September 21, 2023 (NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless issued the following joint statement responding to comments from Governor Kathy Hochul on CNN and Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom’s comments on the Brian Lehrer Show about suspending the Right to Shelter for new arrivals: “Politicians like Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams believe that scapegoating the Right to Shelter will somehow relieve them of their obligations to manage a ‘crisis’ that is now more than eighteen months old. “The simple fact is that the Right to Shelter is what prevents New York City – and the entire surrounding region – from seeing the mass tent encampments now common in many other American cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ending or suspending the Right to Shelter will not end homelessness nor deter new arrivals from coming here. “New York City has always been a beacon for immigrants, long before a Right to Shelter existed, and it’s foolish to assert that curtailing a right provided by the State Constitution will change that. “It is puzzling that the Mayor and Governor would continue to pursue this drastic change in New York’s legal framework at precisely the time when the Biden Administration has granted Temporary Protected Status to thousands of new arrivals, which could have an enormous impact on helping them leave the shelter system. “Instead of chasing the Right to Shelter red herring, both Governor Hochul and Mayor Adams need to stop bickering and work together on a comprehensive statewide decompression and resettlement plan to help new arrivals with compassion and competence, and live up to New York values.” Background:Last month, Legal Aid, the Coalition for the Homeless and more than 100 other organizations from around New York State representing advocates, services providers, and faith groups issued a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to develop a comprehensive statewide decompression and resettlement plan for the new arrivals and to immediately prioritize deploying state resources to ensure sufficient temporary housing capacity for new arrivals and other unhoused New Yorkers. In July, Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless also called on the City toadvance a variety of reforms to increase shelter capacity.
