Since mid-2022, New York has been experiencing a substantial influx of new arrivals from other nations, many fleeing persecution in their home countries, most having experienced unimaginable hardship and trauma to get here. The new arrivals are in need of shelter, services, and our compassion.
This surge of newcomers is occurring amidst a homelessness and housing crisis that is already relegating record numbers of New Yorkers to emergency shelters and to the streets, and the city’s shelter census is now higher than it has ever been.
New York City’s relief systems are strained, but the City should not have to shoulder the response to this overwhelming need without meaningful assistance from the State. This situation impacts all New Yorkers, and requires the full resources and authority of Governor Hochul.
This urgent letter to Governor Hochul from concerned organizations throughout New York asks the Governor to step up and provide decisive leadership and take immediate and specific action to ensure that no one is deprived of a safe place to sleep, out of the elements, as the influx of new arrivals continues.
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August 2023 The Honorable Kathy Hochul Governor of the State of New York NYS Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224
Dear Governor Hochul:
On behalf of the undersigned, we urge you to provide decisive leadership and to take immediate action to help manage the pressing situation created by the current influx of new arrivals into the State of New York from countries around the globe. This is a humanitarian crisis that impacts all New Yorkers and requires the authority and resources of your office to address.
We appreciate that you have declared a State of Emergency and are already working to provide some valuable resources to assist New York City, including most recently by funding two sites in New York City that will serve up to 3,000 adult men. But, with hundreds of new arrivals each day into New York City and the uncertain future of the Biden administration’s asylum policy, much more is needed.
We look to you for a comprehensive State plan that: (1) immediately identifies and secures new locations to alleviate the shelter capacity crisis so that families and individuals are not relegated to sleeping on the streets; and (2) helps reduce the skyrocketing shelter census to create more capacity in the existing system.
As recent images of new arrivals sleeping on the streets of New York so starkly illustrate, that task cannot fall to local leaders and NGOs alone. It is imperative that you, as Governor, play a strong leadership role in addressing this dire situation. The current ad hoc approaches have resulted in busloads of families and individuals showing up unexpectedly in localities around the state and in almost nightly news images of suffering crowds of men, women and children desperate for help. Such outcomes fuel feelings of chaos and confusion among all New Yorkers who know that we can, and must, do better.
While a thorough New York State decompression and resettlement plan for new arrivals is desperately needed to fully achieve the goals outlined above, we ask you to immediately prioritize deploying urgently needed State resources to ensure sufficient temporary housing capacity for the new arrivals and New Yorkers.
To this end, we ask you to take four concrete steps:
The steps above represent the most urgently needed measures we look to you to implement to prevent a growing humanitarian catastrophe, as roughly two thousand people per week continue to arrive in New York from other nations and in need of temporary housing. Other immediate needs include additional funding and staffing to support efforts already underway in New York City. And, again, what is needed more broadly is a comprehensive New York State statewide decompression and resettlement plan to address the situation as it continues to evolve.
This is a unique moment in history, when we as a community are being challenged to demonstrate our humanity in the face of tremendous suffering and need. New York State has the resources and the managerial to help. You have the authority to deploy those resources. We look to you to provide the leadership needed to meet this moment, and we stand ready to work with you to protect the core values we, as New Yorkers, seek to preserve.
Respectfully signed,
Coalition for the HomelessThe Legal Aid SocietyHomeless Services UnitedMake the Road New YorkCoalition for Homeless YouthCommunity Service Society of New YorkMount Vernon United TenantsCitizens Committee for ChildrenHousing Rights InitiativeHousing Works, Inc.Urban PathwaysCatholic Charities – Archdiocese of New York HomebaseMet Council on HousingRiverside Edgecombe Neighborhood AssociationWinHousing Justice for AllDa Homeless HeroStrong Economy For All CoalitionSupportive Housing Network of NYFor the ManyCooper Square CommitteeNYCNOWC Red de Cooperativas de Nueva YorkCabrini Immigrant Services of NYCCASA in ActionThe Corporation for Supportive HousingCaribbean Equality ProjectWorkplace ProjectColumbia County Sanctuary MovementCare For the HomelessAlliance for Quality EducationNeighborhood Coalition for ShelterJews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ)Refugee and Immigrant Support Services of Emmaus, Inc.Pratt Center for Community DevelopmentNew York State Council of ChurchesTenants & NeighborsProject HospitalityCabrini Mission FoundationSyracuse Tenants UnionNeighbors TogetherEnvision Freedom Fund(HRX) The Community Harm Reduction ProjectTransnational Villages Network – Red de Pueblos TransnacionalesNew York Communities for ChangeRelease Aging People in PrisonFifth Avenue CommitteeCatholic Charities Brooklyn and QueensNeighbors Helping NeighborsCatholic Charities Neighborhood Services, Inc.Center for Popular Democracy ActionSanctuary for FamiliesChinese-American Planning CouncilThe Health & Housing ConsortiumWorking Families Party – Nassau CountyLong Island ActivistsHealth x Housing Lab at NYU Langone HealthThe Children’s VillageWest Hill Refugee Welcome CenterHunger Free AmericaInterfaith Assembly on Homelessness and HousingCitizen Action of New YorkUnited Neighborhood HousesNew York City Employment and Training CoalitionSaratoga Immigration CoalitionBronxWorks, Inc.The Institute for Family HealthThe Partnership to End HomelessnessQueens Community HousePublic Health SolutionsSamaritan Daytop Village, IncParents Supporting Parents NYArab-American Family Support CenterCallen-Lorde Community Health CenterSisters of Mercy Justice TeamCommunity Voices HeardAssociation for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)Women’s Housing and Economic Development CorporationSCO Family of ServicesNAKASECThe Gathering for JusticeBrandworkersDay Care Council of New YorkWorkers United NY NJ Regional Joint BoardOpen New YorkVolunteers of America – Greater New YorkNew York Working Families PartyEquality New YorkMinKwon Center for Community ActionCovenant House New YorkJewish Family Services of Western New YorkAmerican Civic AssociationNew York Civil Liberties Union, NYCLU/ACLU of New YorkAcacia NetworkJackson Heights Immigration Solidarity Network (JHISN)New York City Youth Action BoardHope’s DoorCapital Area Council of ChurchesSaving Justice NewsletterSisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet AlbanyHenry Street SettlementNICE – New Immigrant Community EmpowermentEvergreen HealthCenter for Community AlternativesUnited Federation of TeachersUnited Madrassi Association Inc.Rising Ground, Inc.Hudson/Catskill Housing CoalitionRoads to SuccessUniversity SettlementOpen Hearts InitiativeInvest in Our New YorkWorker Justice Center of New YorkVOCAL-NYSafe HorizonNew York Legal Assistance GroupCity Harvest, Inc.Part of the Solution (POTS)City-Wide Tenant Union ROCLong Island Immigration Clinic, The Sisters of St. JosephCentro Corazon de MariaThe Ali Forney CenterUlster Immigrant Defense NetworkLong Island Housing Services, Inc.New York Doctors CoalitionPartners for Dignity & RightsEast Harlem Tutorial ProgramBruderhofThe Harding Ford Vision, IncCrossroads Community ServicesNational Youth Rights Association – NYRAPATHHSEOLAMP Catholic MinistriesRiverside Language Program, Inc.
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