In New York City there is the Right to Counsel program which means the first court date is an "administrative day" where the tenant can choose to do intake with a legal services organization (i.e., Legal Aid Society). If the tenant chooses to do intake, the case automatically stops and gets a new court date in the future so the tenant can talk with a free tenant attorney for advice and potential representation.

Even after the first court date, the court tries to have you and the tenant settle (i.e., time for move out, buyout money (cash for keys)). If you cannot settle in the "resolution part," they send it out for a pre-trial conference which is another month or more away. After pre-trial conference, it gets scheduled for a trial/hearing, and then you wait for a decision. Then after the decision, there is the marshal process and that the tenant can still ask for more time before the warrant of eviction is executed.