Hochul backs suspending NYC’s ‘right to shelter’ amid migrant influx

New York Governor Supports City’s Bid to Suspend Shelter Mandate Amid Migrant Influx

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is backing New York City’s efforts to suspend a unique legal agreement that requires it to provide emergency housing to homeless individuals. The city has been grappling with an extraordinary surge of migrants that has strained its shelter system.

Hochul has thrown her support behind the city’s challenge to this requirement in a recent court filing, stating that the mandate was never intended to apply to an international humanitarian crisis.

For several months, New York City has been seeking to amend the so-called “right to shelter” rule due to the arrival of over 120,000 migrants since the previous year. Many of these migrants arrived without housing or employment, necessitating the city to set up emergency shelters and deliver various government services. The estimated cost for these efforts is around $12 billion over the next few years.

This shelter requirement has been in place for over four decades in New York City, stemming from a legal agreement obliging the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person. No other major U.S. city has a similar obligation.

Governor Hochul, a Democrat, remarked, “I don’t know how the right to shelter—intended to assist those in need, including families—can or should be interpreted as an open invitation to the eight billion people on this planet. If you show up on the streets of New York, the city of New York has an obligation to provide you with a hotel room or shelter.”

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City recently petitioned the court to allow the suspension of the mandate during a state of emergency when the population of single adults seeking shelter surges rapidly. On Wednesday, the state of New York submitted a court document in support of the city’s request, deeming it reasonable.

To address overcrowding, New York City has also tightened shelter regulations by restricting adult migrants to a maximum of 30 days in city-run facilities.

Dave Giffen, the executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, cautioned that suspending the mandate could lead to large homeless encampments in New York. He stated, “Make no mistake: if the mayor and governor get their way, they will be closing the door of the shelter system to thousands of people without homes, leaving them nowhere to sleep but the streets.”