But before she could give her children their gifts, police arrested her and seized her cash and belongings, according to a new report by Gothamist. While her criminal case was subsequently dismissed and sealed, she says she never recovered what belonged to her and her family.
Months later, an officer reportedly told her lawyer that the police department had donated the gifts “out of the Christmas spirit,” according to a lawsuit filed against New York City, the NYPD property clerk and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
But the lawsuit also alleges that “the proceeds from such sales are directed, in whole or in part, to NYPD accounts, programs or initiatives, creating a direct financial incentive for the NYPD to withhold and dispose of personal property rather than return it.”
A lawsuit alleges a costly bureaucratic maze
Smith-Taylor is one of six plaintiffs in the proposed class-action lawsuit filed by Brooklyn Defender Services and law firm White & Case LLP. The complaint alleges that New York City’s process for returning confiscated belongings violates people’s due process rights and makes reclaiming property unnecessarily difficult.
“When I was arrested, the NYPD assured me that they would give my children the gifts I had just purchased for them for Christmas,” Andrea Smith-Taylor said in the lawsuit. “That didn’t happen. Even after my case was dismissed, when I tried to get them back, the NYPD told me they had no knowledge of their whereabouts. One officer said they donated my children’s gifts to ACS [Administration for Children’s Services], but ACS had no record of that. After months of searching, I had to tell my children their Christmas presents were gone. They were devastated.”
Police can seize belongings for several reasons, including during an arrest or when investigating suspected criminal activity. But the lawsuit claims that people attempting to recover their possessions often encounter confusing instructions, contradictory rules and paperwork errors that can prevent them from getting their property back.
The consequences can be substantial. Police may seize cash, vehicles, identification documents, electronics and other valuables that people rely on for everyday expenses.
“I felt so weak, so broken, because there was nothing that I could do about it,” Smith-Taylor told Gothamist, describing how she apologized to her children.
According to the department’s annual seized-property report, the NYPD returned approximately 460,000 of more than 630,000 seized items in 2025, or about 70%. The NYPD held more than $5 million in property it said had not been retrieved. The city also generated nearly $1 million by auctioning items through PropertyRoom.com, the report showed.
Millions of dollars in property go unclaimed
The lawsuit argues that the system’s complexity places an especially heavy burden on people who have already limited resources or cannot afford legal assistance.
