RULING NOW MAKES LANDLORDS LIABLE

Albany -- Judge sets precedent in allowing suit against owner of a property
where, police say, drugs were sold

The state attorney general can hold landlords accountable when their
property is used by tenants for drug dealing or other crimes, a state
Supreme Court justice has ruled in a precedent-setting decision.

The state's test case centered on what police described as the headquarters
of a local drug ring in a South End house owned by an Albany landlord
Deborah L. Landy.

Landy was sued by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in February for allegedly
turning a blind eye to the illegal activity in her building.

Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Ferradino ruled in favor of Spitzer and
issued an injunction against Landy, which bars her from "permitting the
sale of illicit drugs or any other unlawful trade, manufacture or
business'' at her 64 Alexander St. property, which is currently vacant.

"Now that we've got the judge's opinion, we have the authority and the
legal principals to go out and assume control of other houses that have
been used by drug dealers,'' Spitzer said Tuesday. "What's most important
is that a precedent has been set, and we will be able to invoke our
jurisdiction to bring charges against more properties.''

Spitzer said his office is researching other places across New York that
could be targeted under what has been dubbed the "Clean Sweep'' initiative.

Four men who Albany police say had intermittently lived and ran a marijuana
dealing operation at 64 Alexander St. -- Charles Robinson, Edward Robinson
Jr., Mark Robinson and Steven Robinson -- were named along with Landy in
the attorney general's suit. The judge ordered the Robinsons not to come
within 200 feet of the building.

If any of them violate this order, they could be arrested for criminal
contempt and subject to a fine of up to $1,000 or 30 days in jail, said
Brian Stettin, the assistant state attorney general handling the Clean
Sweep lawsuits. If Landy fails to comply with Ferradino's orders, she could
be fined up to $5,000 for every day she is in violation.

During the past five years, Albany police raided the house at least 14
times, seizing marijuana, weapons and crack cocaine. At the time he
launched the initiative, Spitzer said the arrests made at the house
resulted in more than 20 convictions.

South End residents heralded Spitzer's efforts to run drugs out of their
neighborhood and credited his initiative with moving dealers off Alexander
Street and out of a small park on nearby Elizabeth Street, where parents
used to be too afraid to let their children play.

"The Robinsons are not easily scared off a location, especially one as
profitable (as 64 Alexander St.),'' said Linda Miller, founder of the South
End Weed and Seed anti-crime program. "But since they got sued. They've
stayed away from here. We couldn't ask for anything better than this.''

In May, Weed and Seed opened its headquarters in a renovated brownstone
across the street from Landy's house and next to the park on Elizabeth
Street. Throughout the summer, the organization ran a youth program for 132
children and is now operating an after-school program for 86 pupils. The
brownstone at 59 Elizabeth St. is within the 200-foot protected perimeter
surrounding 64 Alexander St. Miller said she won't hesitate to call the
police if she spots any of the Robinsons nearby.

"We've been very good eyes and ears for the police in the South End,''
Miller said. "The community isn't willing to overlook this stuff. Not when
we're here and the kids are here.''

Ferradino has also ordered that Landy evict any remaining tenants at 64
Alexander St., but that is largely moot because the house has been vacant
since Spitzer filed his lawsuit last February, neighbors said. Also, much
of the wood-frame duplex was gutted by a July 18 fire that investigators
labeled "suspicious.''

Landy is due in City Court Sept. 27 to outline her plans for fixing up the
house.

Landy's attorney, Eugene Grenz, had argued that Spitzer's lawsuit was
unconstitutional. Grenz did not return calls for comment on Tuesday.