Zion Alexander v. City of New York; Warden of Department of Corrections; OMH; Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor

CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedNovember 25, 2025
Docket1:25-cv-01944
StatusUnknown

This text of Zion Alexander v. City of New York; Warden of Department of Corrections; OMH; Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor (Zion Alexander v. City of New York; Warden of Department of Corrections; OMH; Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zion Alexander v. City of New York; Warden of Department of Corrections; OMH; Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor, (S.D.N.Y. 2025).

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK ZION ALEXANDER, Plaintiff, -against- 25-CV-1944 (LLS) CITY OF NEW YORK; WARDEN OF ORDER TO AMEND DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS; OMH; FORENSIC OPERATION DOCTOR/ SUPERVISOR, Defendants. LOUIS L. STANTON, United States District Judge: Plaintiff, who currently is incarcerated in the George R. Vierno Center on Rikers Island, brings this action, pro se, under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging that Defendants violated his rights. By order dated June 10, 2025, the Court granted Plaintiff’s request to proceed in forma pauperis (“IFP”), that is, without prepayment of fees.1 For the reasons set forth below, the Court grants Plaintiff 60 days’ leave to file an amended complaint. STANDARD OF REVIEW The Prison Litigation Reform Act requires that federal courts screen complaints brought by prisoners who seek relief against a governmental entity or an officer or employee of a governmental entity. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915A(a). The Court must dismiss a prisoner’s IFP complaint, or any portion of the complaint, that is frivolous or malicious, fails to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, or seeks monetary relief from a defendant who is immune from such relief. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1915(e)(2)(B), 1915A(b); see Abbas v. Dixon, 480 F.3d 636, 639

1 Prisoners are not exempt from paying the full filing fee even when they have been granted permission to proceed IFP. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(1). (2d Cir. 2007). The Court must also dismiss a complaint if the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(h)(3). While the law mandates dismissal on any of these grounds, the Court is obliged to construe pro se pleadings liberally, Harris v. Mills, 572 F.3d 66, 72 (2d Cir. 2009), and to

interpret them to raise the “strongest [claims] that they suggest,” Triestman v. Fed. Bureau of Prisons, 470 F.3d 471, 474 (2d Cir. 2006) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). But the “special solicitude” in pro se cases, id. at 475 (citation omitted), has its limits—to state a claim, pro se pleadings still must comply with Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a complaint to make a short and plain statement showing that the pleader is entitled to relief. A complaint states a claim for relief if the claim is plausible. Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678-79 (2009) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555 (2007)). To review a complaint for plausibility, the Court accepts all well-pleaded factual allegations as true and draws all reasonable inferences in the pleader’s favor. Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678-79 (citing Twombly, 550

U.S. at 555). The Court need not accept, however, “[t]hreadbare recitals of the elements of a cause of action,” which are essentially legal conclusions. Id. at 678 (citing Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555). After separating legal conclusions from well-pleaded factual allegations, the court must determine whether those facts make it plausible – not merely possible – that the pleader is entitled to relief. Id. BACKGROUND Plaintiff filed this complaint against the following Defendants: (1) the City Of New York; (2) the Warden; (3) the New York “OMH,” which the Court understands to be the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (“DOHMH”); and (4) the “Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor.” (ECF 1 at 1.) He alleges that, beginning in 2023, he has been exposed to “squalid” housing conditions and violence from other detainees and correction officers, and denied recreation, adequate food and water, medical care, and mental health treatment for suicidal ideation. (Id. at 9, 11, 15, 19, 22-23.) Additionally, Plaintiff claims that his pretrial detention is unlawful, and he asks that the Court construe his complaint as a petition for habeas

corpus relief and order his release. (Id. at 9, 11, 19.) Plaintiff currently has two pending complaints in this court alleging that he has been denied medical and mental health care at Rikers Island during the same time period, and this complaint appears to contain claims that overlap with those already being litigated in those cases. See Zion v. City of New York, No. 25-CV-284 (RA) (JW) (S.D.N.Y. filed Jan. 13, 2025) (alleging denial of mental health treatment at Rikers against the City of New York, medical staff (two John Doe psychiatrists, Dr. Mitra, and Nurse Practitioner Garcia) and Officers Dejesus, Adam, Jackson, and Thompson); Zion v. City of New York, No. 24-CV-8084 (AS) (S.D.N.Y. filed Oct. 21, 2024) (alleging denial of medical care at Rikers against the City of New York; Dr. R. L. Williams; Officers Reynolds and Kouanda; Physical Affiliate Group of New York, P.C).

DISCUSSION A. The named defendants City of New York and DOHMH When a plaintiff sues a municipality or a municipal agency2 under Section 1983, it is not enough for the plaintiff to allege that one of the municipality’s employees or agents engaged in

2 The DOHMH is a municipal agency that can be sued. See N.Y. City Charter, Ch. 22, § 564 (“The department may sue and be sued in and by the proper name of ‘Department of Health and Mental Hygiene of the City of New York.”); Rivera v. Bloomberg, Nos. 11-CV-629, 11-CV-4325 (PGG), 2012 WL 3655830, at *11 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 27, 2012) (holding that DOHMH is a suable entity). some wrongdoing. The plaintiff must show that the municipality itself caused the violation of the plaintiff’s rights. See Connick v. Thompson, 563 U.S. 51, 60 (2011) (“A municipality or other local government may be liable under . . . section [1983] if the governmental body itself ‘subjects’ a person to a deprivation of rights or ‘causes’ a person ‘to be subjected’ to such

deprivation.”) (quoting Monell v. Dep’t of Soc. Servs., 436 U.S. 658, 692 (1978)); Cash v. Cnty. of Erie, 654 F.3d 324, 333 (2d Cir. 2011). In other words, to state a Section 1983 claim against a municipality, the plaintiff must allege facts showing (1) the existence of a municipal policy, custom, or practice, and (2) that the policy, custom, or practice caused the violation of the plaintiff’s constitutional rights. See Jones v. Town of East Haven, 691 F.3d 72, 80 (2d Cir. 2012); Bd. of Cnty. Comm’rs v. Brown, 520 U.S. 397, 403 (1997) (internal citations omitted). A plaintiff may satisfy the policy or custom requirement by alleging one of the following: “(1) a formal policy officially endorsed by the municipality; (2) actions taken by government officials responsible for establishing the municipal policies that caused the particular deprivation in question; (3) a practice so consistent and widespread that, although not expressly authorized,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Younger v. Harris
401 U.S. 37 (Supreme Court, 1971)
Kugler v. Helfant
421 U.S. 117 (Supreme Court, 1975)
Monell v. New York City Dept. of Social Servs.
436 U.S. 658 (Supreme Court, 1978)
Bell v. Wolfish
441 U.S. 520 (Supreme Court, 1979)
Daniels v. Williams
474 U.S. 327 (Supreme Court, 1986)
Carnegie-Mellon University v. Cohill
484 U.S. 343 (Supreme Court, 1988)
Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
550 U.S. 544 (Supreme Court, 2007)
Taylor v. Sturgell
553 U.S. 880 (Supreme Court, 2008)
Ashcroft v. Iqbal
556 U.S. 662 (Supreme Court, 2009)
Salahuddin v. Cuomo
861 F.2d 40 (Second Circuit, 1988)
Hill v. Curcione
657 F.3d 116 (Second Circuit, 2011)
Abbas v. Dixon
480 F.3d 636 (Second Circuit, 2007)
Walker v. Schult
717 F.3d 119 (Second Circuit, 2013)
Harris v. Mills
572 F.3d 66 (Second Circuit, 2009)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
Zion Alexander v. City of New York; Warden of Department of Corrections; OMH; Forensic Operation Doctor/Supervisor, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zion-alexander-v-city-of-new-york-warden-of-department-of-corrections-nysd-2025.