Mayor Eric Adams is expected to announce a new restriction Wednesday on how long people can stay in city shelters before reporting to an intake center as his administration continues to struggle to house tens of thousands of recently-arrived migrants, according to four sources familiar with the matter.
Many details about the new limit were not immediately clear, but the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the matter, told the Daily News that it is expected to restrict shelter stays for adults to 60 days.
After staying in a shelter for 60 days, adults would have to report to an intake center under the new restriction, according to the sources. What would happen after that was not immediately clear.
Families with children will be exempt from the policy, which Adams is expected to formally roll out during a press conference at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon, one of the sources said.
It was not immediately clear if the policy will apply only to migrants or all adults in the city shelter system.
Spokespeople for Adams did not immediately return phone calls. Elements of the expected announcement from Adams was first reported by Gothamist.
The expected announcement from Adams comes on the same day as lawyers for his administration are expected to appear before a Manhattan Supreme Court judge to make the case that the mayor should be allowed to suspend elements of the city’s longstanding right-to-shelter mandate amid the deepening migrant crisis.
Legal Aid Society lawyer Josh Goldfein, whose group is challenging the administration’s request, said the 60-day limit may fly in the face of the right-to-shelter mandate, which at its core requires the city to house anyone who requests a bed.
“Limiting it as in saying that on day 61, you have nothing — that would be a problem and not okay,” Goldfein said.
-------
