After Brooklyn Council Member Chi Ossé was arrested and later released Wednesday during a protest over an alleged deed-theft eviction in Bedford-Stuyvesant, fellow elected officials renewed pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul to halt evictions in suspected deed-theft cases, while the governor’s office pointed to existing protections without backing the proposed moratorium.
Ossé was arrested at 212 Jefferson Ave., where supporters had gathered outside a home at the center of a property dispute. Video posted to his Instagram account showed him confronting officers before they pulled him over a fence and took him into custody. His office said he had been arrested while defending constituent Carmella Charrington from eviction and linked the case to deed theft and the ongoing displacement of Black homeowners in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Police gave a sharply different account. According to an NYPD timeline, city marshals and the sheriff were carrying out a judge-signed eviction order and sought backup after protesters blocked access to the building. Police said officers arrived at 7:55 a.m., issued repeated verbal warnings and began making arrests at 9:27 a.m. NYPD said Ossé was arrested after he pushed past officers and blocked the gate entrance, then resisted attempts to restrain him.
Ossé disputed that account, saying he had been standing in front of the home as an observer to make sure “there was no violent eviction” and that officers treated him roughly, slammed him to the ground and injured his head. He said he planned to file a misconduct complaint.
After his release, Ossé used a press conference outside the 79th Precinct to argue that the episode showed why the state should step in. “We must end the scourge of deed theft,” he said, adding that homeowners with pending deed-theft cases should be able to remain in their homes while those disputes are resolved. He also said four other people arrested that day remained in custody and that two had been hospitalized with concussions.
Ossé was “peacefully protesting:” Speaker Menin
Council Speaker Julie Menin, who stood alongside Ossé at the precinct, called the video “of deep, deep concern” and said his treatment was unacceptable. She said he had been “peacefully protesting” and pointed to the broader deed theft crisis, noting that her former Consumer Protection Committee held hearings on the issue last year and that complaints are up “almost 300%” citywide, largely affecting the Black community.
In a statement to amNewYork, Hochul’s office said Ossé had been a strong advocate for his community and that the governor was relieved he had been released. The statement pointed to Hochul’s proposed $40 million for the Homeowner Protection Program and to protections already enacted against deed theft, but did not commit to supporting the moratorium sought by Ossé and allied officials.
His arrest also prompted a round of statements from allied officials. In a joint statement shared Council Members Alexa Avilés, Tiffany Cabán and Shahana Hanif said they were “outraged by the violent arrest” of Ossé and again called on Hochul to enact an eviction moratorium. Black, Latino and Asian Caucus leadership issued a separate statement condemning the arrest and calling on the governor to enforce a temporary eviction moratorium for homeowners who have reported deed theft cases.
An ongoing concern
The moratorium push did not begin with Wednesday’s arrest. In February, Ossé’s office, the People’s Coalition to Stop Deed Theft and other elected officials launched an initiative urging Hochul to impose a temporary eviction moratorium on New York City properties where there is a possibility of deed theft or fraud. A letter sent to the governor that day and backed by 24 elected officials asked her to “act now” to enforce such a pause while ownership disputes are resolved.
It also said the state could do so through mechanisms used during the COVID-19-era eviction moratorium or through existing law, arguing that “no New Yorker” should be evicted while working through a deed-theft case.
The letter framed the moratorium as only one part of a broader anti-deed-theft agenda. They called for a citywide cease-and-desist zone to curb predatory real estate and financial solicitation, a right to counsel for homeowners in deed-theft cases, specialized investigative units in district attorneys’ offices, more transparency around shell LLCs and court processes, and other reforms meant to stop fraudulent transfers before they are recorded.
The campaign itself stretches back even further. At a City Hall rally in May 2025, Brooklyn lawmakers and community members called on the City Council to allocate $5 million for legal services and outreach for deed theft victims. Brooklyn Paper reported then that the New York City Sheriff’s Office had received nearly 3,500 deed theft complaints between 2014 and 2023, including more than 1,500 in Brooklyn, the most of any borough, while fewer than 30 perpetrators had been convicted.
State officials have also already moved on the criminal-enforcement side. In August 2025, Attorney General Letitia James announced the first indictments brought under New York’s new deed-theft law which established deed theft as a crime, extended the statute of limitations, gave the attorney general original criminal jurisdiction to prosecute such cases and allowed the office to return property to the rightful owner. James called deed theft “a merciless crime” at the time.
