City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council held a press conference where New Yorkers with experience of homelessness and housing insecurity spoke about the hardships and the difficulties of living without stable housing. The group, which included both individuals newly eligible under the laws and current CityFHEPS recipients, called on the Mayor and Department of Social Services (DSS) to implement Local Laws 99, 100, 101, and 102 to better support homeless New Yorkers and avoid the trauma and destabilization of eviction.

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“New Yorkers are facing many intersecting crises that impact their health and safety, and it’s critical that city and state leaders confront these challenges with holistic, long-term solutions. Governor Hochul’s State of the State address presents important proposals that can expand support for maternal health, swimming and water safety, and mental health, which are shared priorities that the Council has advanced.

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Five-year $17 billion estimate was based on higher average monthly voucher cost per recipient 

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO) released a report on the City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) rental assistance voucher program that includes information showing, for the first time, how Mayor Adams’ administration calculated its cost estimate of Council legislation passed last year to reform the program.

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“In a city where one in three Black students cannot swim, expanding equitable access to public pools and swimming programs is a matter of safety and justice. Water safety has been a focus for the Council, and we are proud to have passed legislation to require access to free swimming lessons for second-grade students, study possible locations for more public pools, and report on drowning deaths.

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Adams, the Council’s first Black Speaker, will continue to lead historic women-majority and most diverse legislative body in city history, naming first Latina Majority Leader and all women in top leadership positions

City Hall, NY – Today at the New York City Council’s Charter Meeting, Council Members re-elected Speaker Adrienne E. Adams to lead the legislative body for a second two-year term.

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This week, the City announced a deal with Slate Property Group and RiseBoro Community Partnership to convert the former JFK Hilton Hotel in her Council District into the Baisley Pond Park Residences, which will provide 318 units of permanently affordable housing for low-income and formerly homeless New Yorkers. Governor Hochul contributed $48 million in state funding for the $167 million project.

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Council also voted on public safety bills that improve transparency, prohibit housing discrimination, protect students in crisis, and enhance access to mental healthcare for veterans

City Hall, NY – Today, the New York City Council voted to pass legislation that would ban solitary confinement in city jails. All people in city custody would have at least 14 hours of out-of-cell time in shared spaces.

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Today, Big Reuse, Earth Matter NY, and LES Ecology Center announced that they received philanthropic funding to support their community composting programs impacted by the city’s budget cuts. Funding for these services was due to end on January 1, 2024. The donation comes a week after GrowNYC received an anonymous donation to maintain their compost collection program for the fiscal year.

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“Accountability and transparency are essential to improving public safety, as they are a foundation of sound policing and building the community trust necessary to make our neighborhoods safer. Greater access to data on policing has contributed to New York City becoming safer for decades, and the improvements delivered by this bill can yield that same progress for New Yorkers now.

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“Our nation, and New York, was built on the institution of chattel slavery. Its legacy continues to permeate our lives, furthering the racial, economic, and systemic inequities that impact Black New Yorkers. Institutional racism, discrimination, and detrimental policies that have persisted across multiple generations contribute to locking Black people out of equitable opportunities and a widening racial wealth gap, where white households have a median net worth 15 times higher than Black households.

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