New York City Council overrides Mayor Eric Adams' veto on housing voucher bills
NEW YORK -- The New York City Council on Thursday overrode Mayor Eric Adams' veto on a package of bills to expand housing vouchers for people experiencing homelessness.
The City Council says those measures will help more people move out of shelters and also prevent those at risk of eviction from becoming homeless.
In June, the mayor ended the city's 90-day rule that required people to stay in shelters for nearly three months before becoming eligible for a voucher.
Adams released the following statement Thursday:
"The good news is that our efforts to house more New Yorkers, even in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, are working. On Tuesday, we announced that since lifting the 90-day rule a few weeks ago, 500 households have become immediately eligible for CityFHEPS. Thanks to training and staffing improvements at the New York City Department of Social Services, we have also connected a record number of households to permanent housing using CityFHEPS vouchers last fiscal year and placements from shelter to permanent housing increased 17 percent. Unlike the council, we do not, however, believe that New Yorkers should spend $17 billion on a package of bills that would put New Yorkers in shelter at the back of the line for a CityFHEPS voucher and make it harder for them to find permanent housing. We will continue to do all that we can to build more housing and tackle decades of exclusionary zoning policies that have prevented our city from building an adequate housing supply. We are reviewing our options and next steps."
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams released a statement saying in part, "As this bill is implemented, we will monitor its fiscal impact -- knowing that we can either spend money on strategies like this that will work, or continue to spend on policies that have only deepened the crisis."