Mayor Zohran Mamdani is appealing a court decision that orders the city to dramatically expand a rental assistance program, reversing a key campaign promise and setting up a clash with the City Council.
The appeal, filed on Tuesday in the Court of Appeals, prolongs a nearly three-year-long legal battle over the program, which is considered a lifeline for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.
The program currently costs $1.2 billion. But laws passed in 2023 broadened eligibility for the housing vouchers, raising the projected cost of the program to $4.7 billion by 2030.
Former Mayor Eric Adams had challenged the program in court, arguing the city did not have the money to cover that price tag – and that the Council lacked the authority to expand housing vouchers.
With Tuesday’s appeal to New York’s high court, Mamdani is echoing Adams’ position that the Council illegally usurped the city’s powers to set social service policy. Mamdani is also, at least for now, looking to scale back a key campaign pledge to expand the social safety net to address the city’s housing crisis.
A $5 billion deficit has forced the new mayor to propose unpopular cuts to parks and libraries, as well as a property tax hike or tax increase on millionaires and corporations.
Last month, Mamdani said the city was seeking to reach a settlement with housing advocates to limit the expansion of CityFHEPS — which stands for Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement — because it is too expensive.
Housing advocates say the expansion is urgently needed to address affordability and Trump administration cuts to federal rental assistance. They also dispute the city’s projected cost of the program, saying it fails to account for savings from people avoiding the shelter system.
Christine Quinn, head of the family shelter operator Win, said she was “shocked” by the mayor’s approach.
“Candidate Mamdani and Mayor-elect Mamdani promised to drop the appeal on day one,” said Quinn, a former City Council speaker. “This is the classic political example of promise made, promise broken.”
Redmond Haskins, a spokesperson for Legal Aid, called the arguments in the city’s appeal “unsound” and previously rejected by the mid-level appellate court.
“It is regrettable that the Mamdani Administration has chosen to continue this litigation rather than focus on ensuring that vulnerable New Yorkers can access the housing support they urgently need,” Haskins said in a statement.
The City Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The appeal comes amid ongoing settlement talks between the Mamdani administration and a coalition of advocates led by Legal Aid.
Five sources familiar with the talks said the city had made some concessions, including expanding eligibility to people facing eviction from rent-stabilized apartments with below-market rents and low incomes. As Gothamist previously reported, some advocates backed the compromise, arguing that the city would pay more in the long run if people evicted from low-cost apartments entered homeless shelters and later used the voucher program to rent a more expensive apartment.
But the city has balked on expanding access to people in shelters who earn more than current income rules allow, said the sources, who asked for anonymity to describe confidential settlement talks.
Fiscal watchdogs have meanwhile urged the Mamdani administration to scrap any expansion, arguing the program costs too much.
“While the CityFHEPS rental housing voucher program is an important component to a comprehensive housing affordability strategy, it is on an unsustainable trajectory,” said Citizens Budget Commission Vice President Ana Champeny at a Council budget hearing on March 17.
Joe Calvello, the mayor’s press secretary, said the administration is still seeking to reach a settlement.
“This is not the end of negotiations,” he said in a statement. “As the budget process advances, we will continue working toward a resolution while advancing a comprehensive, whole-of-government response to the city’s housing and homelessness crisis.”