NYC nonprofits and their leaders are calling for immediate action after Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday seemed to dismiss the seriousness of delays in City Hall payments to the organizations, arguing that the situation is “not the worst it’s ever been.”
Shervon M. Small, executive director of Legal Services NYC, said that his group and others are in no position to wait another moment for payment, as their very livelihood is at stake.
“While we acknowledge and appreciate the Mayor’s initial efforts to address long-standing payment backlog issues, the current fiscal reality for Legal Services NYC and other legal service providers remains dire,” Small said in a statement.
According to Small, the city still owes Legal Services NYC nearly $30 million, which has forced difficult financial decisions that compromise their ability to provide essential services for New Yorkers.
“Despite assurances from the City, the delays we face are not merely administrative inconveniences—they threaten the stability of our operations and, by extension, the well-being of our clients,” he said.
Legal Services NYC provides critical support to those facing evictions, harassment, immigration orders, and domestic violence.
The mayor acknowledged that cities have historically struggled with timely payments but insisted that his administration is working to close the deficit.
“We agree, they’re providing services. They are in need of getting the payments as quickly as possible. Cities are not always good with paying on time with all the engaged processes, but we 100% are on top of this issue,” Adams said at a press conference.
Earlier this month, Small’s organization and several other legal service providers sent a letter to Mayor Adams imploring him to circumvent the payment delays that endanger their ability to assist vulnerable New Yorkers.
The organizations, including The Legal Aid Society and Brooklyn Defender Services, stressed that the delays in payments on contracts with the Human Resources Administration (HRA) could have catastrophic effects on their operations.
Providers said they’ve also faced significant delays in submitting invoices for Fiscal Year 2025 budgets, as the HRA still needs to approve them. This inaction has left organizations unable to invoice for five months, cutting off vital funding needed for operational stability. With contracts for critical programs such as the Right to Counsel and the Immigrant Opportunities Initiative on hold, organizations worry that cash flow issues will lead to layoffs and reduced services.
Without the city’s payment, organizations across the city say their backs are against the wall.
BronxWorks, an organization offering programs for youth, meals and homeless shelters, currently has $9 million in unreimbursed services.
According to Gordon Miller, chief financial officer of the BronxWorks, the organization recently had to rely on a line of credit to manage payroll, as reported by the Bronx Times.
Council Members are backing nonprofits in this fight, citing a lack of accountability and consequences as the reason the city is dragging its feet.
“[T]he city is behaving like a disengaged, deadbeat parent,” Council Members Althea Stevens and Justin Brannan said in a recent op-ed.
Both the pols are working on legislation requiring the city to pay interest on late payments.
The city previously made efforts to address the issue, including forming the Task Force on Nonprofit Contracting and a “Clear the Backlog,” which released more than $4 billion in owed contractual funds to nonprofit organizations, according to the mayor.
But all strides have been “stalled,” per the council members.
Organizations like Legal Services NYC voiced strong opposition to a new plan that would result in nonprofits receiving only 90% of their contracted payments, regardless of meeting performance targets.
“We understand that systemic change takes time,” Small said. “But the current payment pace is unsustainable. We remain hopeful that the City will take decisive and immediate action to clear the backlog and prevent future delays so that vulnerable New Yorkers can access the services they so desperately need.”
