A New York state Supreme Court judge is ordering state officials to help address the city’s increasingly difficult task of meeting its right-to-shelter obligation, after scores of mostly adult male migrants spent several days this week sleeping outside a shelter intake center in Midtown.
At an emergency hearing on Friday requested by the Legal Aid Society, Judge Erika Edwards outlined a process in which the city would provide the state with a list of state and federal resources it requires to continue sheltering and caring for migrants.
The order puts pressure on Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has provided the city with financial support for migrants but has yet to treat the yearlong humanitarian crisis with the urgency that advocates argue she should. The order also represents something of a vindication for Mayor Eric Adams, who has begged state and federal leaders for more assistance in combating a crisis that has landed on the city’s doorstep.
The state must respond to the city’s requests by Aug. 15, one day before the next scheduled court date.
“The state has not taken ownership of what is a statewide issue,” Josh Goldfein, a staff attorney for Legal Aid, told reporters after the judge’s decision. “There are places around the state [where] they could be sheltered. There are labor shortages around the state. There are communities that would welcome people.”
The bulk of the state’s assistance has come in the form of roughly $1 billion in funding. That’s significantly more than what the federal government has offered to combat a national problem. It’s also far less than the $4 billion Adams has said will be required to meet the crisis.
Hochul has also helped the city secure state-controlled sites, such as a former psychiatric facility in Queens, to use as shelters.
But Goldfein said more could be done and that Hochul could issue an executive order requiring local municipalities and counties to shelter some of the migrants. Based on the lawsuits generated…
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