Joshua E. Goldfein
Working Families · NY
Legal Aid Society attorney in the Homeless Rights Project whose litigation has focused on the right to shelter, disability accommodations, housing access, and protections for homeless New Yorkers.
Where Joshua E. Goldfein stands, based on their records
Supports
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties (1 record), Housing Affordability (3 records), Civil Rights (3 records)
Opposes
Public Safety and Crime Control (1 record)
Track record
Track record — Public Safety and Crime Control
Public Safety and Crime Control · 1 oppose
Opposed increased policing and removal of homeless New Yorkers from the subway during the COVID-19 outbreak, calling instead for housing and adequately funded shelter services.
May 1, 2020Opposes Public Safety and Crime Control
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Track record — Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties · 1 support
Condemned an attempted ICE entry into a homeless shelter without a judicial warrant and supported shelter protocols protecting immigrant residents from collateral arrests.
August 9, 2019Supports Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Track record — Housing Affordability
Housing Affordability · 3 support
Formally opposed New York City's 2023 request to weaken the Callahan right-to-shelter judgment and urged the parties to pursue resources and alternatives before further litigation.
May 25, 2023Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Publicly challenged New York City's attempted transfers of homeless residents from Upper West Side hotel shelters and argued that permanent affordable-housing placements should replace repeated shelter moves.
September 16, 2020Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Opposed increased policing and removal of homeless New Yorkers from the subway during the COVID-19 outbreak, calling instead for housing and adequately funded shelter services.
May 1, 2020Supports Housing Affordability
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Track record — Civil Rights
Civil Rights · 3 support
Formally opposed New York City's 2023 request to weaken the Callahan right-to-shelter judgment and urged the parties to pursue resources and alternatives before further litigation.
May 25, 2023Supports Civil Rights
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Co-signed a 2022 Legal Aid and Coalition for the Homeless letter pressing New York City to expand PATH and family-shelter capacity and coordinate referrals for recently arrived immigrant families.
July 21, 2022Supports Civil Rights
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Publicly challenged New York City's attempted transfers of homeless residents from Upper West Side hotel shelters and argued that permanent affordable-housing placements should replace repeated shelter moves.
September 16, 2020Supports Civil Rights
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Track record — General
General · 4 records
Appeared on the New York City Board of Elections' September 11, 2026 general-election contest list as the Working Families candidate for one of six New York County Supreme Court seats in the 1st Judicial District.
September 11, 2026
Source: vote.nyc
Qualified unopposed for the Working Families Party's June 2026 primary ballot as its lieutenant-governor candidate before the party's general-election ticket changed.
June 23, 2026
Source: elections.ny.gov
Completed at least 30 years of service as an attorney at The Legal Aid Society by 2023, including work in its Homeless Rights Project.
December 14, 2023
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Ran on the Working Families line for New York Supreme Court in the 11th Judicial District in 2020 and was not elected.
November 3, 2020
Source: vote.nyc
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 11 favorable
Served on the Legal Aid team monitoring and enforcing the Callahan v. Carey right-to-shelter consent decree; a March 2024 settlement preserved shelter access while establishing modified procedures for new arrivals and ending the use of waiting rooms as shelters.
March 15, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Completed at least 30 years of service as an attorney at The Legal Aid Society by 2023, including work in its Homeless Rights Project.
December 14, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented tenants in Newark v. New York City; the litigation survived Newark's dismissal motion, prompted repeal of Newark's SOTA 'Needy Person Ban,' and ended in a 2023 settlement preserving voucher-supported placements with added intercity notice and information-sharing rules.
August 31, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Formally opposed New York City's 2023 request to weaken the Callahan right-to-shelter judgment and urged the parties to pursue resources and alternatives before further litigation.
May 25, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented shelter residents with school-age children in E.G. v. City of New York, obtaining a settlement that required in-unit wireless internet in more than 200 shelters housing over 11,000 school-aged children; installation was completed and the case dismissed in May 2022.
May 23, 2022Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Signed the August 2021 Butler settlement requiring New York City to implement procedures protecting the disability-related needs of shelter residents during transfers from hotel placements.
August 20, 2021Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Helped win a 2021 temporary restraining order and injunction in Butler halting transfers of homeless New Yorkers with disabilities until the City adopted adequate notice, assessment, and accommodation procedures.
August 6, 2021Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented homeless adults in Fisher v. City of New York, after which the Department of Homeless Services adopted COVID risk-factor guidelines to place people at highest medical risk in less dense shelter settings.
December 31, 2020Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented homeless New Yorkers with disabilities in Butler v. City of New York, securing a 2017 settlement requiring accessible shelter capacity, revised disability-accommodation policies, and monitoring through at least 2026.
September 28, 2017Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented nearly 400 Hurricane Sandy-displaced households in Sapp v. City of New York and helped obtain a May 2013 preliminary injunction preserving temporary hotel housing while the City accelerated rental-voucher distribution.
May 31, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Represented more than 16,000 formerly homeless tenants in Zheng v. City of New York, seeking continued Advantage rental-subsidy payments; the Court of Appeals ultimately affirmed judgment against the tenants in June 2012.
June 28, 2012Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: legalaidnyc.org
Past race Joshua E. Goldfein ran in:
- New York County Justice of the Supreme Court, 1st Judicial District · November 3, 2026 · New York County, New York