Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams questioned the administration’s new 60-day shelter stay limit for adult migrants during a City Council Oversight hearing today, highlighting the need to uphold the right to shelter amid the crisis, and for the city to receive state and federal resources to support asylum seekers.
“I recognize that the city was already in a preexisting housing crisis with a shelter system unequipped to accommodate over 100,000 people,” said Public Advocate Williams. “At the same time, these living conditions are unacceptable, and the mayor’s continued efforts to undermine the right to shelter, most recently illustrated in his 60-day limit on shelter stays, will not address the root of the problem. In 2022, the average length of stay in a shelter for single adults was 509 days. New York City needs help from the state and federal governments, as well as our neighboring communities—not to weaken a crucial safety net for some of our most vulnerable.”
Public Advocate recently visited the Roosevelt Hotel as migrants were forced to sleep outside, and previously traveled to Washington, DC this month to advocate for a series of federal actions to alleviate the mounting humanitarian crisis. He has continued to stress the importance of meeting the needs of our newest New Yorkers, rather than stepping away from our moral and legal obligations, while acknowledging the challenges of the moment and the need for all levels of government to provide aid.
“New York City cannot handle this crisis alone. We need assistance from the state and federal governments…” continued the Public Advocate, listing several policy requests before closing, “The right to shelter has been in place for over 40 years, and that right does not simply expire after 60 days in the face of a crisis. While the challenges of meeting this emergency are immense, so too is our obligation to do all we can for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. We should be focused on helping create opportunities for people who come here seeking asylum, not preemptively deny that our city is home to opportunity itself.”
The Public Advocate’s full comments to the Committees on General Welfare and Immigration are below.
STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS
TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEES ON GENERAL WELFARE AND IMMIGRATION
AUGUST 10, 2023
Good afternoon,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chairs Ayala and Hanif and the members of the Committees on General Welfare and Immigration for holding this hearing.
It has been over a year since the first bus arrived at the Port Authority from Texas carrying migrants seeking refuge, safety, and a chance for a better life for themselves and their loved ones. Since then, over 95,000 migrants have arrived in New York City, and the majority have stayed. In the past year, the city has struggled to accommodate asylum seekers, and as a result, they have experienced violence, abuse, overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions, spoiled or no food, and lack of access to clothing, showers, and privacy. I recognize that the city was already in a preexisting housing crisis with a shelter system unequipped to accommodate over 100,000 people. At the same time, these living conditions are unacceptable, and the mayor’s continued efforts to undermine the right to shelter, most recently illustrated in his 60-day limit on shelter stays, will not address the root of the problem. In 2022, the average length of stay in a shelter for single adults was 509 days. New York City needs help from the state and federal governments, as well as our neighboring communities—not to weaken a crucial safety net for some of our most vulnerable. I think it’s important to mention that the day before the first asylum busses came, there were over 50,000 New Yorkers already in the shelter system, with an average time of over a year, which means this has been a crisis for a long time. Had we addressed the crisis then, we may not be where we are now.
Following Mayor Adams’s legal request to limit the right to shelter in New York City, the administration announced a 60-day limit on shelter stays for adult migrants. If, after 60 days, the person does not have housing, they must re-apply for shelter, and case managers will discuss “options and next steps” with the person seeking shelter. However, the administration has not provided any further concrete plan for housing people who reach the 60-day limit. Just in the last week, the number of people affected by this new rule totals over 800. While the mayor claims the goal is not to force people onto the street, we already see it happening: migrants are sleeping on sidewalks, in parks, and under bridges and highways, including large encampments under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan. We need a clear plan detailing what happens when a person reaches the 60-day limit, what their housing options are, and their immediate next steps.
New York City cannot handle this crisis alone. We need assistance from the state and federal governments, including expedited work authorization granted by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, so asylum seekers can generate income to move into more permanent housing. We also need more humane, healthy temporary housing options, such as FEMA-supported direct temporary housing sites created on federal land, including Transportable Temporary Housing Units or Manufactured Housing Units. We also need to invest in permanent affordable housing as well as the social structures that prevent homelessness, including reversing the systematic disinvestment from NYCHA and a local implementation of President Biden’s Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness. Lastly, we must ensure language access in our city’s social and legal services, including Indigenous and African dialects relevant to incoming groups. Black immigration usually gets left out, and I’ll continue to remind folks of migrants from places like Haiti.
The right to shelter has been in place for over 40 years, and that right does not simply expire after 60 days in the face of a crisis. While the challenges of meeting this emergency are immense, so too is our obligation to do all we can for the tired, the poor, the huddled masses. We should be focused on helping create opportunities for people who come here seeking asylum, not preemptively deny that our city is home to opportunity itself.
Again, I’m hoping that the federal government in particular, and even the state, will help us better coordinate, and I hope the state realizes that the right to shelter is statewide, not just the city, and the governor steps in to assist. We cannot handle this alone, I want to make that clear. I do know that right to shelter is at some point a sustainability issue — we haven’t reached that point yet, but we do need assistance. I will end by hoping that the administration, as we move forward, will support policies that the Council supported like Good Cause Eviction and revenue raising in the state. Opposing those things, putting people on the Rent Guidelines Board that are raising rent, actually helps make this situation worse.
Thank you.
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