Adi Talwar
City Limits’ series on family homelessness in New York City is supported by Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York and The Family Homelessness Coalition. City Limits is responsible for all editorial decisions.
The interrogation from councilmembers came on the heels of new data showing processing delays the likes of which New Yorkers haven’t seen in at least a decade.
For the last three months, in instances when no other options are available, the city has provided some families with kids seeking asylum with vouchers for “no-cost hotel stays” for 28 days, after which they need to return to the city’s Arrival Center to seek another placement.
City Limits spoke with several of the immigrants being transferred from the Holiday Inn Manhattan downtown to the new, large congregate shelter on Randall’s Island, a group that included a pregnant woman and asylum seekers on crutches, among others.
An experienced, full-time tenant lawyer can effectively take on 48 eviction cases per year, according to a highly-anticipated report released Aug. 31 by a state court working group.
The public will likely learn in October if challenges to rent stabilization—from landlords and trade groups including the Community Housing Improvement Program and Rent Stabilization Association—will proceed before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Nonprofit legal service providers often file group lawsuits that assist tenants fighting landlord harassment across an entire building. But a new solicitation appears to impose limits on this preferred strategy for winning repairs and rent reductions.
Landing a secure shelter placement is far more complicated than simply walking through the doors of an intake center, particularly for families, according to a new review by Comptroller Brad Lander.
“If you get cash assistance, you are caught up in really significant delays, in a way that you would not be if you were only receiving SNAP,” said Katie Kelleher of the Legal Aid Society, a lead attorney on a federal lawsuit compelling the city to improve its processing times.
The city is seeking permission to issue the time-limit notices to adult asylum seekers who are being housed in Department of Homeless Services facilities, saying that doing so will open up room for families with children, who currently make up the majority of asylum seekers in DHS’ care.
Following a closed-door conference Friday, the Legal Aid Society urged the state to step up its efforts to protect the right to shelter in New York City, where tens of thousands of migrants have arrived since last year.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
Support local, investigative journalism that has informed and empowered New Yorkers for 45 years.
