Lugo v. The City of New York

Mitch | (Nat □ THE City OF NEW YORK JOHNSON LAW DEPARTMENT Assistant Corporation Counse Counsel 100 CHURCH STREET Phone (212) 356-3541 NEW YORK, NY 10007 Fax: (212) 356-3505 Email: gmartine @law.nyc.go\ August 7, 2020 BY E.C.F. eae Honorable Judge Vernon S. Broderick APPLICA TION GRAN iJ United States District Judge SO ORDERED Alen. bf United States District Court VERNON 8. BRODERICK Southern District of New York U.S.D.J, 8/10/2020 Foley Square The Clerk of Court is respectfully directed to mail a copy of th New York, NY 10007 endorsement to the pro se Plaintiff.

Re: Wilson Lugo v. City of New York, et al., 19-CV-6086 (VSB) Your Honor: I am an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the Office of James Johnson, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York, and the attorney assigned to the defense in the above-referenced matter. In that capacity, the undersigned respectfully writes to request the Court extend the time, from August 7, 2020, to September 25, 2020, for defendants to respond to the Court’s May 12, 2020 Order pursuant to Valentin v. Dinkins, 121 F.3d 72 (2d Cir. 1997).

This is the first request for an extension and it is made without conferring with plaintiff because, upon information and belief, he is currently incarcerated and his consent could not expeditiously be obtained prior to making this request.

Briefly, by way of background, on May 12, 2020, Your Honor granted the undersigned’s request for an extension of time to Answer on behalf of defendants, and ordered the undersigned identify the John Doe officers alleged in plaintiff's Complaint pursuant to Valentin. See DE 31.

On August 7, 2020, the undersigned answered for defendants City of New York and Detectives Brugal, Gomez, and Valdez. See DE 32. After interviewing the individual defendants and reviewing the available documents, the undersigned believes that officers from a second unit, the Technical Assistance Response Unit (“TARU”), responded to the alleged incident location on September 6, 2017. The undersigned is in the process of requesting additional documents in order to identify the individual plaintiff is attempting to include in this lawsuit. However, due to the limitations resulting from the current COVID-19 pandemic, this process is still ongoing. Further, the NYPD was operating with strained resources for a portion of the early summer due to the protests in the City, causing additional delay.

Accordingly, the undersigned respectfully requests the Court extend the time from August 7, 2020, to September 25, 2020, for defendants to respond to the Court’s May 12, 2020 Valentin Order.

Thank you for your consideration herein.

Respectfully submitted, /s/Giancarlo Martinez________ Giancarlo Martinez Assistant Corporation Counsel Special Federal Litigation Division (212) 356-3541 cc: Via FIRST CLASS MAIL Wilson Lugo, DIN #19-A-1669 Plaintiff Pro Se Clinton Correctional Facility P.O. Box 2001 Dannemora, NY 12929