By Ethan Stark-Miller, published February 21, 2024

The City Council is moving to join the Legal Aid Society’s recently filed class action lawsuit against Mayor Eric Adams’ administration over its refusal to enact a series of laws expanding access to housing vouchers.

The council filed a motion to intervene in the Legal Aid suit — Vincent, Tejeda, Cronneit, and Acks v. Adams and the City of New York — in New York County Supreme Court on Feb. 21. If the motion is granted, the legislative body will join the existing lawsuit from Legal Aid, which the group filed last week, as a petitioner.

Deputy Council Speaker Diana Ayala, in a statement, said the laws were passed, via an override of the mayor’s vetoes last summer, to ensure the vouchers are used “more effectively” to keep a greater number of New Yorkers off the streets.

“The mayor’s administration has a responsibility to implement local laws,” Ayala said. “The administration’s failure to implement these laws has harmful consequences for New Yorkers who lack access to housing security and need more support. As our city faces a housing shortage, it is critical to protect low-income New Yorkers from losing their homes and being forced to join the ranks of those in similar economic circumstances searching for new homes.”

The move comes after the body voted nearly two weeks ago to give Council Speaker Adrienne Adams the power to sue the administration.

It’s also the latest escalation of tensions within City Hall, as the Council and Mayor Adams have feuded in recent months over the necessity of budget cuts and the How Many Stops Act, the police reporting bill which the City Council put into law after overriding the mayor’s veto.

Legal Aid applauded the council’s motion in a Wednesday morning statement.

“We laud the City Council for filing this motion to intervene to help us hold Mayor Adams and his Administration accountable for illegally refusing to implement the reforms needed to improve and expand CityFHEPS,” the group said. “The Legal Aid Society looks forward to working with the Council through the litigation process to secure the outcome that New Yorkers need and deserve.”

Read more here: https://www.amny.com/news/city-council-legal-aid-lawsuit-housing-vouchers