Pubdate: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 Source: Times Union (NY) Copyright: 2000, Capital Newspapers Division of The Hearst Corporation Contact: Box 15000, Albany, NY 12212 Fax: (518) 454-5628 Feedback: http://www.timesunion.com/react/ Website: http://www.timesunion.com/ Forum: http://www.timesunion.com/react/forums/ Author: ELIZABETH BENJAMIN, Staff writer 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. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart