City and state agree to secret mediation in shelter law dispute, averting court battle

New York City on Thursday consented to a confidential mediation process to settle its efforts to limit its long-standing right-to-shelter obligations as the migrant crisis continues to strain local facilities and resources. The court agreement for now averts what would likely have been a protracted legal battle with homeless advocates.

“There should not be a war of legal papers,” said state Supreme Court Judge Gerald Lebovits in a Manhattan courtroom. “For now, the solution is to try to settle the matter if possible and to solve whatever problem might exist. To that effect, we have agreed that the proper path forward is to discuss logistics and nuts and bolts confidentially.”

Lawyers for the state and the nonprofit Legal Aid Society, which represents homeless New Yorkers and is involved in the litigation, also agreed to enter mediation, in which a neutral third party helps litigants achieve a resolution. According to Joshua Goldfein, a staff attorney at the organization, Lebovits said he would serve as the mediator.

Once again, the judge presiding over the matter elected to hold the proceedings behind closed doors, despite significant public interest in the outcome of the case.

It remains to be seen whether Mayor Eric Adams can reach a compromise with Gov. Kathy Hochul and homeless advocates over a 40-year-old consent decree, which has formed the basis of the city’s homelessness policies but is now being reconsidered by city and state officials amid the recent influx of tens of thousands of migrants.

Earlier this month, Adams — with Hochul’s support — formally sought to roll back the consent decree, known as Callahan, which essentially mandates that city officials must provide a shelter bed to anyone in need.

The mayor and governor argue that the city’s right-to-shelter rules were not intended to address global migration patterns that have resulted in more than 64,000 migrants currently staying in the city’s shelter system and more than 130,000 overall new arrivals since spring 2022.

But advocates, including the Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless, another party in the case, say the city’s right to shelter has prevented widespread street homelessness and ensured the health and safety of vulnerable residents.

Lebovits met with attorneys for the city, state and advocacy groups for the first time on Thursday, after the previous judge in the case recused herself late last month, citing her desire to “avoid a potential appearance of impropriety.” He described the 90-minute closed-door conversation as “fruitful.”

The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless welcomed the news of the mediation agreement, saying they hoped the city and state would receive additional federal assistance for handling the migrant crisis. Last month, the Biden administration extended temporary immigration protections and the ability to obtain federal work permits to nearly 500,000 Venezuelans living in the U.S.

“Legal Aid and the Coalition look forward to working with the state, the city and the court through this process to both preserve the consent decree and guarantee that anyone in need of shelter in our city has access to that right, one that has defined New York City for the last four decades,” said Redmond Haskins, a spokesperson for the organizations.

Lebovits declined to provide the exact date the parties would meet next, but said it would be next week.

Norman Siegel, the former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union and an informal adviser to Adams, told Gothamist he was pleased with Thursday’s outcome. He said he had recommended to the administration that the city pursue mediation, though on Thursday he urged the court to allow for as much transparency as possible.

“This is an issue of great public concern,” Siegel said. “Even though the discussions are confidential, there’s no harm in letting the public know when they are meeting or how many times.”