(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is walking back a key campaign pledge to drop the city’s opposition to a massive expansion of a taxpayer-funded rental voucher program.
The City’s Law Department announced this week that it is appealing a July ruling by the Appellate Division of New York’s Supreme Court compelling City Hall to expand eligibility for the CityFHEPS rental assistance program.
The appeal continues a legal protracted fight by his predecessor, Democrat Eric Adams, who battled in court with the City Council over its push to expand the program during his final year in office.
But it’s also a flip-flop for Mamdani, a democratic socialist who promised on the campaign trail last year to drop the city’s opposition to expansion of rental assistance if elected.
A Mamdani spokesperson said the administration has been negotiating “in good faith” with the City Council and other parties to the lawsuit to reach a settlement, but was unable to reach an agreement ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to appeal the ruling.
“We are committed to reaching a settlement that keeps New Yorkers stably housed and delivers a balanced budget,” a City Hall spokesperson said in a statement. “We came to the table in good faith. But in the absence of an agreement so far, we are proceeding in accordance with the court’s timeline.”
The Democratic-led City Council approved a package of bills last year allowing New Yorkers facing eviction to apply for rental vouchers and eliminate a rule requiring people to stay in shelters for 90 days before they are eligible to receive a voucher. It also prohibits landlords from deducting utility bill charges from a voucher and raises the cutoff income level to qualify for assistance, among other changes.
Then Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, vetoed the proposal, saying it would be too costly to the city. He estimated it would cost $17 billion over the next five years, $7 billion more than the council had initially projected.
But the council overrode Adams’ veto by a vote of 42-8 in July, ordering the mayor to implement the changes. Adams refused, and the council responded with a lawsuit claiming he is legally bound to implement the law. The council also joined a class-action lawsuit filed by several low-income New Yorkers against Adams over his “failure” to enact the new requirements.
The Adams administration argued in court filings that state law prevents the City Council from making major changes to public assistance programs.
But the appeals court rejected those claims in a July ruling that overturned a lower court’s decision by siding with the Adams administration. The panel three judges ordered the city to move ahead with the changes.
Under the CityFHEPS program, a household must have a gross income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and face eviction. About 36,000 households use the program, according to the city.
In 2023, the city spent nearly $500 million on the program, almost double what it spent in 2021, according to the city’s Independent Budget Office.
The city is facing an estimated $6 billion revenue shortfall next year, and Mamdani has threatened to raise property taxes if state lawmakers don’t approve his plan to increase taxes on New York City, wealthiest families, and businesses to plug the revenue gaps.
