<\/p>\n
Last month, over the objections of Mayor Eric Adams, the City Council approved a package of bills expanding the city’s rental assistance program.<\/p>\n
The mayor subsequently agreed to eliminate the so-called 90-day rule, a requirement that homeless New Yorkers reside in a shelter for 90 days before being eligible for housing vouchers.<\/p>\n
Last week, he issued emergency rules eliminating the requirement.<\/p>\n
But on Friday, he moved to block the overall package of bills, which would also loosen other restrictions, releasing a statement that said in part: “Today, we helped New Yorkers once again by vetoing a package of bills that would take us back, to give to longer shelter stays for the most vulnerable New Yorkers, while creating a structure that could burden taxpayers with billions of dollars in costs each year. This legislation also clearly exceeds the Council’s statutory authority.”<\/p>\n
Mayor Adams declined to elaborate on the statement Friday.<\/p>\n
“The team explained in writing the reason why, and in no way do I want a bite to do a disservice to the contemplation we put” into the statement, he told reporters at an unrelated event.<\/p>\n
The mayor argues that with housing so scarce, making too many people eligible for vouchers would increase competition and actually make it harder for homeless New Yorkers to find apartments.<\/p>\n
City Council President Adrienne Adams addressed a possible mayoral veto Thursday.<\/p>\n
“A veto at this point would amount to political theater,” he told a news conference.<\/p>\n
The council passed the bills with a veto-proof majority, 41 to 7, on May 25. President Adams said she doesn’t expect the mayor to change members’ minds.<\/p>\n
“We are prepared to override any veto to deal with this crisis and we believe our members will vote in favor,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’re going to override this veto,” Brooklyn Councilwoman Sandy Nurse said at a rally Friday. “We are united. And we will say to this mayor: “You can’t pass us by. You have to come to the table and collaborate, and stop thinking you have all the answers when you don’t”.<\/p>\n
The clash comes at an inopportune time, as the mayor and council must reach an agreement on the city’s budget by June 30 next week.<\/p>\n