Late on Tuesday, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration filed its response to the lawsuit aimed at forcing it to implement several laws expanding access to housing vouchers, which it has refused to enact, asking a state judge to dismiss the case.
In the legal document, filed in New York County Supreme Court, the city argued that the case has no merit because the City Council never had the authority to legally change the housing voucher program in the first place.
“The Local Laws are invalid because they are preempted by the New York State Constitution, statutes and related regulations,” the filing reads.
The Legal Aid Society first brought the lawsuit last month, which the City Council joined a week later, on behalf of four plaintiffs who represent a class of those who claim they would have benefited from the program expansion the city is refusing to roll out. The laws make the program, known as CityFHEPS, available to a broader swath of homeless and low-income people.
Furthermore, the city argues the power to change CityFHEPS rests with its Department of Social Services (DSS), as set forth under state law. Thus, the administration argues, it is within its right not to implement the council legislation.
“The new laws state that they are to be implemented by DSS via the rulemaking process,” the filing reads. “City DSS has declined to undertake rulemaking to implement the four new laws because City DSS, and not the City Council, is empowered to set eligibility criteria for social services housing supplements like CityFHEPS.”
But the Legal Aid Society, in a statement issued Wednesday, fired back at the city, alleging its claim that the City Council can’t legislate on the program is “baseless” and “willfully ignores” the fact that it has done so in the past — such as when it raised the amount of CityFHEPS vouchers in 2021.
“No administration has the legal authority to cherry-pick which laws they choose to enforce and which they choose to disregard, and we’re committed to ensuring the full implementation of this legislative package, one duly enacted by the City Council, to serve our clients who are in need of safe, long-term and affordable housing,” the legal defense group said.
Legal Aid’s suit argues that as a co-equal branch of government, the council does have standing to tweak CityFHEPS through legislation.
The laws would significantly broaden eligibility for CityFHEPS by making the vouchers available to those who are at risk of eviction and by expanding the qualifying income level from 200% of the Federal Poverty Line to 50% of the Area Median Income.
Mayor Adams has remained staunchly against the measures, charging they are unworkable due to a hefty price tag of $17 billion over 5 years and a lack of enough available apartments to meet the increased demand they would create, which led him to veto them last summer.
The City Council, however, has been steadfast in its quest to broaden the program, first passing the laws in an override of the mayor’s veto last year and later joining the suit to force implementation.
The battle over the bills has led one of the more high-profile ongoing power struggles between the two sides of City Hall during Mayor Adams’ and Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ tenures.
Council spokesperson Rendy Desamours, reiterated in a statement the council’s argument that the administration does not have the legal ability to pick and choose which of the laws they passed that it wants to enact.
“The executive branch may disagree with the policy, but that does not constitute a valid legal reason to violate duly enacted laws by not providing New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and at risk of eviction with relief for which they are eligible,” he said. “Ultimately, this will be resolved by the courts, and we believe they will agree.”
