Friday marked the final day of operations at 1365 Jerome Ave. in Mount Eden, where Human Resources Administration staff helped New Yorkers apply for food, Medicaid and cash assistance.
In a motion set to be filed Wednesday in state court, the legislative body asks to join a recently-filed lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, seeking to compel implementation of several laws passed over mayoral veto.
“A housing package that protects tenants, builds affordable housing, and creates good jobs is possible, but bad actors in the real estate industry would rather hold my members and all New Yorkers hostage on account of their greed.”
The proposed class action suit was filed in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of four New Yorkers who say they should be eligible for CityFHEPS, but are closed out because the Adams administration has failed to implement laws expanding the program.
A lawsuit on behalf of tenants at risk of eviction highlights a population in the crosshairs of a policy fight between the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams.
The legislation, introduced in Albany by Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, would prohibit policies that restrict the length of homeless shelter stays—aimed at halting the Adams administration’s 30 and 60-day shelter notices for newly arrived immigrants.
The city’s housing vacancy rate plunged to 1.41 percent in 2023, the lowest it has been since 1968, officials announced Thursday. Options were particularly scarce for low-income New Yorkers: just 0.39 percent of units renting for under $1,100 were available last year.
The New York City Council cleared Speaker Adrienne Adams to take legal action on its behalf Thursday, but the leader declined to say how, or when, she might act to enforce new laws expanding eligibility for city-issued rental vouchers.
“It looks like a coughing choir in that tent,” said Luis Zambrano, 62, who came down with pneumonia this winter while staying at the shelter complex on Randall’s Island, where the city has been housing thousands of newly arrived immigrants. “The cold that passes through and under the cot doesn’t go away with several blankets, so you are always cold sleeping.”
The first four months of Fiscal Year 2024 saw timely processing of just 14.3 percent of cash assistance applications—a new low—and 41.6 percent of SNAP applications. Delays can have serious consequences for applicants, from hunger to missed rent payments that can put families at risk of eviction.
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