Gophers football: The curious case of new quarterback Max Brosmer

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“The most interesting man in the world” was a popular grandiose advertising campaign used by the beer brand Dos Equis. And “the most curious player I have ever been around” is a statement Gophers head coach P.J. Fleck has used to describe new quarterback Max Brosmer.

The sixth-year transfer from the University of New Hampshire plays chess to help sharpen his decision-making on the football field and strums a guitar to unwind off it. He brought a handful of new Gopher teammates to his Georgia hometown to bond last spring, and in fall camp, and could be found in offensive line coach Brian Callahan’s office learning the finer points of pass protection.

Like the classy and cosmopolitan bearded gentleman in those ads for Mexican beer, Brosmer can live up to that credo: “Stay thirsty, my friends.”

After a losing season in 2023, the Gophers sought an upgrade its quarterback play and quickly courted Brosmer via the NCAA transfer portal. During spring practices, he initially careened along a learning curve, but his path appeared to smooth out for him during fall camp.

Since Brosmer’s arrival in December, Fleck, assistant coaches and his teammates have raved about his acumen and leadership skills — in a similar vein to how they boasted about predecessor Athan Kaliakmanis’ ability to sling passes a year ago.

Both lines of praise sound catchy, but must be backed up in performances on the field. For Kaliakmanis, inconsistency led to his transfer to Rutgers. For Brosmer, his first prove-it moment at the FBS level comes in the Gophers’ season opener against North Carolina at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huntington Bank Stadium.

Brosmer said he will have approximately 25 family members and friends — from parents to grandparents, aunts, uncles and old teammates — in Minnesota to watch him play major college football for the first time.

“I’m super excited to not only see them, but also have them see me and my new team in a new light,” Brosmer said. “And show them we can compete at any level.”

Fleck noted Brosmer’s curiosity during Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis in late July. Brosmer’s father, Colin, saw that trait emerge when Max was in elementary school. His eldest son was always asking a lot of questions.

“He wants to know why things are the way they are,” Colin Brosmer said. “That’s kind of the way his brain works. It’s extremely detail oriented. The quick answer isn’t always the answer that works for him.”

In particular, Max showed an interest in human biology, a fascination that turned into an avocation within his family. His mother, Jayna, and a grandmother are nurses.

“He’s always been interested in thinking about being a doctor, so any medical-type questions that might be going around the dinner table or the house, we definitely saw that early on,” Colin shared.

Coming out of Centennial High School in Roswell, Ga.,  Brosmer had some recruiting interest from schools in the now-Power Four conferences (including North Carolina), but was further down on their lists. Brosmer ended up picking New Hampshire, an FCS school, because it felt like the right fit.

“We were really big on trying to coach him to go where he was really wanted and not where was most flashy,” Colin Brosmer said. “It was all about trying to get on the field. At the end of the day, it was a lot of Ivy League (programs) and a couple of FCS schools.”

At New Hampshire, he was the first player in program history to start as a true freshman, and threw for 1,967 yards in 2019. After the pandemic, his sophomore season was lost to a torn anterior cruciate ligament in 2021. He threw for 3,157 yards his junior year and 3,464 last season, when he was a Walter Payton Award finalist for the top player in FCS. He completed 62 percent of his passes over his 36-game career.

Along the way, Brosmer earned an undergraduate degree in biomedical science and started work on a masters in kinesiology.

Weeks after Brosmer committed to transfer to Minnesota last December, he was pouring over the playbook in the build-up to the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. He impressed coaches with his immediate grasp.

“I ask a ton of questions,” Brosmer said. “I ask way too many questions. I overthink sometimes, and I’ve gotten better with that. … I think through every single thing that happens. I try to make the best decision possible.”

Brosmer’s eagerness to learn and become a better player led him to extra tutelage under quarterback trainer Quincy Avery starting in his freshman season at UNH. Avery, in turn, connected Brosmer with performance coach Seth Makowsky.

Makowsky has used chess to help a wide range of people — like NFL quarterbacks C.J. Stroud, Jalen Hurts and former Viking Josh Dobbs. That list also includes Dodgers star Mookie Betts, actor Cameron Diaz, members of UCLA’s football team and the USA artistic swim team. (Via Makowsky, Brosmer got to know U.S. silver medalist Anita Alvarez.)

“There’s ancient wisdom in this game that’s been around for thousands of years,” Makowsky told the L.A. Times in a 2023 story. “So we are able to kind of distill that and use the game as a vehicle for really importing a lot of lessons and concepts, and give them tools to navigate the good times and bad times.”

Brosmer started working with Makowsky when he was a freshman in college and now plays about 10 games a day. Every single day, he said.

“(Seth) uses that mindset to teach efficiency,” Brosmer told the Pioneer Press during Big Ten Media Days. “If this happens, what do you do next? … When you talk about football as a quarterback, you want to be a surgeon. Making quick moves (He snaps his fingers three times). You see one thing, you gotta go there.

“If you spend too much time thinking about little things that you see on the field that maybe don’t matter, then you’re caught in a cloud of like, ‘What do I do? What do I do?’ ” Brosmer said. “Then you are too slow. You have, like, three seconds to make a decision, maybe less.”

Gophers quarterback Max Brosmer speaks during an NCAA college football news conference at the Big Ten Conference media days at Lucas Oil Stadium, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Brosmer wears a wristband that reads “threats and attacks.”

“For me, it’s chess, but it’s also on the football field,” Brosmer said. “It makes football chess, because you’re assessing where you’re getting threatened from, and then where you can attack. Chess is the same way.”

Chess necessitates for players to think multiple moves ahead, but also adjust if that plan is erased from the board by an opponent.

“You gotta be able to change direction and refocus your attack,” Brosmer said. “That same with football, ‘OK, I want to throw this route. I’m gonna throw it. All right, cool. Pre-snap, I have it. Post-snap, oh (shoot) they clouded it, let me go back to my cloud answer right now.’ Just knowing that in the back of your head.”

Brosmer often plays chess digitally, but also has been playing with Gophers offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Greg Harbaugh and others.

“It didn’t go well for me,” Harbaugh said. “He’s played a couple of guys. It doesn’t go well for them, either. He looks at chess as if you get one reaction from the secondary, you have to understand without looking at it and what is happening on the other side of the field or what the underneath defender is doing. He looks at chess that way. You have to be ahead on the next move.”

Harbaugh said in one chess game Brosmer purposely sacrificed his queen — the best and most versatile piece in the game. “He was like, ‘I’m going to beat you without the queen,’ ” Harbaugh said. “Then he beat me.”

Harbaugh walked into the team meeting room the other day to find Brosmer and guard Quinn Carroll playing Tic-tac-toe.

“He’s like, ‘(on) the third move, I’m going to win.’ Then he wins,” Harbaugh said. “He’s always like that. He’s always thinking. He’s a unique guy. It’s fun to be around.”

Carroll has seen Brosmer’s intelligence translate beyond his position on the practice field.

“He has an amazing depth of knowledge there,” Carroll said. “We will make the calls in (pass) protections specifically, and then if he sees something that we can’t see down in our stances, he can completely flip the protection for us. He understands it just as well as we do, so that has been huge.”

Harbaugh believes Brosmer’s leadership ability is his “superpower.” Brosmer mentioned a recent bonding dinner with the wide receivers at a Hibachi restaurant.

“How he can get people to come with him; That is probably what he is best at,” Harbaugh said. “Not mentioning anything he does football-wise.”

But like rave reviews a year ago about Kaliakmanis’ arm talent, execution in games is what will matter most. In spring ball, Brosmer admittedly had trouble throwing into tighter windows at the FBS level.

“You know it is going to close fast because of the level of athlete is different and it’s better,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh thought Brosmer was attempting to throw the ball too hard last spring, when a shift in ball trajectory was a better answer. He has seen his new QB figure it out through film study in the summer and in practices during fall camp.

“He’s rolling,” Harbaugh said last week. “He’s really in a good state mentally, which I’m really excited about.”

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France’s Macron says arrest of the head of the Telegram messaging app wasn’t political

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PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that the arrest in France of the CEO of the popular messaging app Telegram, Pavel Durov, wasn’t a political move but part of an independent investigation.

French media reported that Durov was detained at a Paris airport on Saturday on an arrest warrant alleging his platform has been used for money laundering, drug trafficking and other offenses. Durov is a citizen of Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts and Nevis.

In France’s first public comment on the arrest, Macron posted on the social media platform X that his country “is deeply committed” to freedom of expression but “freedoms are upheld within a legal framework, both on social media and in real life, to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights.”

Denouncing what he called false information circulating about the arrest, he said it “is in no way a political decision. It is up to the judges to rule on the matter.”

Russian government officials have expressed outrage at Durov’s arrest, with some calling it politically driven and saying it showed the West’s double standard on freedom of speech.

Telegram, which says it has nearly a billion users worldwide, was founded by Durov and his brother in the wake of the Russian government’s crackdown after mass pro-democracy protests that rocked Moscow at the end of 2011 and 2012.

The demonstrations prompted Russian authorities to clamp down on the digital space, and Telegram and its pro-privacy rhetoric offered a convenient way for Russians to communicate and share news.

Telegram also continues to be a popular source of news in Ukraine, where both media outlets and officials use it to share information on the war, and deliver missile and air raid alerts.

In a statement posted on its platform after his arrest, Telegram said it abides by EU laws, and its moderation is “within industry standards and constantly improving.”

“It is absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform,” Telegram’s post said. “Almost a billion users globally use Telegram as means of communication and as a source of vital information. We’re awaiting a prompt resolution of this situation. Telegram is with you all.”

A French investigative judge extended Durov’s detention order on Sunday night, French media reported on Monday. Under French law, Durov can remain in custody for questioning for up to four days. After that, judges must decide to either charge him or release him.

The Russian Embassy in Paris said consular officials were denied access to Durov because French authorities view his French citizenship as his primary one. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, “We still don’t know what exactly Durov is being accused of. … Let’s wait until the charges are announced – if they are announced.”

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X who has in the past called himself a “ free speech absolutist,” posted “#freePavel” in support of Durov following the arrest.

Western governments have often criticized Telegram for a lack of content moderation, which experts say opens up the messaging platform for potential use in money laundering, drug trafficking and the sharing of material linked to the sexual exploitation of minors.

In 2022, Germany issued fines of $5 million against Telegram’s operators for failing to establish a lawful way to reporting illegal content or to name an entity in Germany to receive official communication. Both are required under German laws that regulate large online platforms.

Last year, Brazil temporarily suspended Telegram over its failure to surrender data on neo-Nazi activity related to a police inquiry into school shootings in November.

___

Barbara Surk in Nice, France, and Daria Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia contributed.

Keep your home fur-free with the best robot vacuums for pet hair

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Robot vacuums for pet hair

A good vacuum is a must for pet owners, but spending a lot of time cleaning doesn’t have to be. A robotic vacuum can do the tidying up while you snuggle up with your pet instead. Robotic vacuums are ideal for cleaning up the everyday dust and dander that comes with having a pet in your home, but they also pack enough power to keep up with pets prone to shedding a lot of hair.

These convenient machines have filters to trap particles that can cause allergies and have storage capabilities deeper than their small appearance may lead you to believe. Keeping your carpets and hardwood floors clear of pet hair will be easy with one of these top-rated robotic vacuums.

What is the best robot vacuum for pet hair?

iRobot Roomba i7 7150

Give your voice assistant a simple command, and this vacuum will get to work cleaning messes at the moment. The model features 10 times the suction power of the previous iRobot series and a variety of features that lets it learn the layout of your home while successfully staying out of certain obstacles, like pet bowls. With a HEPA filter and rubber brushes, pet hair is trapped, but the vacuum remains tangle-free.

Roborock S4

The LiPo battery in this robot vacuum can run for up to 150 minutes before it needs to recharge, and in that amount of time, the device can cover well over 2,000 square feet. The machine features enough suction power to pull embedded dust and hair out of the carpet and has an anti-tangle brush that is easy to remove and clean.

iRobot Roomba E5 5150

Once this robot vacuum learns your cleaning habits, it will suggest tidying up schedules to help you keep your home dust and allergen-free. Rubber brushes, a HEPA filter and five times the cleaning power of the iRobot 600 series combine to make this model a cost-friendly option for pet owners.

Shark IQ Robot Self-Empty XL RV101AE

You forget all about vacuuming with this robotic vacuum, which can handle 30 days’ worth of dirt, pet hair, and more in its bagless canister before it needs to be emptied. Plus, the device has a self-cleaning brush roll that keeps pet hair from getting tangled up inside and can be programmed to clean row-by-row and room-by-room for a whole-house clean. It even picks up exactly where it needs to if it has to recharge in the middle of a cleaning spree.

Coredy Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Dual side brushes, a main roller brush, and a washable HEPA filter make this model ideal for capturing pet hair on any floor surface throughout your home. The vacuum battery lasts up to two hours after a full charge, and you can start or stop the device with an included remote. The slim, round vacuum has an anti-scratch top and anti-drop and anti-collision sensors that keep it from falling, hitting obstacles and showing signs of wear.

Neato Robotics D7 Connected Laser Guided Robot Vacuum

With a HEPA filter and a larger core brush than its round robot vacuum counterparts, this D-shaped vacuum can easily pick up pet hair on tile, hardwood floors, and carpet. It cleans in a straight line, is user-friendly out of the box, and can navigate your home’s corners and curves.

Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.

Check out our Daily Deals for the best products at the best prices and sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter full of shopping inspo and sales.

BestReviews spends thousands of hours researching, analyzing and testing products to recommend the best picks for most consumers. BestReviews and its newspaper partners may earn a commission if you purchase a product through one of our links.

Spiking Evictions Renew Calls to Reform NYC Marshals System

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Last year, marshals served more than 13,000 evictions, up from 5,000 in 2022, and just 268 in 2021, when the pandemic eviction moratorium was still in place. Over the past five years, six of the city’s 28 marshals were cited for errors during evictions.

Marc Fader

A marshal’s eviction notice, seen in 2010.

If you’re on the business end of an interaction with a city marshal, it’s probably one of the worst days of your life.

New York City’s marshals enforce court orders on behalf of the city. They carry out evictions, garner wages, boot cars, and seize property. But marshals aren’t city employees; they’re private contractors paid to enforce civil court orders—and some of them make millions doing so.

Last year was the most profitable on record for the city’s marshals, according to revenue data on the city’s open data portal. Income for 28 active Marshals totaled more than $19 million in 2023, up from the $11 million they made 2022.

The financial boon comes amid surging evictions and newly public investigations into marshal misconduct. Last year, marshals served more than 13,000 evictions, up from 5,000 in 2022, and just 268 in 2021, when a pandemic eviction moratorium was still in place. Over the past five years, six of the 28 marshals were cited for errors during evictions.

Most cities and states use salaried city sheriffs, not private contractors, to carry out evictions, according to Eric Dunn, litigation director at the National Housing Law Project.

“Why do we do it this way?” asked Nakeeb Siddique, a supervising attorney with the Legal Aid Society.

In New York City and Albany, legislators want the government to take a closer look at the marshal system to see if it needs to be tweaked—or eliminated. But it’s not clear what an alternative system would look like, or if it would improve outcomes for tenants.

When evictions rise, marshals profit

New York City Marshals get paid per eviction by private litigants—typically landlords—and the city gets a cut. The more orders they serve, the more they make.

Last year, city marshals served 13,448 evictions and made $19.5 million in income, both highs since before the COVID-19 pandemic began. During 2020-2021, when the eviction moratorium protected vulnerable renters from eviction during economic uncertainty, marshal revenue plummeted to just $4 million each year. 

Marshals also make money from garnishing wages, booting cars, and collecting other debts. Some marshals do more evictions than others—but it’s challenging to tell how much money they make from evictions specifically.

“We don’t track our numbers by type of marshal action,” said Department of Investigation (DOI) Director Jocelyn Strauber at a City Council oversight hearing in May. Marshal revenue data is released once a year, and while the city’s DOI has the power to collect records from marshals, most of the data lies with the private businesses.

“There should be a lot more transparency in what they’re doing,” said Councilmember Gale Brewer, who convened May’s oversight committee meeting. “Maybe some of what they earn or what they do should be more on some kind of a dashboard.”

The health of many marshals’ businesses, and the amount of money the city collects in fees, are linked to how many evictions the courts order.

The revenue the city receives from marshals—some $1.8 million in 2023—also fluctuates with how much business marshals do. Marshals pay the city an assessment fee each year: $1,500, plus 5 percent of their income.

The business can be quite lucrative. In 2023, Marshal Ileana Rivera served 1,012 evictions and made over $1.3 million in net income (when reached for comment, Rivera’s office referred City Limits to the DOI). In all, eight marshal businesses raked in over $1 million in net income last year.

“It’s obscene that someone would be profiting off this,” said Jenny Laurie, executive director of Housing Court Answers, an advocacy group that aids tenants and small homeowners. 

Errors during evictions

On Aug. 11, 2023, Marshal George Essock Jr. arrived to evict a 76-year-old veteran. A few days before, he contacted the city’s Adult Protective Services (APS) office, standard procedure when evicting a vulnerable older adult.

But Essock arrived at the eviction 15 minutes early, and completed it swiftly, leaving the site before APS arrived. The DOI cited Essock for the incident, writing that in doing so he “failed to allow [APS] the opportunity to provide aid as APS deemed appropriate.”

It’s one of six investigations by DOI in the past five years into errors by marshals during evictions, according to records obtained by City Limits through a Freedom of Information Law request. Essock did not respond to messages seeking comment. 

While New York is not the only city to contract out eviction responsibilities, it does have robust regulations on marshal procedures. The city’s DOI is responsible for making sure they are followed.

“At least in theory, this marshal system seems at least as good, if not significantly better, than the procedures available in most jurisdictions,” said NHLP’s Dunn. But enforcement is another matter. 

“Just because you have this handbook [with] detailed rules and procedures to follow doesn’t always mean that the actual marshals doing the work are adhering to all that,” Dunn said.

Many of the errors cited in DOI investigations were the result of miscommunications between marshals and a web of agencies and actors involved in executing an eviction, records show.

In addition to the failure to notify APS, other misconduct included failing to report the theft of drugs and money from an apartment, verbal altercations with tenants, executing an eviction without providing proper notice, and failing to contact animal control, leaving a cat alone in an apartment. 

Many marshals contacted for this story deferred comment to the Marshals Association of the City of New York, a trade group that represents marshals and lobbies on their behalf in Albany. 

“The overwhelming majority of marshal interactions are successful executions as officers of the court,” a spokesperson for the organization said in response to written questions from City Limits. 

Marshals have packed schedules—often serving multiple evictions each day—and a lot to oversee in a short time. They might need to coordinate with APS, DOI, lawyers, and their own staff, take inventory, and liaise with landlords and tenants.

“They’re on the clock and that led to some of the problems that I’ve seen,” said Munir Pujara, deputy director of the public benefits unit at Legal Services NYC.

That hastiness has led to other errors, sometimes unreported, that Pujara says he’s observed in his work, like marshals shorting inventories of tenants’ belongings, failing to provide all necessary documents, or not allowing people to grab important medication or essential items.

Marshals counter that errors are rare: “marshals effectively communicate on thousands of interactions,” said Michael Woloz, spokesperson for the Marshals Association.

The Marshals Bureau within DOI oversees marshals, fields complaints, and makes referrals. But there’s no central office coordinating the eviction docket. Marshals coordinate with law firms and landlords to carry out the business of evictions, and the DOI steps in as needed to audit their finances or investigate complaints.

During testimony before the City Council oversight committee, representatives from DOI said they have received 550 complaints, conducted 30 investigations, and taken disciplinary action against 11 marshals since 2019.

“DOI, like every City agency, could always use more resources for the work we do, including in our oversight of the marshals. However, DOI continues to meaningfully and properly oversee the marshals with its four-person Marshals Bureau,” said DOI Director of Communications Diane Struzzi in a statement to City Limits, adding that the team has an annual budget of $361,700.

That accountability structure—where courts, agencies, law firms, and private companies must collaboratively operate to get the market for evictions to function—puzzles some.

“That is not how government works,” said Brewer. She contrasted it with how other city agencies operate, from the City Sheriff to the Department of Consumer Affairs. “You know, it’s public, you can make it public so it’s clear what the issue is. It’s harder here because it’s a private individual.”

Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit

Councilmember Gale Brewer, who leads the City Council’s Committee on Oversight and Investigations, has led the call for potential marshals reforms.

Marshals’ occasional missteps and miscommunications aren’t always high-profile enough to get the attention of the DOI, advocates say. 

“Those everyday mistakes have consequences for tenants,” said Laurie.

A common frustration is knowing when an eviction is actually going to be served. Usually, tenant lawyers and advocates call marshals’ offices to find out if a warrant has been issued and when an eviction is scheduled. But some marshals are easier to reach than others, advocates and lawyers working with tenants say.

“Some marshals are very chill… And the other situations, I don’t know why, there’s hostility for people asking simple questions about a life-changing thing,” said Imani Henry, the founder of Flatbush for Equality, a community group that helps tenants facing eviction.

Attached to a bill renewing marshals’ responsibilities this year, legislators in Albany made a tweak to fix one communication gap: requiring that marshals post warrants of eviction on the state court system site, where tenants, lawyers, and advocates tracking cases can access them.

The changes took effect immediately. “DOI is working with relevant stakeholders to issue guidance on this issue as quickly as possible,” said DOI’s Struzzi.

Siddique warned that in order to be effective, the notice needs to be posted on the same day paper notices are served.

“This doesn’t create any new or substantive right for tenants. But what it does do is provide more real time notice to tenants,” said Siddique.

“I think for those folks who don’t have access to the internet or don’t have a smartphone, can’t use a computer, this particular measure doesn’t really help them that much,” he added.

Calls for change

Marshals have served court orders in New York since the city was a Dutch colony in the 1600s.

Advocates have long called for changes to the system, citing the potential for corruption, little oversight, and criticizing an incentive structure where marshals do well when New Yorkers face economic hardship.

But reform requires elusive city and state coordination. In 2019, City Marshal Vadim Barbaraovich resigned for serving levies outside of New York City and lying to the DOI about it. In 1980, 10 marshals were criminally convicted in an auction-rigging scheme.

“They’ve been trying to reform this as long as I’ve been doing this work. None of it has worked,” said Housing Court Answers’ Laurie, a 20-year veteran of eviction defense. “Without a movement to organize voters, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Marshals’ authority must be extended in Albany every two years. According to lobbying records from the New York State Open Data Portal, the Marshals Association spent $519,000 on lobbying since 2019, meeting with legislators about laws to renew marshal authority, increase fees, and renew the power of marshals to collect debts from court-ordered money judgments. 

Political contribution records show donations to various campaigns totalling $54,400 from addresses associated with the Marshals Association in the past 10 years.

In 2019, the association met with former Manhattan Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou about a bill she introduced to study the system, including investigating “the feasibility of abolishing the office of city marshal.”

Assemblymember Harvey Epstein reintroduced the bill in the 2024 session.

“The marshal system is really under the radar,” Epstein told City Limits in an interview, adding that he couldn’t find a Senate sponsor for the bill. “What are we doing by incentivizing it and what options are available to us? Those are the questions I think require answers.” 

Adi Talwar

A marshal’s office on the Grand Concourse near 164th street in the Bronx.

Councilmember Brewer, who leads the City Council’s oversight committee, told City Limits that she wants to convene a working group of state and city leaders to study the role of marshals and put some solutions on the table.

The next opportunity for reform would come with a renewal in 2026, according to legal experts. 

One common proposal is to make marshals more like sheriffs—salaried city employees who enforce court orders. Supporters suggest it may be easier to provide oversight of public servants rather than private contractors.

“DOI has not studied the costs and benefits of such a change and therefore cannot offer a view,” said DOI’s Struzzi.

There’s no guarantee that a sheriff-like system would be better. Sheriffs execute some residential evictions—they served 36 from January to May 2024, according to Department of Finance Director of Public Information Ryan Lavis—but advocates warn that they are not as experienced with residential evictions.

A spokesperson for the Marshals Association argued that making marshals into city employees would cost taxpayers “many millions of dollars annually.”  

“There are hundreds of employees that work for marshals offices and they are provided salaries, healthcare and retirement plans by these marshal offices—not the city,” Woloz said in an email. 

But a 2019 Internal Budget Office report suggested that when accounting for the revenue the city would capture from serving judgements, making marshals city employees would net the city $11 million annually.

“Making the marshall, you know, work for the government more directly, and have a different relationship with the landlord and have it monitored—those are definitely great ideas,” said Legal Services NYC’s Pujara.

But questions of oversight and incentives are downstream of a housing crisis that is accelerating evictions at a rapid pace. Until legislators take to reform, or the housing market cools, marshals will be busy.

The key is making sure the system works so that no one falls through the cracks, housing advocates say, and trying to prevent evictions before they are warranted by improving rental assistance programs or fully funding the city’s right to counsel.

“Even one unnecessary and pointless eviction that could have been avoided is one too many,” said Legal Aid Society’s Siddique.

Had an interaction with a marshal or failed to receive your eviction notice? Email patrick.spauster@gmail.com or editor@citylimits.org 

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org

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