JUDGE IN NYC TRANS-SHELTER CASE STEPS DOWN CITING TIES TO ADAMS SHELTER OFFICIALS
** PRESS RELEASE **
Strategic Trans Alliance for Radical Reform Contact: info@strategictransalliance.org, mariah4change@gmail.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, September 16th, 2025
New York City – A hearing in a lawsuit challenging a contract to run NYC’s first shelter for TGNC individuals was supposed to take place Wednesday September 17th, has been postponed indefinitely after the judge assigned to the case abruptly recused herself citing her ties to a number shelter officials appointed by NYC Mayor Eric Adams set to testify in the case.
The Honorable Judge Carol Sharpe presiding over Part 52, New York County Supreme Court Civil Term, issued a recusal-order last Friday September 12th days before a hearing on a motion to block a contract issued by the City worth more than 65 million dollars.
In the recusal order (attached) Judge Sharpe wrote:
“I am recusing myself because I wish to avoid any potential appearance of impropriety or that my impartiality might be questioned as plaintiff ’s correspondences to the Court include the names of certain individuals personally known to this Court who may be called as witnesses.”
Legal advocate and Executive Director of the Strategic Transgender Alliance for Radical Reform (STARR), Mariah Lopez sued last year to enforce a settlement she reached with the City during the DeBlasio administration. The Center for Constitutional Rights and Harvard Law School LGBT+ Advocacy Clinic were also involved in negotiating the settlement.
Background Coverage:
1. Trans Activist Secures Groundbreaking Reforms to NYC Shelter System
2. NYC Trans Homeless Shelter Faces Scrutiny
At the center of the dispute is Destination Tomorrow, a Bronx-based nonprofit that has received multiple no-bid contracts from the Adams administration awarded during the height of the so-called asylum-seeker crisis, including the $65 million contract to operate the TGNC shelter at the “Paper Factory” in Long Island City, Queens.
Lopez’s filings allege that Mayor Adams and Ingrid Lewis-Martin personally intervened to help Destination Tomorrow secure numerous contracts with the City bypassing New York’s rigorous procurement rules. She has subpoenaed Destination Tomorrow’s COO and several City officials tied to the original settlement, including:
• Sean Coleman – Chief Operating Officer, Destination Tomorrow
• Molly Park – Commissioner, NYC Department of Social Services
• Scott French – Commissioner, Human Resources Administration (HRA)
• Brent Whitfield – Director of LGBTQ+ Affairs, HRA
Multiple local and state agencies are now investigating Destination Tomorrow after a whistleblower filed a complaint with the NYC Department of Investigation. The complaint also accuses HRA Commissioner Scott French and DSS General Counsel Anne Marie Scalia of falsifying documents related to litigation surrounding the City’s first TGNC shelter.
Witnesses allege French, Scalia, and other City attorneys directed or ignored the admission of cisgender clients into the $65+ million facility in order to artificially inflate reported shelter numbers. Investigators are currently interviewing clients who describe abysmal conditions at Destination Tomorrow facilities, including inedible food, roaches, black mold, and other unsafe living conditions.
The breach of contract lawsuit filed by Lopez and S.T.A.R.R. has been reassigned to the Honorable Ariel Chesler, Part 62 of the New York County Supreme Court Civil Term.
# # #
About S.T.A.R.R.
The Strategic Transgender Alliance for Radical Reform is a grassroots advocacy organization dedicated to advancing the rights, dignity, and safety of transgender and gender non-conforming people in New York City and beyond.
