The agreement stops short of fully implementing the Council\u2019s 2023 CityFHEPS expansion laws \u2014 instead creating a narrower, HPD-administered rental assistance program backed by a fixed budget commitment, annual negotiations over the program\u2019s scale and guardrails intended to contain costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable home, and this agreement will help more families avoid eviction and homelessness,\u201d Menin said in a statement. \u201cHousing vouchers are a smart investment that save taxpayers money by preventing homelessness before it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
The deal after Menin, Council Housing Chair Pierina Sanchez (D-Bronx) and housing advocates had spent the last five days pressing Mamdani to put more money toward CityFHEPS before the budget was finalized. It also gives Mamdani a path out of a politically difficult fight over a program he promised during his campaign to expand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a historic win for vulnerable New Yorkers \u2014 and a turning point in our City\u2019s approach to homelessness,\u201d Sanchez said. \u201cFor too long, New York City has paid more for worse outcomes, keeping children and families in shelter when permanent housing is safer, more stable, more humane, and more cost-effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mayor\u2019s office did not immediately offer comment on the agreement.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
What the housing voucher deal means for CityFHEPS program
\n![\"Bronx](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1782827348_29_DSC_6177.jpg\" "\\"NYC")
Bronx City Council Member Pierina Sanchez speaks outside City Hall in support of expanding CityFHEPS at a June 26, 2026 rally.Photo by Lloyd Mitchell<\/p>\n
The legislation, sponsored by Sanchez, would increase the income eligibility threshold to New Yorkers living at or below 50% of area median income (AMI) and reach New Yorkers in non-Department of Homeless Services shelters, including runaway and homeless youth, justice-involved individuals and people displaced by fires or city vacate orders.<\/p>\n
The deal also aims to preserve rent-stabilized housing by helping eligible New Yorkers remain in their apartments before they enter shelter.\n<\/p>\n
CityFHEPS currently serves roughly 65,000 households. Under the program and other city housing voucher programs, the city helps cover rent for eligible New Yorkers leaving shelter or trying to avoid homelessness. Council officials and advocates have argued that vouchers are far cheaper than shelter, citing costs as low as $54 per day per family for rental assistance compared with as much as $270 per day for shelter.<\/p>\n
The agreement followed a tense final stretch of budget negotiations in which CityFHEPS emerged as one of the last major sticking points. Menin said Friday that budget talks were \u201cstuck\u201d over the program, while Sanchez said enough members were prepared to withhold support for the budget to delay the handshake.<\/p>\n
The Council\u2019s Progressive Caucus also escalated pressure over the weekend, saying in a Saturday statement that its 24 members needed \u201cto see movement to fund this critical program before the handshake.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Council passed four bills in 2023 to expand CityFHEPS by raising income eligibility, eliminating the shelter-stay requirement and removing certain work and source-of-income requirements. Then-Mayor Eric Adams vetoed the bills, and the Council overrode him.<\/p>\n
It appears the removal of the shelter-stay, work, and source of income requirements will not happen this year under this settlement.\n<\/p>\n
The Adams administration refused to implement the laws after they took effect in January 2024, prompting a lawsuit from the Legal Aid Society on behalf of impacted New Yorkers. The Council later joined the case. An appeals court ruled that the Council had the authority to legislate on the program, but the Mamdani administration appealed that decision to the state\u2019s highest court earlier this year. Both sides had been preparing for the September arguments before that court.<\/p>\n
Mamdani\u2019s decision to continue the litigation drew sharp criticism from housing advocates and Council members because he had campaigned on dropping the lawsuit, which challenged the Council\u2019s ability to pass this type of social services law. The settlement agreement preserves the Council\u2019s ability to pass such laws.<\/p>\n
The deal also addresses warnings from fiscal watchdogs that any expansion should include cost controls. Comptroller Mark Levine\u2019s office said Monday that the city needed \u201cclear parameters and effective cost controls\u201d for fast-growing programs like CityFHEPS to avoid worsening future budget gaps.<\/p>\n
Menin said the agreement does both.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThis agreement delivers a humane and fiscally responsible path forward by expanding access to rental assistance, establishing cost controls, and ending years of litigation,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The deal, announced as part of Mamdani and Speaker Julie Menin\u2019s budget handshake on deadline day, June 30,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[433,301,56556,81,94051,72538,13325,13860,19077,3782,9,56,63,108236,65,64,14733,84583,82173,82],"class_list":["post-282238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-affordable-housing","tag-city-council","tag-cityfheps","tag-eric-adams","tag-eviction-crisis","tag-homelessness-prevention","tag-housing-vouchers","tag-hpd","tag-julie-menin","tag-legal-aid-society","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-budget-deal","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-pierina-sanchez","tag-progressive-caucus","tag-rental-assistance","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}