Bly v. City of Yonkers

This case challenges the Yonkers Police Department’s refusal to release records related to the investigation of the unsolved 1952 murder of labor leader John Acropolis. John Bly, a Texas resident writing a book on the Acropolis murder, had requested the police files in the unsolved case through the state Freedom of Information Law. The Police Department summarily rejected his request, and the city ignored Bly’s administrative appeal. In public statements responding to the case, city officials claimed they were entitled to withhold the requested documents because the investigation was ongoing. The NYCLU filed suit in State Supreme Court on Oct. 3, 2009. In a ruling issued on March 18, 2009, Supreme Court Judge James W. Hubert ruled that the city provided insufficient reason to exempt the documents from FOIL and it to turnover records to Bly.

State Supreme Court, Westchester County, Index No. 08-22008 (direct).

Court Filings