The New York City Council is expected to take Mayor Adams to court after City Hall refused to implement the controversial housing voucher program.
Council members are scheduled to vote Thursday to allow Speaker Adrienne Adams to start the legal process to sue the administration after failing to follow the trio of CityFHEPS reform laws by Wednesday.
“The city has a responsibility to comply with local laws and the council must maintain its legal options to ensure compliance,” council spokesperson Rendy Desamours said.
“We will be voting on a resolution authorizing the council to pursue legal action enforcing these housing solutions because the help they could provide to New Yorkers facing rising evictions and homelessness cannot be ignored.”
The lawsuit is the latest in escalating tensions between City Hall and the council after the local legislative body delivered Adams a pair of losses last month with the controversial police stops bill and ban on solitary confinement.
The stalled housing package allows New Yorkers to apply for vouchers without entering the shelter system if facing eviction and ends end to a rule requiring people to stay in shelters for 90 days before becoming eligible for a voucher.
It also bars landlords from deducting costs of utility bills from a voucher and would increase the income level of cutoff to qualify for aid.
The mayor vetoed the slate of legislation last year arguing the plan would be too costly to the city, putting the price tag at $17 billion over five years, $7 billion more than the council has estimated.
The council fiercely disputed the mayor’s math on the cost and overrode the mayor’s veto 42-8 in July, the first of three overrides in the Adams administration.
In December, just weeks before the law was set to go into effect, City Hall told the council it had no plans to implement the law, citing the city’s current financial burdens while dealing with the $10 billion migrant crisis.
Speakers Adams gave City Hall a Feb. 7 date to implement the laws.
