Immigrant advocates condemn Adams ‘attacks on right to shelter’

The New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), an umbrella policy and advocacy organization that represents over 200 immigrant and refugee rights groups throughout New York, on Tuesday condemned what it claims is Mayor Eric Adams’s statement that “right to shelter increases homeless”.

Murad Awawdeh, NYIC’s president and chief executive officer, told Caribbean Life that the mayor makes the attacks “without providing solutions.” 

“Today, Mayor Eric Adams and his administration said that asylum seeker encampments are not allowed anywhere in New York City, and that the city will work with the NYPD and Parks Department to clear them,” he said. “All New Yorkers need stable housing in order to build productive and healthy lives. Yet, Mayor Adams has doubled and tripled down on attacking New York City’s long-standing right to shelter policies by prioritizing shelter evictions instead of people’s ability to live safely with a roof over their heads. 

“The obvious result of these attacks is that people are forced to sleep on the street,” Awawdeh added. “Clearing encampments without providing alternative housing is another example of his short-sighted policies. 

“New Yorkers want solutions to our homelessness crisis,” he continued. “Mayor Adams must expand CityFHEPS vouchers to New Yorkers who are at risk of becoming unhoused, are housing insecure, and regardless of immigration status, to finally move vulnerable people into permanent housing. 

“It is time to implement policies that increase the long-term success of all New Yorkers,” Awawdeh stressed. 

Earlier this month, NYIC and Make the Road NY, another immigrant advocacy group, strongly condemned as “a devastating blow” to Caribbean and other immigrants and low-income families a Manhattan Supreme Court decision striking down a lawsuit that would have compelled the Adams administration and the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) to implement the CityFHEPS housing voucher package that was passed in May 2023 by the City Council.

The City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program is a local housing voucher for New Yorkers on the brink of or experiencing homelessness. 

On Aug. 1, Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Lyle Frank struck down the legislation to expand eligibility for CityFHEPS housing vouchers for low-income New Yorkers facing eviction or homelessness. 

“Too many New Yorkers are struggling to keep a roof over their heads as housing costs continue to rise. This expansion of CityFHEPS vouchers would have been a lifeline to vulnerable families stuck in the shelter system and at risk of eviction,” Awawdeh said. 

“By expanding opportunities to live in safe, stable housing, we build a city where New Yorkers can put down roots to invest and grow in their communities,” he added. “This court decision is a devastating blow to low-income families, and any of us who may fall on hard times in the future. 

Photo credit: New York Immigration Coalition/ Murad Awawdeh

“We stand with the City Council in appealing this decision, and implore the mayor to start implementing real solutions to the problems faced by so many New Yorkers,” Awawdeh continued. 

Jennifer Hernandez, lead organizer at Make the Road NY said: “At a time when New York City is facing an unprecedented affordability crisis and working-class communities of color are struggling to pay ever-increasing rents, it is outrageous that Mayor Adams would continue to stand in the way of common-sense changes to the program that could have been a lifeline for many tenants in eviction processes. 

“Instead of fighting against the interests of low-income New Yorkers, the mayor should spend his time and energy making sure that everyone in this city has safe, stable and affordable housing,” she said. 

Rendy Desamours, a spokesperson for the City Council, confirmed that the Council will appeal the court’s decision. 

“We disagree with the court’s ruling and will be pursuing an immediate appeal,” Desamours said. “It’s unfortunate that Mayor Adams’ administration has fought to delay help to New Yorkers that can prevent them from evictions and homelessness amidst a housing crisis.” 

The mayor said that while he is happy that the court agrees with his administration’s position that these laws went beyond the City Council’s legislative authority, “we are hopeful that our partners in the Council will join us in remaining committed to working to connect New Yorkers in need with safe, affordable, permanent housing.” 

In February, the non-profit Legal Aid Society had filed a class action lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court against Mayor Adams and the city to compel the administration to fully implement the recently enacted package of legislation that reforms and expands CityFHEPS. 

The  Legal Aid Society said the lawsuit was filed on behalf of New Yorkers who would be eligible for CityFHEPS under the new laws but who are barred from accessing the rent subsidy because the Adams administration has “refused to implement the reforms.” 

Robert Desir, a lawyer at the Society, said that Judge Frank’s ruling “will cost the city millions of dollars on shelter costs”, agreeing that the decision will also have “a devastating impact on thousands of New Yorkers on the brink of eviction or already experiencing homelessness.”

Meantime, on Friday, Adams and veteran civil rights advocate and former executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union Norman Siegel celebrated what they described as “major milestones” for the Street Homelessness Advocacy Project (SHAP), as the program marks two years since it began operating. 

Adams said SHAP is a volunteer outreach initiative that aims to build relationships and provide direct support to those experiencing homelessness. 

He said SHAP’s primary purpose is to train volunteers, including those with lived experience, to advocate for and offer services to unhoused New Yorkers.

The mayor said that between year one and year two of the program, the SHAP team increased the percentage of homeless New Yorkers they are assisting in moving voluntarily off the streets and into some form of supportive programing from an approximate 33 percent success rate to almost 50 percent. 

“Thanks to the Street Homelessness Advocacy Project, everyday New Yorkers are answering the call to volunteer and lend a helping hand to their neighbors in need, and their good work is paying off, with nearly 50 percent of homeless individuals connecting with SHAP choosing to voluntarily come off our streets,” Adams said. “Solving our homelessness crisis requires each and every one of us to follow in the footsteps of SHAP volunteers by treating those experiencing homelessness with dignity and humanity. 

“Thank you to all the volunteers, partner organizations, and to Norman Siegel for leading the way and working so no one is forced to sleep on the streets of our city,” he added. 

Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Anne Williams-Isom said that since the start of the Adams administration, “we said that we would no longer walk past our brothers and sisters in need without extending support.

“SHAP is one way we are actualizing that commitment. The model shows that we can all play a role in connecting with our fellow New Yorkers and, when we do, roughly one out of two people are now voluntarily connecting to supportive programs,” she added. “We also know that homelessness is a housing challenge. That is why our administration has connected more people than ever to CityFHEPS, and we are building more affordable housing in the months and years to come. 

“Thank you to Norman and all our volunteers for their efforts over the last two years, and for all they will do in the time to come,” Williams-Isom said.

Siegel said: “SHAP’s vision and approach — the same volunteers conducting outreach at the same locations on the same day and time — increases the likelihood of trust being developed between the volunteer and the person experiencing homelessness.

“With our strong placement and referral rate over the past two years, the SHAP model has proven to be a successful model for helping people experiencing homelessness voluntarily leave the streets and parks of New York City,” he added. 

Since its formation, Adams said SHAP has made “considerable progress” in helping those experiencing homelessness connect with vital services. 

In its first year, he said SHAP successfully helped one out of three people experiencing homelessness voluntarily leave the streets. 

Now, in its second year, the mayor said about one out of two people — 223 individuals experiencing homelessness out of 451 — that have interacted with SHAP have voluntarily left the streets through a referral or placement with a supportive program, a nearly 50 percent rate of success.

Adams said his administration continues to prioritize transitioning homeless New Yorkers from streets, subways, and homeless shelters into stable, permanent housing. 

Last week, he announced that, for the second year in a row, the city has produced more supportive housing and housing for formerly homeless New Yorkers than ever before in New York’s history. 

Adams said his administration additionally moved a record number of homeless New Yorkers into permanent housing through the highest usage of CityFHEPS housing vouchers and placed a record number of formerly homeless households into permanently-affordable housing.

Additionally, in Fiscal Year (FY) 24, he said the city built the highest-ever count of supportive homes and homes for the homeless in the city’s history, and increased production of housing for the formerly homeless by 15 percent. 

The mayor said DSS helped 16,902 households move out of shelter and into permanent housing over FY24, 12,526 of which were placed into subsidized permanent housing — “a more than 20 percent increase over FY23.”