Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez will host Begin Again on Oct. 3 from 9:00am to 3:00pm at Bridge Street AME Church, 277 Stuyvesant Ave., giving residents an opportunity to resolve eligible summons warrants and other outstanding summons matters.
The event will bring free legal assistance and temporary court proceedings to the neighborhood. Residents with eligible summons-related warrants will first meet with attorneys, who will determine which matters can be addressed. They can then appear before a judge at the temporary courtroom.
The initiative focuses on low-level summonses, including violations for walking a dog without a leash, riding a bicycle on a sidewalk or being in a park after closing. Unresolved summons warrants can result in arrest during police encounters and may create additional challenges involving employment, public housing and immigration matters.
“The number of low-level summonses issued by the NYPD has ballooned in recent years, leaving thousands of New Yorkers who failed to answer those tickets with open warrants that could lead to an arrest and other negative consequences. This is why we are restarting the successful Begin Again program that allows individuals to resolve these summons warrants in a safe environment inside a local church. I encourage anyone who may be eligible for relief or would like to take advantage of the adjacent health fair to come down to Bridge Street this Saturday to give themselves this life-changing opportunity,” said District Attorney Gonzalez.
Begin Again was launched by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office in 2015 and resulted in thousands of warrants being dismissed. The program was later adopted in other boroughs before being paused in 2018.
The announcement comes as the number of criminal summonses issued by the NYPD has risen sharply, from more than 45,000 in 2021 to more than 95,000 in 2024 and more than 117,000 in 2025.
The event is being organized with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ office, New York Attorney General Letitia James, the New York State Office of Court Administration and the Legal Aid Society.
A health and resource fair will take place alongside the legal services. It will include FDNY CPR demonstrations, free mammogram registration, blood pressure checks, prostate cancer screenings and job-readiness resources.
Residents seeking to address an outstanding summons warrant can attend during the event hours and consult with the attorneys on site.
The legal team will determine eligibility and explain the available options before any case is brought before a judge.
