Suing a Contractor in NY State..

[Matthew Spiegel]

So I am doing a flip in Laurelton, Queens and had issues from a general contractor doing shoddy work, and a plumber disappearing with uncompleted work and stealing from us (plumbing materials put on our account, not called for at this house, as well as a missing boiler from the house). I have been spending the last few weeks figuring out how to recover some money, I have talked to attorneys and they want on minimum $4,000-$5,000 to file a civil case but I am only suing for around $8,500 for the general contractor so it really doesn't make any sense. I have tried to file in Small claims court but the SOONEST court date they can give me is MAY 2016, and I feel they will not take this court date so far away seriously and I new to recover some funds so I can complete this project and move on. Its seems like it will be almost impossible to get justice on this, and the plumber and contractor know they can pretty much get away with it. Can't afford a high priced attorney at this point. Does anyone have any experiences suing contractors in NY State? Any other ideas of how to persue this?