Legal Aid, Coalition for the Homeless Respond to City’s Emergency Procurement Declaration for Shelter and Services for Asylum Seekers

(NEW YORK, NY) – The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless issued the following statement in response to an announcement today by New York City Mayor Eric Adams on the City’s emergency procurement declaration to rapidly procure additional shelter beds and other services for people seeking asylum in New York City:

“While we are glad to hear that the City is working to fulfill its legal mandate to provide quality shelter placements to anyone experiencing homelessness, the devil is in the details. We call on Mayor Adams to release specifics around his plan to rapidly procure additional shelter beds and resources for incoming asylum seekers.

As we continue to monitor the City’s response to the increase of asylum seekers arriving in the City’s shelter system, we expect to be granted full access, as representatives of homeless New Yorkers and the counsel that secured New York’s right to shelter settlement, to all new facilities that are opened through the emergency contracting process.

In addition to providing more shelter capacity for homeless families, regardless of their immigration status, it is also critical that the City expedite permanent and supportive housing placements and voucher approvals as well as new investments to build additional affordable housing for all individuals experiencing homelessness and those with extremely low incomes.”