Rouse v. Jay Street Realty Associates, L.P. et al

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
JOSEPH ROUSE,
Plaintiff,
-against-
JAY ST FRESH 99 CENTS PIZZA INC.,
Defendant.
MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Case No. 23-CV-6548(FB)
Appearance:
For the Plaintiff:
MARIA CONSTANZA BARDUCI
Barducci Law Firm PLLC
5 West 19th St, 10th Fl
New York, NY 10011
BLOCK, Senior District Judge:
Plaintiff filed this ADA action on August 31, 2023, alleging structural barriers that
hindered him from accessing Defendants’ pizza shop with his wheelchair. ECF No. 1. Plaintiff
moved for default judgment on July 24, 2024, seeking injunctive relief as well as attorney's fees
and costs. ECF No. 15. The Court referred the matter to Magistrate Judge Marcia M. Henry for a
Report and Recommendation (“R&R”). The Magistrate Judge recommended that default
judgment be entered but recommended certain provisions to comply with the ADA. She also
*AMENDED*
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gave plaintiff a time within which to seek attorney’s fees from the Court. The Court adopted the
R&R, without objections, on March 3, 2025.
Plaintiff has now moved for attorney’s fees and costs seeking $6,877.50 in fees and
$2,460.18 for costs. Defendant has not cured the default and the motion is unopposed.
Nonetheless, the Court has a separate responsibility to assess the reasonableness of the fee
request. Simmons v. New York City Transit Auth., 575 F.3d 170, 173 (2d Cir. 2009); Stanczyk v.
City of New York, 752 F.3d 273, 284 (2d Cir. 2014).
Plaintiffs’ attorney, Barducci, claims to have spent 13.1 legal hours, and a total of 16.2
hours including administrative time. Mot. ¶ 8. She requests $525 per hour for legal work and
$125 per hour for administrative work. Id. She also claims "$2460.18 in costs, with further
administrative fees from work conducted by [the] firm's staff." Mot. ¶ 12.
Having carefully reviewed Plaintiff's motion and supporting papers, the Court is not
persuaded that the hourly rates and total expended hours are reasonable. Accordingly, the Court
uses its discretion to reduce by roughly half both the total number of hours and the hourly rate,
resulting in 6.5 legal hours at an hourly rate of $250 (totaling $1625), and 1.5 administrative
hours at an hourly rate of $75 (totaling $112.50), for a total attorney's fees award of $1737.50.
As for costs, Plaintiff has not submitted appropriate supporting documentation. "Courts in
this district have rejected the award of costs without supporting documentation." Feltzin v. Union
Mall LLC, 393 F. Supp. 3d 204, 2019 (E.D.N.Y. 2019). Without such documentation, these costs
are denied. However, the Court takes judicial notice of the paid filing fee on the docket and
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awards the cost of $402. ECF No. 1; Broadway & Cooper LLC, No. 23-CV-07849, 2025 WL
1249605, at *3.
Conclusion
Plaintiff's motion is granted in part. Plaintiff is awarded $1737.50 in attorney's fees and
$402 in costs. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully requested to enter judgment.
SO ORDERED.
_/S/ Frederic Block__________
FREDERIC BLOCK
Senior United States District Judge
Brooklyn, New York
February 19, 2026
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