district courts, by 1857 divided into seven districts and by 1882 into ten districts, and by the city charter of 1897 the district courts of New York City and justices' courts of Brooklyn and Long Island City were consolidated into the Municipal Court of the City of New York. On September 1, 1962, the City Court and the Municipal Court were merged to form the current Civil Court. The New York City Civil Court Act was primarily based upon the New York City Municipal Court Code, and to some extent the New York City Court Act and the practice of the County Courts outside NYC. Francis E. Rivers on the City Court legislative committee criticized the new court act, calling it "outdated" and "radically limited by practice provisions adapted to conditions existing more than a half century ago." In 1820, a landlord-drafted act removed the common law six-month waiting period for ejectments, allowing summary eviction and removal of tenants for nonpayment. The Tenement House Act of 1901 was enacted by Progressive reformers to ban the construction of poor-quality apartment buildings. The Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 introduced major changes to landlord-tenant law. The housing part and its housing judges were created on April 1, 1973. In Glass v Thompson the Appellate Division held the appointment of "hearing officers" to preside over non-jury trials in the housing part was constitutional, suggesting that although they were able to preside over housing matters and exercise judicial functions, their office was distinct from that of a judge of the Civil Court because they are essentially referees: nonjudicial officers of the court appointed to assist it in the performance of its judicial functions. In 1978 they were renamed as "housing judges" with the intent to improve their stature, though they "are still nonjudicial officers of the court". See also NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH), the main city administrative court New York City Criminal Court Government of New York City Law of New York Rent regulation in New York Citations General and cited references Chapter 693, enacted 24 April 1962, effective 1 September 1962. Chapter 279, enacted 14 April 1915, effective 1 September 1915. External links Legal Referral Service (a lawyer referral service) from the New York City Bar Association Legal assistance from HRA's Office of Civil Justice (OCJ) Legal aid for low-income New Yorkers from Legal Services NYC New