At long last, the legal battle over New York City’s right to shelter law has reached a settlement with seemingly all parties satisfied by the terms.
The city’s “right to shelter” was established in 1981 under consent decree in Callahan v. Carey, which related to a homelessness crisis at the time. As of late, the law has been applied to aid the influx of the more than 180,000 asylum seekers and migrants to the city since 2022, pushing the city to a breaking point. This prompted Mayor Eric Adams to controversially attempt to amend the law, saying that the city’s shelter system could no longer handle the homeless population and the migrant crisis. Advocates at the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless wanted to keep the law as is.
After months of negotiations, an accord has been reached.
In the simplest terms, the law remains but with some temporary caveats that only apply to newly arrived, single, asylum-seeking adults. New adult arrivals will have an initial 30-day shelter placement, and single adults under the age of 23 will have 60 days. Families with children are not affected. Extended stays will be addressed on a case-by-case basis as long as a person is making an effort to find a place outside the shelter system to stay. The settlement requires the elimination of the use of “waiting rooms” as shelter. Finally, the city will continue to provide reticketing services to help more people move out of the shelter system.
“New York City has led the nation in responding to a national humanitarian crisis, providing shelter and care to approximately 183,000 new arrivals since the spring of 2022, but we have been clear, from day one, that the ‘Right to Shelter’ was never intended to apply to a population larger than most U.S. cities descending on the five boroughs in less than two years,” said Adams in a statement. “Today’s stipulation acknowledges that reality and grants us additional flexibility during times of crisis, like the national humanitarian crisis we are currently experiencing.
In a joint statement, City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala agreed that the settlement protected the right to shelter law while allowing for some flexibility in response to the migrant crisis.
“This settlement seems to preserve the foundation of this essential protection from further efforts to undermine it, and encourages the continued support of families and individuals seeking asylum, while eliminating the backlog of new arrivals who are reapplying for shelter placements,” they said. “As a Council, we remain focused on working with the Administration and all stakeholders on immediate and long-term solutions that relieve pressure on the shelter system by helping New Yorkers transition into stable, permanent housing. We are examining the details of this settlement further, and will continue our oversight efforts to protect the health and safety of all New Yorkers.”
New York Immigration Coalition President and CEO Murad Awawdeh was pleased that the underlying right to shelter law was unchanged and commended the Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless for defending it. He continued to advocate for expanding access to City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) vouchers and a viable path to permanent housing, stability, and self-sufficiency for all New Yorkers.
“The settlement includes some important provisions, including ending the use of waiting rooms as temporary shelters, which forced too many new arrivals to sleep on floors or in chairs while they waited for shelter placements—assurances our communities did not have until today,” said Awawdeh. “Yet, challenges persist.”
Awawdeh bristled at the “discriminatory practice” of identifying single asylum seeking adults to be removed from shelters after 30 or 60 days without any true path to affordable housing.
“That is not only immoral and antithetical to the intent of the Right to Shelter, but also short-sighted,” said Awawdeh. “A continuation of the 30- and 60-day limits will only exacerbate the City’s long-standing housing crisis and will unnecessarily force new residents onto the street. We cannot stress enough that Mayor Adams’ unyielding commitment to demonizing and victimizing our newest arrivals will make him the sole architect of a manufactured crisis that will impact the health, safety, and security of all New Yorkers.”
Ariama C. Long is a Report for America corps member and writes about politics for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep her writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.