Reprinted with permission

By Michael Lanza

Oren Varnai's motto is "do no harm."

That may be hard to swallow for those unfortunate enough to find themselves face to face with him.

Indeed, Varnai's soft demeanor belies the grim nature of his profession. As a City marshal in Kew Gardens, Varnai is in the business of delivering bad news. Usually he'll repossess a car or freeze a bank account to settle a debt, but often he arrives to remove residents from their homes - the final enforcer in a long and painful process.

But underneath the gritty day-to-day duties that include picking locks, breaking into homes and taking people's possessions, the former Legal Aide Society attorney and medic sees himself as a counselor to those standing on the brink of disaster.

"It's challenging. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news," Varnai said. "But I certainly try to mitigate it. I try to give people ways out - because there's always a way out. Maybe it's not a quick solution. Maybe it's not a solution that's going to stop the eviction at the moment. But there are solutions. Especially for those tenants that don't see a light at the end of the tunnel - you try to explain to them that this isn't the end of the world and try to give them avenues to see what they can do."

Varnai delivered an eviction notice in Brooklyn on Tuesday. About 10 minutes after announcing himself outside the brownstone, he began the intricate process of removing the lock - drilling and prying with one hand and gently nudging a small pick with the other until the door finally sprung open. The commotion drew an observer from the window above - it was his target. He calmly explained the situation to the woman and presented her with options if she chose to fight the eviction. And despite a brief commotion, the woman finally conceded. She packed up some belongings to get by and quietly left with her children in tow.

The City's 48 marshals deliver approximately 25,000 court-ordered evictions every year.

It's a statistic that often leaves them at the center of a bull's-eye - sometimes literally.

City marshal Erskine Bryce was murdered in 2001 by a group of angry tenants in Brooklyn while serving an eviction notice. He was beaten, cut and set on fire.

"You always have to keep vigilant as to what's going on, make sure that everybody's safe," Varnai said. "You can't get complacent. And I think in economic times such as these people just get very angry."

And with foreclosures on the rise, homeowners facing eviction have also set their sights on the marshals. Citing statistics showing more than 5,000 Queens foreclosures in 2008 and more than 100 Queens homes auctioned every week, the community advocacy group ACORN targeted a Corona marshal during a protest last month. The group demanded a suspension of foreclosure evictions by the City agency until a proposed $75 billion federal homeowner's assistance program is implemented.

And while many marshals share the protesters' sentiment, they say the group's anger is misplaced.

Ken Kelly, executive director of the New York City Marshals, explained that marshals have little power to stop or delay court ordered evictions, and those that did faced dire legal consequences.

"The marshal has no choice but to obey the court warrant," he said. "I feel for the protesters and I understand it, but when it gets to the point when the marshal gets the piece of paper - he has absolutely nothing to do with the process."

Except in cases where an eviction could jeopardize the health or safety of residents, marshals may face criminal contempt charges for failing to issue an order.

"It is a mandate," Varnai said, pointing to an eviction order. "On the heading of that warrant it says: to the sheriff of New York City or any marshal, you are commanded"

And although Varnai hasn't noticed an increase in evictions during his two years as a marshal, he says the economic crisis has changed people's attitudes.

"The tenor has been different," he said. "They're stuck between a rock and a hard place."