Mayor Eric Adams' administration has been granted the opportunity to see a judge and attempt to make a case that some of New York City's right-to-shelter obligations should be lifted amid the ongoing migrant crisis.
In an order dated May 25 and obtained by NBC New York, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Deborah Kaplan responded to the city's request two days earlier that a judge be assigned to hear motions.
Kaplan assigned the matter to New York State Supreme Court Justice Erika M. Edwards.
The Adams administration has not laid out its legal arguments yet but says they want the mandate requiring housing for all childless adults suspended when the Department of Homeless Services is determined to be out of resources and unable to provide safe and appropriate shelter. The city says it won't try to lift its obligations to families with kids.
Adams is seeking to change a judgment agreed to by the city four decades ago. The Democrat argues it's antiquated, was never intended to apply to tens of thousands of incoming asylum seekers, and ties the city's hands.
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"This problem is not sustainable, I don't know how I could say it any clearer," Adams said.
The issue of migrants and the battle over what to do with the thousands that have come to the city — 90 more arrived on buses Friday — has become a leading issue for the Adams administration. Instead of offering hotel rooms or traditional shelters, the city is filling spaces with cots. While it may not be the most comfortable, asylum seekers say it's better than nothing — which is what some fear they will have if Adams wins in court.
It's not yet clear when Edwards will hear motions from city attorneys and the Legal Aid Society, which represents homeless New Yorkers. Legal Aid has pledged to "vigorously fight" any effort to disband the city's right-to-shelter law.
Kaplan said Legal Aid didn't respond to the Adams administration's request to be heard.
The right to shelter has been in place for more than four decades in New York, after a court in 1981 required the city to provide temporary housing for every homeless person who asks for it. Other big U.S. cities don’t have such a rule.
But with the arrival of 70,000 asylum seekers since last spring, many of whom crossed into the U.S. from Mexico, the city has been challenged to find room for everyone in need of a temporary roof and bed.
