NYC misses key deadline in right-to-shelter migrants court case, lawyer says

The Adams administration missed a court deadline on Monday that requires the city to clear a waitlist for immigrants awaiting a shelter bed, according to an attorney in the lawsuit.

Single adult migrants waited overnight on Monday without being placed in a city shelter, according to Josh Goldfein, a senior attorney at Legal Aid. Goldfein said the failure violates terms of a settlement the city agreed to last month with Legal Aid and the Coalition for the Homeless. The deal modified terms of the city’s long-standing right-to-shelter rules, which generally require the city to provide a shelter bed to anyone who needs one.

Mayor Eric Adams requested flexibility with the rules amid the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants to the city over the last two years.

Goldfein said the number of migrants who waited overnight without shelter placements remains unclear, and City Hall spokespeople did not comment directly on his remarks. The city is required to send Legal Aid daily reports with data about migrants in shelters under the settlement.

City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak said in a statement that the administration is working with Legal Aid to meet the terms of the settlement as the city continues to receive a daily influx of hundreds of migrants requesting shelter. She said the city is working to make more shelter space by adding more beds “as quickly as possible” and helping migrants transition out of the shelter system.

“While this work isn’t going to be perfected overnight, we are confident the stipulation will stabilize and protect our shelter system, ensuring New York City can continue to support those most in need and deliver important services for all New Yorkers,” she said in a statement.

City officials previously said they were on track to clear the shelter backlog.

Legal Aid is required to make “good-faith efforts” to resolve any potential violations before bringing its concerns to court, according to the settlement. Goldfein said the city is working to rectify the current lack of shelter beds, and added that he’s closely tracking the city’s performance.

“The city advised us that they’re going to add more beds to come into compliance,” Goldfein said. “And we’re monitoring that very closely.”

New York City’s migrant shelter waitlist emerged and ballooned in recent months, as the city began limiting shelter stays for migrants to 30 or 60 days, with the option to reapply. On some days, the waitlist has stretched to include some 3,000 people.

Single adult migrants kicked out of shelters may return to the city’s “reticketing center” at St. Brigid’s Church in the East Village to reapply. The wait to receive a new shelter bed has at times surpassed one or two weeks. Meanwhile, as migrants wait, the city has only offered space to stay in so-called “waiting rooms” without beds.

The settlement finalized last month allows New York City to legally limit stays for most adult migrants in city shelters. Prior to the deal, such stays could extend indefinitely. The new agreement modifies a decades-old consent decree that requires the city to provide shelter to all homeless residents.

The agreement also requires migrant shelters to meet certain minimum standards, like having separate beds or cots for each person. Under the settlement, the city is required to stop using other substandard shelters by Monday, April 8.

Roughly 65,000 migrants are currently residing in city shelters. More than 180,000 migrants have funneled through city shelters since the spring of 2022, around when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and other border state officials began sending migrants to New York City by bus.

As the number of migrants staying in city shelters has steadily decreased, both the migrant shelter waitlist and the average wait time have shrunk in recent weeks.

On Friday afternoon, Mamelak said the city was slated to clear the waitlist by Monday's deadline. At that time, about 800 people were on the list.