New York State officials have granted New York City permission to begin evicting many of the roughly 30,0000 migrant parents and children living in Department of Homeless Services shelters, state officials confirmed Tuesday.
Anthony Farmer, a spokesperson for the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, said the state has granted the city permission to begin issuing 60-day eviction eviction notices to any family not receiving public assistance. OTDA didn’t say how many families with children are not receiving public assistance, and thus will be subject to the new rules.
The majority of migrant families live in roughly 150 shelters overseen by the Department of Homeless Services that operate under OTDA regulations, sparing them until now from the 60-day limits on shelter stays that took effect in January.
While city officials made the request to begin evictions in DHS sanctuary facilities last summer, the request was only granted recently, Farmer said.
Around 20,000 parents and children in shelters overseen by two other local agencies, the Health and Hospitals Corporation and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, have already received eviction notices after 60 days, at which point they can reapply at the Roosevelt Hotel, the city’s main intake center for migrants, for another shelter stay.
Advocates have urged the city to halt the time limits on family stays in shelters, calling them cruel and disruptive for vulnerable families who are just settling into schools and communities. But the administration of Mayor Eric Adams has defended the 60-day limits, saying they’re needed to help reduce the migrant-shelter population, hovering at around 65,000 people, and control costs amid more than $4 billion in spending to house and feed new arrivals.
“I don’t call them eviction notices, I call them time limits,” said Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom at the mayor’s weekly press Q-and-A Tuesday, confirming the new policy for DHS shelters.
“We’re telling people that they have 60 days and that they can see if there’s other places, other family members,” she said, adding they could reapply for another shelter stay if they have nowhere else to go.
City officials informed shelter providers about the new rules on a call on Monday, according to one person on the call who asked for anonymity, fearing repercussions from city officials. The call was marked by a note of panic, the provider said.
“‘What does this mean? What does it mean for the kids?’” the provider said people on the call wanted to know. “Where do they go? Do they come back to us?’”
A warning of the new 60-day evictions, obtained by THE CITY, was handed out to shelter residents this week.
“These notices will be distributed on a rolling basis beginning later this summer,” read a notice in Spanish that was passed out on Tuesday to families at a shelter in Staten Island.
“It is important that you begin planning your release from the shelter now that the children are out of school. Staff are ready to help you with this immediately. They can help you connect with family or friends and give you money for transportation. For help with these services, please contact shelter staff immediately. Be sure to plan ahead, even before the 60-Day Notices are issued.”
The flier made no mention of how someone might reapply for shelter. It also did not mention the exception for families who receive cash assistance — a small but growing but growing number of migrant families.
In New York, migrants can become eligible for cash assistance after they’ve applied for asylum or Temporary Protected Status.
People from Venezuela, Haiti and other nations that many migrants hail from can apply for TPS from federal immigration authorities.
Neha Sharma, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Homeless Services said the 60-day shelter limit for families will roll out in the coming months, starting with a small number of families, with the goal of issuing the first notices to those who have had the longest shelter stays.
The NY Sane Coalition, a group of homeless and immigrant advocates including African Communities Together and WIN, the city’s largest family shelter provider, said the new eviction rule is “shortsighted” and “does nothing to address the longstanding obstacles impeding the path out of shelter nor the root causes of homelessness.”
Katie Honan contributed reporting.
