What: Whether the Citizen Review Board will get its own legal counsel instead of sharing a lawyer from the firm that also serves as the City's corporation counsel, which advocates see as a conflict of interest.
Where it stands: At the 2026-10-06 meeting a member of the public asked about it and the Board said it anticipates getting its own representation. No timeline or procurement was stated.
Next: At 2026-11-04 corporation counsel and the Council had told the Board it cannot hire its own attorney; the Board disputes this and has contacted a New York City firm. No date given.
Details
The advocates said the New York Civil Liberties Union does advocacy and does not represent boards like this one.
Sources
YouTube auto-generated captions of the October 6 meeting (public-comment portion only).
Board reported it was told it cannot retain its own counsel, citing charter language on conflicts; Councilor Donna Moore read the provision and said she sees a conflict. A New York City firm has been contacted. Public commenters questioned whether talks with the firm happened outside open meetings.