Mayor Adams Seeks to Suspend NYC’s “Right to Shelter” Law Due to Arrival of Asylum Seekers

With the continued arrival of asylum seekers in our city, Mayor Adams has asked a court to stay the city’s right to housing law.

The mayor assures that the current situation is unsustainable for the municipality.

On Wednesday, asylum seekers continued to arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel.

As hundreds of migrants pour into the city each day, Mayor Eric Adams asked a city court judge to suspend New York’s obligation under the “Right to Shelter” law.

“It’s a drastic decision… these laws have been helping the people who need it most, the poor who are on the streets,” said Milton Pérez, of Vocal NY.

Immigrant advocates are now speaking out against what the mayor has proposed, saying the law that has been around for more than four decades has helped many.

“It’s one more important thing that we have here in New York to not have people living on the streets, sleeping on the streets,” said Power Malu, fr Artists Athletes Activists.

The mayor has said that agencies can no longer house all the homeless due to the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants.

The change the Adams administration is seeking is for housing rights to be suspended when the city does not have the resources to house everyone safely.

But advocates say the city had trouble dealing with homelessness before the humanitarian crisis.

“And the same people who live in New York have realized that this system was broken a long time ago,” Malu added.

While various advocacy groups disagree with the mayor, there are some who are voicing their support.

Staten Island Borough President Vito Fossella said in a statement:

“As we warned New Yorkers last fall when the immigration crisis began, this issue is untenable. We ask all New Yorkers to support Mayor Adams in this effort, as the immigration issue affects us all.”

Meanwhile, immigrant advocacy groups say there are better solutions. Some say they would like to see bills passed that would speed up the affordable housing voucher process so they can get out of shelters faster.

“Right now they say you have to be in a shelter for 90 days before they are eligible to give you a voucher to get an apartment, right now this is going to shorten that time you have to wait,” Malu said.

City officials say there are now 93,000 people in their care.

They say if they don’t get help soon, services for New Yorkers could soon be affected.