Seven local organizations sought permission to file an amicus brief in support of the City Council and Legal Aid Society’s lawsuit, which is looking to compel the Adams administration to implement a package of laws to expand eligibility for CityFHEPS, a rental subsidy program.
Mayor Eric Adams argued in new court filings that his administration has special authority as an “arm of the state”—part of a lawsuit that the Legal Aid Society filed in February over City Hall’s refusal to implement a suite of laws to expand access to city-funded rental vouchers.
In a motion set to be filed Wednesday in state court, the legislative body asks to join a recently-filed lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, seeking to compel implementation of several laws passed over mayoral veto.
The proposed class action suit was filed in New York State Supreme Court on behalf of four New Yorkers who say they should be eligible for CityFHEPS, but are closed out because the Adams administration has failed to implement laws expanding the program.
The New York City Council cleared Speaker Adrienne Adams to take legal action on its behalf Thursday, but the leader declined to say how, or when, she might act to enforce new laws expanding eligibility for city-issued rental vouchers.
Despite a veto override, a December letter from Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Park says certain CityFHEPs voucher legislation passed by the City Council “cannot be implemented at this time.”
“Mayor Adams plans to force families experiencing their very first winter in the United States to uproot their lives every 60 days, without an idea of where they’ll end up once they hit their shelter limit. Children will face the prospect of changing schools after finally settling into their current ones.”
With under two months left on the clock, the administration is not taking steps to fully implement a package of bills that would expand rental voucher eligibility among New Yorkers facing eviction.
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