This is how leftists can do “greenmail” - here they force local govt. either to squander huge sums of taxpayer money fighting these cases or else pay a large settlement that is less than would be spent as the case dragged through years of court battles.
Still, it was important for the scumbags to be prosecuted - probably some libs in NYC govt. wanted to hand an easy victory to these traitors.
Considering the Kunstler 'family's' long history of anti-Americanism and anti-Israel sympathies, that seems quite likely.