Mallin, Barry

Barry Mallin, principal of the law firm of Mallin & Cha, P.C., has specialized in housing, community development and community rights law for more than thirty years. From 1980 until June 1985, when he established a private law firm, Mr. Mallin was the founder and director of the Community Development Legal Assistance Center (CDLAC), a nonprofit public interest law center. He developed the concept for the creation of a law center to represent nonprofit development groups and secured funding from the Ford Foundation and other foundations.

Mr. Mallin has been an attorney for more than 500 cooperatives and condominiums. He was part of an advisory group that assisted the City of New York in developing a program to create cooperative homeownership opportunities for thousands of low income tenants. Mr. Mallin has negotiated building acquisitions from government agencies and financing packages for housing rehabilitation projects, drafted joint venture and partnerships agreements to development affordable and market-rate housing, served as general counsel to organizations involved in public/private financial partnerships to develop affordable and market-rate housing and has helped renters convert their buildings into tenant-owned cooperatives and condominiums.

Mr. Mallin is the leading attorney in New York litigating on behalf of community residents and block and neighborhood associations against nuisance bars and clubs and in fighting new liquor licenses in neighborhoods suffering from an oversaturation of bars and clubs. Mr. Mallin has handled more than 100 of such cases in the past 12 years with a high record of success. He was called a "hard-hitting" attorney by the New York Daily News and the "Matlock of bar battles" by the New York Observer. Mr. Mallin is a specialist in community rights law, representing neighborhood groups fighting zoning variances and other urban land use issues.

Mr. Mallin also is a leading advocate in representing shareholder groups seeking to keep Mitchell-Lama cooperatives as a continuing source of affordable housing.

Mr. Mallin has lectured at law schools and universities on housing, community development and community rights law as well as cooperative and condominium law and has conducted many training programs for cooperative and condominium boards, community organizations and community boards. He is frequently called upon to provide expertise to government housing agencies and legislative committees on the local, state and federal levels. Mr. Mallin has authored several publications on community development law.

Public Service Activities

Lectures and training programs on cooperatives and condominiums, community development, land use and zoning litigation, tenants' rights, housing law and Mitchell-Lama programs at programs sponsored by Baruch College, Community Development Legal Assistance Center, Citizens Committee for New York City, Columbia University, Columbia Law School, City University, Chemical Bank, Chase Manhattan Bank, Brooklyn in Touch, New York Hispanic Housing Coalition, Community Action for Legal Services, Rural Housing Coalition, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, Citibank, Community Service Society, Cardozo Law School, New York State Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), New York State Department of Social Services, National Low Income Housing Coalition, New York State Neighborhood Preservation Coalition, Pratt Institute Center for Community Development, University of Michigan, New York University Real Estate Institute; the Steven L. Newman Real Estate Institute at Baruch College; Legal Services Corporation (New York); New York City community boards and numerous community organizations.

Recipient, 1999 Hero Award for Community Development from the Ecumenical Community Development Organization; 2001 Volunteer Service Award from Asian Americans for Equality; Certificate of Appreciation Award from the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board for meritorious contribution to the development and preservation of low income cooperatives; 1996 Volunteer of the Year Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill; 1979 Distinguished Service Award from the New York State Society of Clinical Social Work Psychotherapist, Inc..