The Legal Aid Society on Wednesday filed a class-action lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams in a bid to force his administration to implement a contentious housing voucher reforms package.
The Manhattan Supreme Court suit was filed on behalf of four people who were allegedly barred from getting city rental assistance despite the changes, which became law last month.
“These are some of our most vulnerable neighbors, low-income New Yorkers on the verge of homelessness or languishing in shelters,” said Adriene Holder, who serves as Legal Aid’s chief attorney of the civil practice.
“All of these plaintiffs have one thing in common: if Mayor Adams would implement the laws duly enacted by the city council their housing needs would be met,” Holder said from the steps of City Hall.
“No more sleepless nights and shelter no more back and forth housing court and no more harassing calls from landlords and management companies demanding rent and threatening eviction.”
City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said the administration will review the suit.
It follows a months-long battle between the City Council and Adams over the changes to the cityFHELPS program, which makes housing vouchers available for people facing eviction without them having to enter the shelter system and stay there for at least 90 days.
The legislation also increases the income-level cutoffs to qualify for aid and bars landlords from deducting the cost of utility bills from a voucher and increase.
The mayor vetoed the package of bills in June, arguing the changes would cost $17 billion and that the increase in funding was impossible during the migrant crisis already straining city coffers.
But the council overrode his veto the following month, after arguing the Adams administration was overestimating the price tag by $7 million.
Just weeks before the bills were set to become law, Adams told councilmembers he had no plans to implement them — and they’d have to drag him into court. The administration cited the cost of the package and claimed the council didn’t have the power to make some of the changes passed in the bills.
Speaker Adrienne Adams warned City Hall that if the reforms hadn’t been enacted by last week the council would pursue legal action. Lawmakers voted to give the speaker powers to file or participate in a lawsuit, but the council has yet to take legal action.
“We’re still exploring our options,” said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala (D-East Harlem) when asked about the status of the council’s possible lawsuit Wednesday
“But we believe strongly that the plaintiffs that filed a suit need to have we need to be front and center on this conversation,” she added of the Legal Aid’s case.