NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – New York City’s long-delayed housing voucher expansion could’ve prevented 25,000 evictions in the past three years, according to City Council Member Pierina Sanchez.
She’s referring to the City Council’s expansion of City FHEPS voucher eligibility, which was passed in 2023 but is now tied up in court. Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised on the campaign trail to drop the lawsuit tying up the expansion, but hasn’t done so.
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Some 42,000 families have been evicted in New York City since 2023, according to Sanchez. But 25,000 of those would have been avoided if the mayor had implemented the expanded City FHEPS eligibility, she said. She noted that a majority of people currently in city shelters are not eligible for vouchers.
“We are fighting tooth and nail to protect New Yorkers,” Sanchez said at a City Hall rally Thursday.
The legislation, vetoed by former Mayor Eric Adams then overruled by the council, loosened income limits and removed shelter stay eligibility requirements. The expansion also redefined who was at risk of eviction, catching more New Yorkers before they entered shelters.
Comptroller Mark Levine estimated the cost of the expansion could be anywhere between $6.6 billion and $23.3 billion in the first five years, all while the city already faces a budget deficit. Pierina noted that the cost of shelter is much higher than voucher costs.
On Thursday, City Council Speaker Julie Menin said the council is prepared with a responsible settlement to contain CityFHEPS costs. She’s urging Mamdani to drop the litigation and settle.
“Every day this fight continues, more New Yorkers face eviction, more households are stuck in shelters, and our city spends more on keeping people homeless than it would cost to house them,” said VOCAL-NY advocate Milton Perez, who spent five years in a shelter. “New Yorkers pay the price for [Mamdani’s] broken promise.”
The CityFHEPS expansion was not in the mayor’s preliminary budget, nor the City Council’s proposal. Advocates called on both Mamdani and Menin to include the expanded eligibility in the executive budget, which is likely to be delayed by nearly two weeks.
Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here.
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