If they did not pay at least $6,000 immediately, the city said, it would shut off the water to the home the woman shared with her husband, a diabetic car-service driver, and their 9- and 15-year-old children.
NEW YORK — In March, as Mayor Eric Adams began an aggressive crackdown on New York City landlords who were behind on water bill payments, a public school safety agent and her family were presented with a brand-new $24,000 water bill.
If they did not pay at least $6,000 immediately, the city said, it would shut off the water to the home the woman shared with her husband, a diabetic car-service driver, and their 9- and 15-year-old children.
The mayor’s crackdown — announced in front of a boutique Manhattan hotel that was in arrears — suggested he was targeting large landlords, as a way to drum up payments to help preserve the vast water system on which all New Yorkers rely.
But the city may also be targeting homeowners who are aging, taking care of young children or suffering from serious medical problems, in defiance of state and city regulations that seek to protect vulnerable New Yorkers, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn.