Good afternoon, Chair Hanif and Chair Ayala and members of the Committees on Immigration and General Welfare, and thank you for holding this important hearing today. We’ve been talking about this issue for a while now, seeing articles in the press and throwing around numbers – like the fact that 67,000 migrants have arrived in the city as of last month, around 40,000 of whom are in the City’s care. Quantifying the crisis is important, but sometimes we forget that we’re talking about people. People who are fleeing civil war, exploitation, and abuses abroad, many of whom have traveled through extremely precarious circumstances to get here.
For this reason, I very much appreciate the Council proposing extending Right-to-Shelter provisions to the HERCs. Our city’s shelter system is far from perfect, but our Right-to-Shelter law sets New York City apart from other major American cities in terms of care for our unhoused neighbors. Unhoused New Yorkers and migrants alike deserve basic necessities, like a warm meal, working restrooms and showers, and a space to sleep comfortably. I encourage the Council to pass Intro 942 quickly to send this message to the administration.
I also want to take this opportunity to discuss a proposal I released last month that would address the ongoing impacts of the migrant crisis by first prioritizing solutions to our existing homelessness crisis and compelling the private sector to do its part.
Right now, with around 80,000 people in the shelter system, the average shelter stay is 509 days – 534 days for families with children and 855 days for families without children. That simply should not be happening. Our focus should be on connecting long-term shelter residents with permanent housing first, making space in the existing system to accommodate new arrivals. I applaud the Council for recently passing a package of bills that would lift the 90-day rule and expand voucher eligibility, as well as proposing other bills being heard today that will provide more on-site services, information, and assistance for shelter residents and asylum seekers.
The real estate industry must also step up. Right now, landlords are sitting on thousands of vacant apartments while families sleep in the streets. Mayor Adams should issue a new emergency Executive Order declaring a public emergency over homelessness, and not just the arrival of migrants, as the shelter population exceeds a threshold of 0.5% of the City’s population. Based on this EO, the Mayor should direct his agencies to lease private apartments to house people who have been in shelter the longest. The City Council could support this effort by banning, as an unlawful discriminatory housing practice, the refusal to rent out vacant apartments to the City during a homelessness or migrant emergency. We are currently in the process of working through this legislative language, and I hope to have something to present to the Council soon.
In the meantime, I want to thank the Council again for all your advocacy on behalf of asylum seekers. Let’s all work together to lead with our values and ensure that New York City remains a model for care, sanctuary, and the right to shelter.