Speaker Julie Menin, Housing Chair Pierina Sanchez, and NYC Council Secure Historic Agreement to Expand Housing Voucher Access, Providing Tens of Thousands of New Yorkers[...]

Transformative agreement with Mamdani Administration provides urgently-needed relief to thousands of households in FY27, ends years of litigation, and contains the cost of expansion

CITY HALL, NY - Today, New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Housing and Buildings Committee Chair Pierina Sanchez, and Council Members announced an historic agreement to expand access to housing vouchers for New Yorkers facing eviction and experiencing homelessness. Following months of negotiation to resolve litigation over the Council's 2023 CityFHEPS Reform Laws, the Council secured $300 million across the Fiscal Years (FY) 2027 and 2028 budgets to expand rental assistance-and potentially reach 30,000 additional New Yorkers. The agreement marks a significant shift in the City's approach to addressing homelessness, with an emphasis on keeping New Yorkers housed and decreasing the reliance on expensive shelter costs.

As part of the agreement with the Mamdani Administration, the Council will hold a vote on a Preconsidered Introduction, sponsored by Council Member Pierina Sanchez, that will establish a new rental assistance program that will reach more New Yorkers facing eviction and those in shelter who are not currently eligible for the existing CityFHEPS program. The new voucher program will be administered by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). While preserving the spirit and goals of the 2023 CityFHEPS Reform Laws, the bill creates an avenue to housing stability for New Yorkers who have been ineligible for CityFHEPS, preventing them from becoming homeless by keeping them in their homes, contains the cost of the expansion, and creates a sustainable framework for annual evaluation moving forward with guardrails on the program.

Upon passage of the legislation, the Mamdani Administration will drop its appeal of the lawsuit as part of the deal, ending a legal battle that has delayed support for thousands of families that would have been eligible for housing vouchers.

"Every New Yorker deserves a safe, affordable home, and this agreement will help more families avoid eviction and homelessness," said Speaker Julie Menin. "Our historic announcement includes the administration dropping their lawsuit against the Council and a new bill which addresses some of the fiscal concerns. Housing vouchers are a smart investment that save taxpayers money by preventing homelessness before it happens. Keeping families in their homes means children can remain in their schools, parents can stay connected to work, and communities remain stable. This agreement delivers a humane and fiscally responsible path forward by expanding access to rental assistance, establishing cost controls, and ending years of litigation. I thank Chair Pierina Sanchez and my Council colleagues for their partnership and tireless advocacy to make this agreement possible."

"This is a historic win for vulnerable New Yorkers - and a turning point in our City's approach to homelessness," said Council Member Pierina Sanchez, Chair of the Committee on Housing and Buildings. "For too long, New York City has paid more for worse outcomes, keeping children and families in shelter when permanent housing is safer, more stable, more humane, and more cost-effective. With a cumulative $300 million committed across the FY27 and FY28 City Budgets, we are expanding access to housing vouchers responsibly, delivering relief to tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and putting the City on a stronger path away from costly shelter reliance and toward permanent homes. I am deeply grateful to Speaker Julie Menin for holding the line, to my colleagues for uplifting this priority, to advocates for never giving up on the New Yorkers they fight for, and to the Mayor for staying at the table and getting this deal to the finish line. This is how we meet the urgency of the crisis while demanding better governance, stronger oversight, and real accountability."

"The agreement reached by the City Council and the Mamdani Administration is a historic step forward for New Yorkers facing homelessness," said Christine C. Quinn, President and CEO of WIN. "Expanding CityFHEPS will help thousands more individuals and families leave shelter and move into permanent, stable housing, while making smart use of taxpayer dollars. Housing vouchers are one of the most effective tools we have to reduce homelessness, strengthen communities, and help families build lasting stability. All of us in the homelessness advocacy community are deeply grateful to Speaker Julie Menin, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Housing Chair Pierina Sanchez, and the City Council for their unwavering commitment to getting this done. Their leadership has delivered a breakthrough that will change thousands of lives."

CityFHEPS, which currently serves roughly 65,000 families, and other housing voucher programs are more cost effective than relying on the shelter system. Housing vouchers costs as little as $54 per day per family, compared to as much as $270 per day for shelter costs. In addition to shelter costs, the City allocates significant funding to support homeless households that is not needed if a family remains in their home, including educational supports specifically for homeless students, busing to a child's school of origin as required by federal law, and health and mental health supports.

To reduce the upfront cost of the original CityFHEPS Reform Laws, but still expand eligibility to reach more New Yorkers, the legislation limits the pool of eligible households by targeting those most at risk of homelessness and requires the Mayor and the Council to negotiate annually on the scale of the program. The voucher program will also preserve affordable housing by keeping New Yorkers in their rent-stabilized units.

Key components of the agreement:

• The Mamdani Administration is dropping its appeal of the lawsuit.
• The Council is enacting legislation to create a new framework for housing vouchers that contains costs and codifies voucher expansion. Eligibility for the voucher program includes:
  • Increasing income eligibility threshold to New Yorkers living at or below 50% of the Area Median Income (AMI)
  • Reaching New Yorkers living in non-Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters, such as runaway and homeless youth, justice-involved individuals, and New Yorkers displaced by a fire or other City vacate orders
• The Council and the Administration are funding the housing voucher expansion at $175 million in FY27, with $125 million baselined starting in FY28.

In 2018, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio established CityFHEPS as a consolidation of multiple voucher programs to provide rental assistance to people living in shelters or at risk of homelessness. The Council passed four bills in 2023 that expanded eligibility for the program by raising the income eligibility threshold, eliminating the shelter-stay requirement, and removing certain work and source-of-income requirements. These changes were intended to make the program more proactive by keeping families at risk of eviction in their homes rather than waiting until after they entered a shelter to become eligible for assistance.

The Administration of former Mayor Eric Adams refused to implement the program, despite the laws going into effect in January 2024. In response, the Legal Aid Society, on behalf of impacted New Yorkers, filed a lawsuit, which the Council joined, to uphold a basic standard: when the Council passes a law, the Administration has an obligation to New Yorkers to follow it. An appeals court ruled last year that the Council was within its rights to legislate on the program, and, more generally, had the authority to pass local law relating to social service programs. After the administration of Mayor Zohran Mamdani appealed the First Department ruling that had sided with the City Council, the Council filed its response to that appeal. Today's agreement effectively ends that lawsuit and keeps intact the Council's ability to pass critical legislation for New Yorkers in need.

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