n 2 [2018], affg 140 AD3d 419, 420-421 [1st Dept 2016];
Matter of Asian Am. Legal Defense & Educ. Fund v New York City Police Dept., 125 AD3d 531,
531 [1st Dept 2015]; CPLR 7803[3]).
Under Public Officers Law § 87(2)(a), records must be withheld that “are specifically
exempted from disclosure by state or federal statute.” Social Services Law § 136(1) provides, in
relevant part, with certain exceptions not relevant here, that,
“[t]he names or addresses of persons applying for or receiving public assistance and care shall not be included in any published report or printed in any newspaper or reported at any public meeting . . . ; nor shall such names and addresses and the amount received by or expended for such persons be disclosed”
(emphasis added). That statute, however, further provides that,
“if a bona fide news disseminating firm or organization makes a written request to the social services official or the appropriating board or body of a county, city or town to allow inspection by an authorized representative of such firm or organization of the books and records of the disbursements made by such county, city or town for public assistance and care, such requests shall be granted within five days and such firm or organization shall be considered entitled to the information contained in such books and records, provided such firm or organization shall give assurances in writing that it will not publicly disclose, or participate or acquiesce in the public disclosure of, the names and addresses of applicants for and recipients of public assistance and care except as expressly permitted by subdivision four.”
(emphasis added). The public dissemination of such information by a news organization, made
after it has provided such assurances to the applicable agency, constitutes a misdemeanor
(Social Services Law § 136[1]).
The purpose of these restrictions is “to preserve the dignity and self-respect of a
recipient of public assistance” (Rampe v Giuliani, 253 AD2d 486, 487 [2d Dept 1998]). Although
the protections accorded such records are not absolute, the petitioners must show some
entitlement to the information under some regulatory exception (D & Z Holding Corp. v City of 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 6 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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N.Y. Dept. of Fin., 179 AD2d 796, 798 [2d Dept 1992]), or demonstrate that their suppression
would “exceed the purpose of the statute” (Rampe v Giuliani, 253 AD2d at 487). Generally,
even disinterested applicants for production of agency records, such as academic researchers,
may not employ FOIL to obtain records that reveal the name of public assistance benefit
recipients (see Matter of Rabinowitz v Hammons, 228 AD2d 369, 369 [1st Dept 1996] [rejecting
researcher’s request for production of approximately 1,900 intake referral forms maintained by
the Visiting Psychiatric Service unit of the New York State Office of Health and Mental Health
Services]). As relevant to this dispute, in Matter of Citizens for a Better Maspeth, Inc. v City of
New York (2017 NY Slip Op 32024[U], 2017 NY Misc LEXIS 3692 [Sup Ct, Queens County,
Sep. 27, 2017]), the court rejeected a judicial challenge to the DHS’s denial of a FOIL request,
made jointly by a community organization opposed to the siting of shelters in its neighborhood
and a local resident affiliated with that organization, that “specifically sought individual
addresses---both the last known addresses and the current shelter location---of each New York
City shelter resident.” More particularly, the individual resident requested documents, among
other things, containing the
“[m]ost recent data available pertaining to the number of homeless, stratified by type (ex. families with children, adult families, single adults), data pertaining to their last residence/last known address (country, state, borough, city zip code, and community board of last residence), primary reason for homelessness, indicator if currently employed, if employed, indicator if full time or part time, gross monthly income, if any, indicator of mental health issues, indicator of drug abuse/dependency, indicator of alcohol abuse/dependency, shelter entry date, current length of shelter stay (in days), anticipated length of shelter stay, shelter provider, shelter location (borough, city, zip code and community board of shelter location), repeat shelter status (meaning they have returned to the shelter system after being transitioned out)”
(id., 2017 NY Slip Op 32024[U], *2, 2017 NY Misc LEXIS 3692, *2 [emphasis added]). In
denying the entirety of the challenge, the court explicitly ruled that the petitioners were not
entitled to the addresses of all current DHS shelter residents (id., 2017 NY Slip Op 32024[U], *9,
2017 NY Misc LEXIS 3692, *16; cf. Matter of New York Times Co. v City of New York, 176 Misc
2d 872 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County 1998] [newspaper publisher that agreed not to publish individual 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 7 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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names and addresses of “workfare” recipients is entitled to agency records identifying those
recipients so that it could interview recipients, and anonymously report on the effects of the
recently imposed work requirement for receipt of welfare benefits]).
The court concludes that the DSS/DHS incorrectly invoked the exemption articulated by
Public Officers Law § 87(2)(a), and improperly withheld the requested records on the ground
that they were “specifically exempted from disclosure by state . . . statute,” particularly Social
Services Law § 136(1). Although Social Services Law § 136(1) exempts disclosure of the name
“or” address of a public benefit recipient, the request made by the petitioners here was not for
the addresses of any specific recipients but, rather, for the addresses of DHS-managed
facilities. While those facilities do serve as temporary locations of the recipients of homeless
benefits and other public benefits, contrary to the DSS/DHS’s contention, they are not formal
“addresses” of public benefit recipients, who rarely reside therein for more than a few months,
and they are neither a permanent residence nor a domicile of those receiving benefits.
Moreover, the Maspeth decision is distinguishable from the instant dispute, in that the party
requesting records there specifically sought the addresses of the recipients themselves, not the
addresses of facilities in a general fashion.
It is not clear whether Admin. Code of City of N.Y., §§ 23-1201, ¶ 6, which is a section of
the Administrative Code that imposes a specific duty upon City agencies, has the “force of
statute” in the City and thus, whether it is a provision of the Administrative Code, similar to a
statute, that is the controlling authority “within its sphere of operation” (see Juarez v Wavecrest
Mgt. Team, 88 NY2d 628, 645 [1996]; Bittrolff v Ho's Dev. Corp., 77 NY2d 896, 899 n [1991];
Guzman v Haven Plaza Hous. Dev. Fund Co., 69 NY2d 559, 565 n 3 [1987]; see also Martin v
Herzog, supra, 228 NY 164, 169 [1920]). To the extent that it is deemed to have the force of
statute, the same analysis that applies to Social Services Law § 136(1) applies to that Code
provision, in that it prohibits the disclosure of specific identifying information but does not, by its
terms, prohibit the disclosure of the location of City-operated facilities. 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 8 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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Public Officers Law § 87(2)(b) provides that an “agency may deny access to records or
portions thereof that . . . if disclosed would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal
privacy under the provisions of subdivision two of section eighty-nine of this article.” In general,
that provision of law requires a balancing test, and warrants a finding of an “unwarranted
invasion” where “privacy interests” outweigh the “public interest in disclosure of the information”
(Matter of Harbatkin v New York City Dept. of Records & Info. Servs., 19 NY3d 373, 380 [2012];
see Matter of New York Times Co. v City of N.Y. Fire Dept., 4 NY3d 477, 485-487 [2005];
Matter of Thomas v New York City Dept. of Educ., 103 AD3d 495, 496-497 [1st Dept 2013]). In
interpreting the federal Freedom of Information Act, on which FOIL is based, the United States
Supreme Court explained that, where an agency asserts an exemption based on personal
privacy, the “usual rule that the citizen need not offer a reason for requesting the information
must be inapplicable” (National Archives & Records Admin. v Favish, 541 US 157, 172 [2004]).
In order to “give practical meaning” to the exemption, which “requires the courts to balance the
competing interests in privacy and disclosure,” courts must examine whether the requestor has
established a “sufficient reason for the disclosure” outweighing the privacy interests (id.). The
Court of Appeals, in both Harbatkin and New York Times, effectively has adopted the Favish
test, since it expressly applied such a balancing test to FOIL in the context of claimed
exemptions based on privacy.
Notably, “‘what constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy is measured by
what would be offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person of ordinary sensibilities’”
(Matter of Hepps v New York State Dept. of Health, 183 AD3d 283, 287-288 [3rd Dept 2020],
quoting Matter of Ruberti, Girvin & Ferlazzo v New York State Div. of State Police, 218 AD2d
494, 498 [3d Dept 1996] [internal quotation marks, brackets, and citation omitted]; see Matter of
Massaro v New York State Thruway Auth., 111 AD3d 1001, 1003 [3d Dept 2013]; see generally
Matter of Castorina v New York City Human Resources Admin./Dept. of Social Servs., 2019 NY
Slip Op 32351[U], 2019 NY Misc LEXIS 4325 [Sup Ct, N.Y. County, Jul. 31, 2019] [rejecting 158909/2023 NYP HOLDINGS, INC. ET AL vs. NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL Page 9 of 11 SERVICES ET AL Motion No. 001
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FOIL request by two members of the New York State Assembly for the underlying personal
information required on City residents’ applications for issuance of IDNYC identification cards]).
Although the court recognizes the importance of the privacy interests of recipients of
public benefits who reside in homeless shelters, and their concomitant interest in freedom from
potential harassment, exploitation, and embarrassment that could arise were the shelter
addresses to be made public, the public has a valid interest in obtaining knowledge of where
DHS homeless shelters are situated. In this regard, however, the court notes the recent
incident in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, in which a public protest to the siting of a
homeless shelter led to the alleged assault of a New York City Police officer by a member of the
New York City Council. The court expresses its fervent hope that the publication of a list of
shelter locations will not lead to similar occurrences. It further recognizes that many victims of
domestic abuse initially seek refuge in homeless shelters, and that the disclosure of all of the
addresses at which such shelters are situated may pose an increased danger of stalking and
violence. The court nonetheless concludes that the public’s interest in disclosure outweighs the
interest of recipients of public benefits in this case. The addresses of virtually all shelters
already have been made public during the acquisition, siting, and budgeting processes, and, as
the DSS/DHS explained, in those particular instances in which the agency must hold a public
hearing, or in which applications for certain other governmental approvals, appropriations, and
funding are publicly known, the residents of any neighborhood in which a shelter is anticipated
to be sited already will have learned of the particular address of that shelter. Moreover, in a
recent article, the petitioners published the general locations of other facilities providing services
to recent immigrants, apparently without any perceivable backlash. Hence, the court concludes
that the DSS/DHS incorrectly invoked the exemption from FOIL disclosure set forth in Public
Officers Law § 87(2)(b).
Accordingly, it is,
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ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the petition is granted, so much of the May 9, 2023
determination of the respondent’s Records Access Appeals Officer as denied the petitioners’
request for access to agency records is annulled, and, on or before August 26, 2024, the
respondent shall produce all records responsive to the petitioners’ March 15, 2023 request for
the production of “[a] spreadsheet or database of shelter locations, number of beds provided,
operator and landlord”; and it is further,
ORDERED that, on the court’s own motion, the petitioners be, and hereby are,
preliminarily enjoined, until September 25, 2024, from publishing the addresses of homeless
shelters identified in the records that are produced by the respondent, to permit the respondent
to appeal this decision, order, and judgment, and to seek, from the Appellate Division, First
Department, any further injunctive relief or a stay pending appeal.
This constitutes the Decision, Order, and Judgment of the court.
7/24/2024 $SIG$ DATE JOHN J. KELLEY, J.S.C.
CHECK ONE: X CASE DISPOSED NON-FINAL DISPOSITION
□ X GRANTED DENIED GRANTED IN PART OTHER
APPLICATION: SETTLE ORDER SUBMIT ORDER
□ CHECK IF APPROPRIATE: INCLUDES TRANSFER/REASSIGN FIDUCIARY APPOINTMENT REFERENCE
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