City contract payment issues and chronic delays continue to threaten legal service providers’ ability to provide critical services to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers in need. The consequences of these delays are severe, and the need for a swift and complete resolution to this long-standing contracting issue is more urgent than ever.
Legal Services NYC isn’t the only legal nonprofit the city’s left hanging. Legal Aid Society and New York Legal Assistance Group also reported late payments on city contracts, with Legal Aid saying it’s owed $16 million for work completed during FY 2025, which ended six months ago, and NYLAG reporting over $5.5 million in outstanding dues stretching as far back as Financial Year 2023.
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Legal Services NYC isn’t the only legal nonprofit the city’s left hanging. Legal Aid Society and New York Legal Assistance Group also reported late payments on city contracts, with Legal Aid saying it’s owed $16 million for work completed during FY 2025, which ended six months ago, and NYLAG reporting over $5.5 million in outstanding dues stretching as far back as Financial Year 2023.
“As we move into the second half of this fiscal year, budgets remain unapproved, we remain unable to invoice, and no additional advances have been provided,” the group’s CEO, Lisa Rivera, wrote in an email. “The costs of doing this work exist in real time, addressing contract registration and payment delays is crucial, and expanding the use of advances when those delays cannot be mitigated is essential.”
Read the full story, originally published in amNewYork on Dec. 23, 2025.
