Midtown Community Court

The Midtown Community Court is one of the country's first problem-solving courts. It provides alternatives to fines and jail as a response to low-level crime.

Seeking to reduce crime and incarceration and increase public trust in justice, the Midtown Community Court works with neighborhood stakeholders to improve Midtown Manhattan. The court responds creatively to low-level offending, seeking sentences that are restorative to the victim, defendant, and community. The court’s onsite social services clinic and fatherhood and workforce development program are open to everyone—court participants as well as community members. An independent evaluation documented reductions in both crime and the use of jail in the area covered by the court.

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314 West 54th Street
New York, NY 10019
United States

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Highlights

Project Reset

Project Reset is a diversion program offering a new response to a low-level arrest that is proportionate, effective, and restorative.
UPNEXT

UPNEXT is a workforce development and fatherhood engagement initiative of the Midtown Community Court.

Our Impact

9,627 cases handled at the Court in 2018
$1.2M estimated annual savings to the justice system primarily due to the reduced use of jail
1M+ Defendants have performed more than 1 million hours of community service since the Court's founding

When I visited Midtown Community Court, I was really amazed by the programs and the excellent results. People were given real assistance that helped divert them from the criminal justice system, which is exactly what we want.

Corey Johnson New York City Council Speaker

Photo Gallery

MCC staff — Twenty-Five Years Young

Midtown Community Court staff, including Judge Charlotte Davidson (far right), gather outside the courthouse as part of the festivities marking the Court's first quarter-century of operations.

Police Community Midtown Community Court James Baldwin School — Bringing Police and Community Together

The Midtown Community Court hosts a police-community forum at James Baldwin School.

Midtown Community Court UPNEXT program — Spotlight on UPNEXT

UPNEXT staff host a presentation at the Midtown Community Court to explain their work.

National Night Out Against Crime, Midtown staff talking to community residents — National Night Out Against Crime

Midtown Community Court staff answer community members' questions during National Night Out Against Crime.

Publications & Digital Media

Video
Changemakers in Action: Kristina Singleton

Kristina Singleton works on diverting people from court into supportive or educational programming. Among the programs she works with at the Midtown Community Court are Project Reset, which offers those charged with a low-level crime the chance to avoid court and a criminal record by completing community-based programming, and a recently launched youth gun-diversion program for young people who have been arrested on gun possession charges.

Community Justice, Diversion, Problem-Solving Justice, Workforce Development
Publication
Community Justice Today: Values, Guiding Principles, and Models

The idea of community justice encompasses a diverse and growing range of evidence-based initiatives which seek to reduce crime by strengthening communities and redressing longstanding inequities. In recognition of the ways in which the approach has evolved over the years, this publication presents a new set of guiding principles of community justice and offers inventive models for putting them into practice, both inside and outside of the courtroom.

Community Justice
Video
Community First: The Right Approach to Mental Health Crises and Homelessness

Whether it is a warm meal or a pair of shoes, we help people who are housing insecure and living with severe mental health issues address immediate needs and then work towards linking them to longer-term housing, services, and support. With programs like Community First, law enforcement no longer has to be the only response to mental health crises and homelessness.

Placemaking, Reducing Violence, Addressing Racial Disparities

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News

In-Demand Midtown Community Court to Expand Operations by Mid-March

February 13, 2023
Chelsea Community News

Since its founding in 1993, our community court in Midtown has been responding to lower-level, quality-of-life offenses with a community service and treatment-oriented approach. After reduced hours because of the pandemic, Midtown Community Court will again be expanding its capacity by mid-March. The expansion comes after a number of local elected officials called for a plan to enhance the program’s capacity, citing its demonstrated effectiveness at improving public safety and connecting individuals to needed services and support.
A New Group to Help Times Square Emerge from COVID-19 Pandemic

June 3, 2022
City & State

President of the Times Square Alliance, Tom Harris, talks about the area’s recovery and shares more about the partnership with our Midtown Town Community Court, Breaking Ground, and Fountain House to create the Community First program, which connects the unhoused populations of Times Square to local resources, including housing and mental health services.
Shania Roseborough ’22: New York Giants Touchdown Fellowship Unlocks Life-Changing Internship

April 2, 2022
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

John Jay College senior Shania Roseborough is a winner of the 2021-2022 New York Giants Touchdown Fellowship, which supports year-long internships at leading criminal justice organizations. Working with the Center’s Midtown Community Court, Shania is brainstorming different ways to further improve relationships with local communities and community-based organizations and is listening to justice-impacted folks to create new solutions to the system.

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Partners

The Court is operated as a public/private partnership among the New York State Unified Court System, the City of New York and the Center for Justice Innovation. During the Court's pilot period, funding came from a mix of sources, including the federal government, local government and dozens of foundations and corporations. Social service and community service partners include dozens of community-based and government agencies.

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