New York advocates are taking aim at a decades-old rule that they say is contributing to the city’s shelter crisis amid an influx of thousands of migrants.
A coalition of 43 shelter providers and advocates are calling on Mayor Eric Adams to abolish a rule that requires families and individuals experiencing homelessness to stay in a city shelter for 90 days before they qualify for a rental assistance program that could get them into more permanent housing and help relieve stress on the city’s strained shelters, according to a letter sent Monday to the mayor’s office.
The rule was put in place during former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration, more than 20 years ago, as a way to triage who is staying temporarily in a shelter and who is in need of subsidized housing assistance. But with the recent arrival of about 8,500 migrants, the majority of whom are families, the city’s shelter system is overtaxed and advocates say getting rid of this rule could help move people out of the city’s homeless shelters faster.
“Government red tape should not needlessly tie up the ability of homeless New Yorkers to find apartments,” the group wrote in the letter to Adams, Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz and Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins.
