Vital rental assistance funds amounting to $68 million earmarked for New York City hung in balance for months, in spite of Mayor Eric Adams' pressing call for more state and federal funding to address the city’s migrant predicament, as per information revealed by the Daily News. These funds, part of New York State’s Rental Supplement Program, were only sanctioned last Friday, a surprising move that occurred after the media started raising questions and amidst a prolonged tug of war between city and state officials.
Regrettably, from the inception of the program in its third year, "they haven’t spent a dime of it," accused Judith Goldiner, the leading attorney of the Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit. Expressing her indignation, Goldiner added, “It’s entirely shameful that the city and the state are hoarding money that could be deployed to transfer homeless families out of shelters instantly.”
The state had committed to an annual allocation of $100 million over the past three years under the Rental Supplement Program, as per state records obtained by the Daily News. This financial resource is distributed across various local communities within the state and a considerable portion can provide support to undocumented immigrants and the city's homeless population.
The initial allocation of the $68 million has long been a subject of controversy due to reasons like the exclusion of annual cost projections in the city’s plan, thus causing the plan to clash with state regulations, reported officials from the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
State office spokesman Anthony Farmer noted that his agency received an updated submission from the city about the $68 million rental supplement money “hours ago” — a day after The News questioned the mayor’s office about the holdup. A few hours later, the state gave its consent to the city’s plan, thus allowing access to the locked $68 million in rental supplement funds.
In contrast, cash assignments for the forthcoming years still remain unapproved due to mandatory allocations for housing subsidies recognized as state FHEPS vouchers introduced under a revised state law in 2022. Unlike the cash funnelled by the Rental Supplement Program, such vouchers are restricted for use by undocumented immigrants due to federal limitations.
The pressing problem stemmed from the city’s failure to entirely calculate the refund costs it’s due for these vouchers, observed state officials. However, Jonah Allon, Mayor Adams’ spokesperson, criticized state “divestment” for the encumbrance and fixated on the fact that the city will receive a single RSP allotment that isn’t correlated to voucher reimbursements.
Currently, the city has nearly 60,000 migrants under its supervision, and about 83,000 people are residing in city-run homeless shelters. To top it off, over 101,000 migrants have arrived in the city from spring 2022.
Despite laws and policy, both state and federal governments' lack of efficient response has only complicated the issue, while thousands continue to flood the city. Advocates such as Goldiner and Christine Quinn of the homeless service nonprofit Win, brought to attention the fact that more could have been done to tap into this essential funding. "Why is it urgent?” Quinn asked, “Because we're pleading for money in Washington. But we should have our finances in order, and we don’t.”
