After Brooklyn Council Member Chi Ossé was arrested and later launched on Wednesday throughout a protest over an eviction in Bedford-Stuyvesant that the elected official claimed was tied to an alleged deed theft, prompting fellow electeds to resume strain on Gov. Kathy Hochul to halt evictions in suspected deed-theft instances.
The governor’s workplace pointed to current protections however didn’t again the proposed moratorium.
Ossé was arrested at 212 Jefferson Ave., the place supporters had gathered outdoors a house on the heart of a property dispute. Video posted to his Instagram account confirmed him confronting officers earlier than they pulled him over a fence and took him into custody. His workplace stated he had been arrested whereas defending constituent Carmella Charrington from eviction and linked the case to deed theft and the continued displacement of Black householders in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Police gave a sharply totally different account. In accordance with an NYPD timeline, metropolis marshals and the sheriff have been finishing up a judge-signed eviction order and sought backup after protesters blocked entry to the constructing. Police stated officers arrived at 7:55 a.m., issued repeated verbal warnings and commenced making arrests at 9:27 a.m. NYPD stated Ossé was arrested after he pushed previous officers and blocked the gate entrance, then resisted makes an attempt to restrain him.
Ossé disputed the account of his arrest, saying he had been standing in entrance of the house as an observer to verify “there was no violent eviction” and that officers handled him roughly, slammed him to the bottom and injured his head. He stated he deliberate to file a misconduct grievance.
After his launch, Ossé used a press convention outdoors the 79th Precinct to argue that the episode confirmed why the state ought to step in. “We must end the scourge of deed theft,” he stated, including that householders with pending deed-theft instances ought to be capable of stay of their properties whereas these disputes are resolved. He additionally stated 4 different folks arrested that day remained in custody and that two had been hospitalized with concussions.
New York Legal professional Normal Letitia James posted that she was “deeply disturbed” by the movies of Ossé being arrested whereas protesting the eviction try.
“My office is leading the fight to keep New Yorkers in their homes,” stated the AG, including that her workplace had been in touch Charrington “for over a year to offer guidance and advice on her legal battle.” Not backing the declare it was a case of deed theft, however slightly pointing to a extra difficult matter.
THE CITY reported that James’ workplace had decided in April 2025 that the dispute on the Jefferson Avenue dwelling was not a deed theft matter, however a property dispute involving competing claims from former house owners, together with Charrington’s father, Allman.
In a press release to New York News issued via a spokesperson, 227 Group LLC stated the deed theft allegation was “unequivocally false” and described its January 2024 buy of the property as an arm’s-length, all-cash transaction with title insurance coverage. The corporate stated Allman Charrington’s share of the property was conveyed with authorization from the Fulton County Probate Court docket in Georgia and argued that Kings County Housing Court docket and Supreme Court docket had repeatedly upheld each its possession declare and the lawfulness of the eviction.
Police additionally stated the case had been entangled with a conservatorship dispute involving Charrington’s father. In accordance with an NYPD spokesperson, a decide requested Charrington at a March 31 listening to the place her father was as a result of he was a ward of the state of Georgia and was speculated to be there. Police stated the decide gave her till April 16 to provide him, and when she returned to court docket with out him, she was arrested for civil contempt. Charrington spent 5 days on Rikers Island and was launched on April 21, police stated.
Nonetheless, Charrington and her allies continued to dispute the eviction and the underlying sale. In court docket filings, Charrington argued the eviction was based mostly on a “legally void deed,” stated she was the “current valid deed holder” underneath a January 2026 deed, and contended that the Georgia conservator lacked authority to promote New York property.
A crowd gathers outdoors the disputed Jefferson Avenue property in Bedford-Stuyvesant as NYPD officers guard the scene Wednesday afternoonPhoto by Anna Bradley-Smith
Ossé was “peacefully protesting:” Speaker Menin
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who stood alongside Ossé on the precinct, referred to as the video “of deep, deep concern” and stated his therapy was unacceptable. She stated he had been “peacefully protesting” and pointed to the broader deed theft disaster, noting that her former Shopper Safety Committee held hearings on the difficulty final 12 months and that complaints are up “almost 300%” citywide, largely affecting the Black group.
In a press release to New York News, Hochul’s workplace stated Ossé had been a powerful advocate for his group and that the governor was relieved he had been launched. The assertion pointed to Hochul’s proposed $40 million for the House owner Safety Program and to protections already enacted towards deed theft, however didn’t decide to supporting the moratorium sought by Ossé and allied officers.
His arrest additionally prompted a spherical of statements from allied officers. In a joint assertion shared Council Members Alexa Avilés, Tiffany Cabán and Shahana Hanif stated they have been “outraged by the violent arrest” of Ossé and once more referred to as on Hochul to enact an eviction moratorium. Black, Latino and Asian Caucus management issued a separate assertion condemning the arrest and calling on the governor to implement a short lived eviction moratorium for householders who’ve reported deed theft instances.
The moratorium push didn’t start with Wednesday’s arrest. In February, Ossé’s workplace, the Folks’s Coalition to Cease Deed Theft and different elected officers launched an initiative urging Hochul to impose a short lived eviction moratorium on New York Metropolis properties the place there’s a risk of deed theft or fraud. A letter despatched to the governor that day and backed by 24 elected officers requested her to “act now” to implement such a pause whereas possession disputes are resolved.
It additionally stated the state might achieve this via mechanisms used through the COVID-19-era eviction moratorium or via current regulation, arguing that “no New Yorker” must be evicted whereas working via a deed-theft case.
The letter framed the moratorium as just one a part of a broader anti-deed-theft agenda. They referred to as for a citywide cease-and-desist zone to curb predatory actual property and monetary solicitation, a proper to counsel for householders in deed-theft instances, specialised investigative models in district attorneys’ workplaces, extra transparency round shell LLCs and court docket processes, and different reforms meant to cease fraudulent transfers earlier than they’re recorded.
The marketing campaign itself stretches again even additional. At a Metropolis Corridor rally in Could 2025, Brooklyn lawmakers and group members referred to as on the Metropolis Council to allocate $5 million for authorized companies and outreach for deed theft victims. Brooklyn Paper reported then that the New York Metropolis Sheriff’s Workplace had obtained practically 3,500 deed theft complaints between 2014 and 2023, together with greater than 1,500 in Brooklyn, essentially the most of any borough, whereas fewer than 30 perpetrators had been convicted.
State officers have additionally already moved on the criminal-enforcement aspect. In August 2025, Legal professional Normal Letitia James introduced the primary indictments introduced underneath New York’s new deed-theft regulation which established deed theft as a criminal offense, prolonged the statute of limitations, gave the lawyer basic authentic felony jurisdiction to prosecute such instances and allowed the workplace to return property to the rightful proprietor. James referred to as deed theft “a merciless crime” on the time.
