Mission & History

Build Up Justice NYC advances economic and racial justice by providing community-centered free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers across all five boroughs. We leverage the power of the law to challenge structural inequities in public systems, policies, and practices – creating a lasting impact in the lives of our clients and the neighborhoods they call home.

Our clients live in rapidly-gentrifying neighborhoods where many residents and small business owners have been displaced or are facing displacement and harassment.

Build Up Justice NYC has three core programs—Preserving Affordable Housing (PAH) Program, Consumer & Economic Advocacy (CEA) Program, and Community Economic Development (CED) Program—each of which has unique initiatives and plays an important community role to ensure basic needs are met and fundamental rights affirmed.

Our History

Build Up Justice NYC (formerly Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A or Brooklyn A) was founded in 1968 as part of the War on Poverty to fulfill President Johnson’s vision of community centered legal services that empower communities and lift them out of poverty.

For nearly 60 years, this conviction has been at the center of our efforts to help neighborhoods thrive by addressing a range of issues that disproportionately impact disadvantaged communities across New York City. We preserve affordable housing, help low-income families build generational wealth through homeownership, and support small businesses by providing legal assistance on commercial leases and contracts. We also represent low-income taxpayers in IRS disputes, guide families through the estate planning process, and advocate for survivors of domestic violence.

Build Up Justice NYC utilizes an array of innovative legal and advocacy strategies coordinated across all our practice areas to defend the rights of individuals and families and foster economic security for low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. These strategies, coupled with our demonstrated commitment to building community-based coalitions, have made us a leading voice in New York City’s ongoing public discourse about affordable housing, tenants’ rights, foreclosure defense, economic justice, and sustainable community-based development.