New York City's Law Department is delaying action on many gender-motivated violence lawsuits that would hold the city liable for abuses, as the City Council hashes out a new bill meant to give survivors a clearer path for accountability. Advocates say the pause could affect hundreds of cases.

The bill would reopen a new “lookback” window for survivors to sue even if the statute of limitations had passed — with language clarifying the lawsuits over older incidents can target institutions like the city, not just individuals. It would provide an opportunity to revive more than 450 lawsuits against the city that a Bronx judge tossed out in September because he found a law creating a previous lookback, from 2023 to earlier this year, wasn’t clear on that point.

The legislation would also le

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