Of the $19,000 in donations to 14 sitting council members or candidates, $13,900 comes from Taxpayers for an Affordable New York, run by the Real Estate Board of NY. Another $4,600 comes from Rent Stabilization Association’s PAC, and $500 from the Neighborhood Preservation Political Action Fund, which appears to be linked to an RSA staffer.
Unmentioned at Friday’s press conference and ceremonial signing is a new work requirement to qualify for a voucher—10 hours per week for adult-only households. Previously, adult households only had to demonstrate they had worked any number of hours per week for the last 30 days in order to qualify for a City Family Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement, or CityFHEPS, voucher.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced Friday that he will eliminate a 90-day waiting period for New Yorkers in shelters to apply for rental vouchers, even as he declined to endorse a broader package of reforms recently passed by the City Council.
“As a city, do we want to make people suffer through three months of homelessness before we give them a chance to regain stability through housing?”
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has embarked on a decompression strategy to free up space in the city’s local shelters by sending immigrants to other New York State localities. In Albany, where more than 230 migrants were relocated in recent weeks, community-based organizations say they are already stretched thin.
Advocates hoped Adams would kick off his first term by appointing a deputy mayor for housing and homelessness—ensuring that previously siloed agencies would report to the same person. He didn’t, but departing administration member Jessica Katz was the next best thing, they say.
Sources familiar with the plan say the city is looking to open 950 shelter beds at sites run by dozens of religious organizations in the coming months.
Albany’s inaction has made it more urgent for the council speaker to help pass a package of bills aimed at boosting the supply of homes accessible to, and controlled by, low-income New Yorkers, more than 100 groups said in a letter Tuesday. Some of the legislation has gotten a frosty reception from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, as well as for-profit developers.
Public libraries have long been a refuge for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, and have emerged as an important resources for asylum seekers in recent months. While Mayor Adams exempted the three library systems from his latest round of belt-tightening measures, they still face a collective $36 million in cuts under his executive budget proposal.
Reactions to the news were subdued in City Hall Park Thursday, where the organization VOCAL-NY had gathered to mourn not only Neely, who had been unhoused, but the at least 815 other unhoused New Yorkers who, according to city data, died in the year ending last July.
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