New York mayor, Legal Aid, strike deal on ‘right to shelter’ policy for migrants
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NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams and advocates for homeless New Yorkers have settled their dispute over the city's "right to shelter" policy as it pertains to housing recent migrants.
In a deal announced Friday afternoon, the Adams administration agreed to back down from its push to suspend the policy, which dates back to 1981. The Legal Aid Society, which serves in a watchdog role over the mandate, accepted some temporary changes the city says will provide necessary flexibility.
The influx of some 180,000 migrants to New York since 2022 has stretched city-run shelters beyond capacity and strained other municipal resources.
The agreement follows months of mediation under New York Supreme Court judge Gerald Lebovits that started last October.
“The reasonable plan outlined in this settlement significantly enhances the city’s ability to manage the extraordinary influx of people that have come into our care and will help stabilize our shelter system for those who need it,” New York City Corporation Counsel Sylvia O. Hinds-Radix said in a statement.
“This settlement safeguards the right to shelter in the consent decree, ensuring single adults’ — both long-time New Yorkers and new arrivals — access to shelter, basic necessities and case management to transition from shelter to housing in the community. It also requires the city to immediately eliminate the use of waiting rooms as shelters where new arrivals have been sleeping on chairs and floors while they wait for shelter placement,” said Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society.
