New York County Defender Services

Natalie Fiorenzo, a corrections specialist with New York County Defender Services, called the system a “cop-out,” in which the jail’s authorities use the 311 system to bury people’s concerns rather than address them. “An officer or captain will tell you to have your client put in a 311 complaint,” she told THE CITY. “And everyone knows those complaints don’t go anywhere.” Fiorenzo also pointed to issues for inmates in restrictive housing, where they are only allowed to use the phone for six minutes a day.

“It’s like their biggest cop-out is to just say call 311,” said Natalie Fiorenzo, a corrections specialist with New York County Defender Services. “An officer or captain will tell you to have your client put in a 311 complaint. And everyone knows those complaints don’t go anywhere.”

Salaries for public defense attorneys in places like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Seattle, Oakland and San Francisco begin at upward of $100,000. The same is true for public defenders in at least seven counties in upstate New York, according to Stan Germán, the executive director of New York County Defender Services.

At New York County Defender Services, Stan Germán and his team are a voice for the voiceless, in the courtroom and in calling for systemic changes.

A Manhattan public defense organization wants the courts to disclose juror demographic information — including race — in order to address the persistent lack of diversity in jury pools. This past December, New York County Defender Services (NYCDS) legal director Sergio de la Pava filed a motion to the Appellate Division’s First Department last December calling for such a reform.