STATE OF NEW YORK

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

ERIC T. SCHNEIDERMAN

BRUCE D. FELDMAN

ATTORNEY GENERAL

ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL

SPECIAL COUNSEL
RECORDS ACCESS OFFICER

June 30, 2015

via e-mail: louis.flores@progressqueens.com

Mr. Louis Flores
Progress Queens
RE: Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) Request # 150301
Dear Mr. Flores:
This letter responds to your correspondence dated May 27, 2015, which, pursuant to the
FOIL, requested the following:
[I] am doing research about the 421-a tax break program.
I am seeking the following from the state Attorney Generals Office under the
states FOIL law and applicable regulations:
(a) records/statistics going back ten (10) years in connection with complaints of
any kind made to the state Attorney Generals Office by tenants in affordable
housing in buildings built with 421-a tax abatements; and
(b) records/statistics going back ten (10) years in connection with how the state
Attorney Generals Office referred/resolved/disposed of these complaints.
The Freedom of Information Law, Public Officers Law, 89(3) requires a requestor to
reasonably describe the records requested. A requestor meets that responsibility when an agency
can identify and locate records based on the terms of the request. In short, whether a FOIL
request reasonably describes the records sought depends not just on the terms of the request, but
also on the nature of an agencys filing, indexing or record-retrieval mechanism.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) cannot locate the records you seek, if they
exist, on the basis of the information you have provided. Despite the fact that it is specific, our
records are not coded or maintained by the particulars of your request. Because OAGs records
are not indexed in a manner that would enable the identification and location of documents

THE CAPITOL, ALBANY, NY 12224-0341 PHONE (518) 776-2447 FAX (518) 915-7752 * NOT FOR SERVICE OF PAPERS
FOIL@AG.NY.GOV

Mr. Louis Flores

June 30, 2015
Page 2

responsive to your request, your FOIL request must be denied.

You have a right to appeal the foregoing decision. If you should elect to file such an
appeal, your written appeal must be submitted no later than 30 days after your receipt of this
letter to Kathryn Sheingold, Records Appeals Officer, State of New York, Office of the Attorney
General, Division of Appeals and Opinions, The Capitol, Albany, New York 12224. You may
reach the Records Appeals Officer at (518) 776-2009.
Very truly yours,

Bruce D. Feldman
Assistant Attorney General