NYC Mayor Suspends Right-To-Shelter Amid Migrant Surge

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Eric Adams quietly suspended a right-to-shelter law that guarantees homeless families the right to private beds and bathrooms in New York City.

Adams signed the executive order late Wednesday evening as New York grapples with a surge of incoming asylum seekers whose temporary housing has included tents on flood grounds, an isolated cruise terminal, a police facility ill-equipped to house families and out-of-city hotels.

The city's executive order suspends the law's temporary shelter placement deadline and a requirement that families be placed in housing with access to a bathroom, kitchen and refrigerator, rather than in congregate settings.

Advocates with the Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless now fear conditions incoming migrant families will face without those protections.

“These long-standing laws have served as sound policy, ensuring the humane treatment of families in need, but Mayor Adams is heading down a dangerous road," the group said in a joint statement.

“We are currently evaluating the executive order and considering all of our options, including litigation.”

Adams' order is only his latest controversy in a week that has seen him feud with Hudson Valley officials over his plans to voluntarily bus asylum seekers to their counties and give a speech on Jordan Neely that didn't once mention the word "chokehold."

The mayor's order fulfills months of not-so-subtle hints from Adams that the city's right-to-shelter law could face changes as 61,000 asylum seekers, and counting, arrive in the city.

Indeed, Adams argues the city faces an unprecedented humanitarian crisis that requires "extraordinary measures."

Left unsaid but hovering over the order is the end of Title 42, a federal rule that allows the U.S. to turn away would-be migrants without a hearing, on Thursday.

City officials believe Title 42's end will effectively open the floodgates for migrants to enter the U.S. and, ultimately, New York City's burdened shelter system.

But Christine Quinn, president and CEO of Win, argued there was no excuse to justify any kind of suspension to the city's right-to-shelter rules.

"Everyone agrees New York City’s homelessness system is overcapacity," Quinn said. "But that cannot be an excuse to ignore the law or put children in dangerous situations."