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Hundreds of sex abuse lawsuits against NYC ready to move forward after months in limbo
By
Ryan Kost
Published Feb 8, 2026
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Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
By
Ryan Kost
Published Feb 8, 2026
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Hundreds of lawsuits accusing New York City of failing to protect children from sexual abuse in its juvenile detention centers are moving forward again after months of legal limbo.
The cases span decades and multiple facilities. Many were dismissed last year on a technical legal ruling, can now be amended or refiled under a change in city law that reopened a path to court for survivors of gender-motivated violence. Attorneys representing survivors say they’re already taking steps to restart the cases and expect additional claims to be filed in the months ahead.
The lawsuits were originally filed under a city law that opened up a two-year window for survivors to bring claims years and decades after the statute of limitations had expired. The complaints named New York City among the defendants, arguing that it had failed to provide “care, protection and safety” to the children in its custody.
But last year, a Bronx judge threw out 450 cases in a single ruling when he determined that the law did not clearly allow the survivors to sue the city and other institutions along with individuals.
Jason Moore’s was among the suits that got rejected.
He was 12 years old when he spent more than six months at the now-defunct Spofford Juvenile Center in the 1970s. He says guards repeatedly sexually violated him and forced other detainees to abuse him during his time there.
“Back then where there were no cameras, there was nobody who believed in things like this happening,” he said during a recent interview. The staff “just did everything that they wanted to do.”
Moore and others who say they were abused rallied after their suits were dismissed, and pushed the City Council to pass another piece of legislation that would allow them to press forward with their claims.
Moore told councilmembers in October that the possibility of getting justice had given him something he hadn’t had before: “Hope.”
“Hope that I could finally be heard, hope that I could get some justice, not just from the people who hurt me, but from the system that allowed it to happen,” he said.
The Council responded and, in November, voted unanimously to pass a bill clearing the path for the lawsuits and others that the law department had paused as it waited for city leaders to act. The bill also established a new 18-month window for filing new lawsuits.
Any celebration was temporarily cut short when then-Mayor Eric Adams vetoed the legislation on Christmas Eve. Adams argued the measure would expose the city to massive financial liability and accused supporters of advancing it at the urging of a single law firm with a financial stake in the lawsuits. He cited an estimate from the city’s budget office that the new law could cost New York up to $1 billion in new expenditures.
Last week, though, the Council overrode the mayor’s veto.
Levy Konigsberg, the firm representing the survivors, is taking immediate steps to get the litigation back on track, attorney Jerome Block said, adding the office is in touch with the court and city Law Department to find the best way forward.
“Rather than trying to rely upon technicalities to get cases dismissed, the city should be looking to compensate the victims and should be looking to improve the juvenile system so that children are not put in these unsafe conditions,” Block said.
A spokesperson for new Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his office would be reviewing the issue once the City Council has confirmed a new corporation counsel, the city’s chief lawyer.
Levy Kongisberg has filed a total of nearly 600 claims between the 450 that were thrown out and another set that were paused pending Council action. They include alleged instances of abuse stretching as far back as the 1960s up through the current decade. The alleged victims range in age from 8 to 17. Roughly 80% of the plaintiffs are men.
The monthslong pause was not just a legal setback, but also an emotional one for those who sought redress.
“ It's been very, very difficult … it's just had me reliving this moment again, living this time that I had buried and put dirt upon it,” said Austin Stephens, who filed a lawsuit against the city in October 2024. “ I'm so happy that we got a voice that we can speak up right now and we can move forward because I want to be present.”
Stephens, like Moore and many of those who are suing the city, was held at the Spofford Facility. He says he spent about two days there in the early 1990s. He was about 16 at the time.
His lawsuit describes a staff member entering his room the first night he was there and forcing him to perform oral sex. The staffer then told Stephens he would kill him if he reported the abuse, according to the suit.
“He was a predator and he probably did that multiple times to people that was coming in there, young boys that was coming in there,” Moore said.
Both Stephens and Moore say the abuse profoundly affected their lives. They spent years using drugs to cope with the pain. Both men say they considered suicide. Stephens says the abuse contributed to him becoming homeless and having difficulties forming relationships with women.
They say they’ve since recovered from those depths and in recent years, coverage of other survivors coming forward pushed them to act, too. The two men say it’s not about the money.
“I want to make sure it never happens to anyone else,” Moore said. “No one is above the law and everyone should be held accountable for such ugly things that have scarred us.”
Stephens said, “ It's about stopping these predators, stopping the next victim from killing themselves or being abused and being mistreated or just being took advantage of."
While much of the focus has been on lawsuits that were dismissed, the reopened window also allows survivors who never filed claims to come forward.
Under the amended law, survivors of gender-motivated violence that occurred in New York City prior to Jan. 9, 2022 have 18 months to bring claims against institutions they say enabled the abuse.
Block said he expects “many more people” will come forward. As does Jordan Merson, an attorney who represents survivors of sexual abuse, including people abused by Jeffrey Epstein. While Merson hasn’t filed any new cases yet he says he’ll likely have more to share in weeks to come.
“All of this is viable now and in process,” he said. “It's unfortunate that everyone was put through Mayor Adams’ veto on Christmas Eve, but now that's fortunately been remedied.”
Tagged
Politics
new york city
public safety
Ryan Kost
Ryan Kost is a reporter on the day-of news desk, where he covers breaking news and writes enterprise stories about jails, courts, prosecutors and government accountability. His work focuses on the public institutions that shape life in New York. Before joining the newsroom, he lead a multi-part investigation with Columbia Journalism Investigations and New York Focus into how New York prosecutors handle wrongful conviction claims. He's also been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle, The Associated Press and The Oregonian. Got a tip? Signal: ryankost.20
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