The Community Service Society of New York
08/02/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/02/2024 14:07
Press Release: State Supreme Court Ruling Puts More Vulnerable New Yorkers at Risk of Homelessness and Eviction
August 2nd, 2024
Press Release
State Supreme Court Ruling Puts More Vulnerable New Yorkers at Risk of Homelessness and Eviction
As a result of yesterday's ruling of the New York State Supreme Court that effectively blocks expansion of CityFHEPS housing vouchers, a lifeline that was extended to vulnerable New Yorkers in need of housing and facing eviction was severed.
The City Council passed laws that would have enabled the city to give CityFHEPS vouchers to low-income households facing eviction and homelessness, but the Adams Administration refused to enact them, and now a judge has misguidedly annulled them altogether. Ultimately, this ruling ensures that evictions and homelessness will continue apace, leading to both greater suffering for individuals and families and greater spending on shelter services.
A 2024 CSS report titled "Right to Counsel Works: Why Won't the City and State Use It to Stop More Evictions?" found that one in five Black households and one in four Hispanic households reported owing back rent in 2023. Our Unheard Third Survey showed that around 15 percent of tenants were threatened with eviction over the last year. According to CSS's analysis of the CityFHEPS expansion bills, enacting of these laws would have spared 39,000 households from eviction and 8,000 from homelessness in its first year alone.
Without a tool like CityFHEPS available to them, low-income tenants who cannot afford their rent will likely be evicted, and many will enter the shelters. Robert, a part-time employed Bronx father of two, shared, "My biggest challenge is paying rent. Rent is so high and I'm unable to keep up." Robert would qualify for a CityFHEPS voucher under the law the Council passed and tried to get into the program, but now likely faces eviction and homelessness. Maria, an unemployed Bronx mother, shared, "Right now, I don't have the ability to pay the rent. I have applied for CityFHEPS, but it takes a long time to find out if I qualify. Right now, I owe three months of rent, and if I don't pay it, I will end up in a shelter."
By making the city and state's social service provision agencies the sole authority over social service programs, the court's verdict sets a problematic precedent by severely limiting the powers of our locally-elected representatives - the most direct voice of the people and their needs.
This ruling is a setback for low-income New Yorkers, like Robert and Maria, striving to remain in their homes or exit shelters as New York City continues to search for solutions to its growing housing crisis.