(The Center Square) – The New York City Council has struck down Mayor Eric Adams’ attempt to rein in a city-funded housing voucher program, saying it could cause rents to spike for thousands of low-income residents.
More than 60,000 families rely on the CityFHEPS program to help pay their rent. Participants are required to pay 30% of their income toward it.
Adams wanted to raise that to 40%, arguing the city needs to contain the program’s costs, which rose to more than $1.25 billion last year.
In November, Adams vetoed the council’s bill rejecting the increase, saying it “would undermine the careful balance we have struck between protecting vulnerable households and ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the CityFHEPS program.”
The council overrode his veto on Thursday, along with several others.
One would require private employers with more than 200 employees working in New York City to submit a “pay data report” showing how they pay their workers by gender and race.
“We have been talking about the gender pay gap for decades, but without knowing how it breaks down from job to job, industry to industry, corporation to corporation, we can’t know how best to tackle it,” Councilwoman Tiffany Caban, the bill’s original sponsor, said. “These bills are about accountability and equity for New Yorkers, especially the women and people of color who have been underpaid and undervalued for generations.”
The council also voted to override Adams’ objections to a bill creating a new city Office of Contract Services to oversee the city’s procurement process.
“These are common-sense bills to protect the lowest-income New Yorkers from rent increases, advance gender and racial pay equity, and improve the city’s contracting process to remove obstacles for nonprofits,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement. “They never should have been vetoed, and the Council is once again prioritizing New Yorkers by enacting them into law when the Mayor will not.”
The overrides are part of a larger rift between Adams and the council that has played out in news headlines and lawsuits over the past year. They have also feuded over the mayor’s vetoes of a police stop bill and a proposal to expand the council’s authority over confirming nominees to fill city departments and commissions.
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro blasted the overrides, saying the proposals are efforts to shift more power to the council and dilute the authority of the mayor’s office.
“These four bills are nothing but an attempt by the City Council to undermine any future mayor’s authority, burden businesses with unenforceable requirements, and encroach upon the state’s jurisdiction around social services,” he said. “As we round out the year, we hope that the City Council will work with us on meaningful changes to make New York City a safer and more affordable place to live.”
