Press Room

"It’s incomprehensible and indefensible that the mayor is using his veto power to make housing less affordable and accessible to New Yorkers. Eliminating the 90-day rule is crucial, but it is far from the only measure needed to address the housing and homelessness crisis, and the mayor’s previous executive action was not only insufficient, but regressive.

"The administration can either continue to spend money failing to address the housing crisis, or spend it moving people into permanent housing. Passage of the City Council package represented major progress, and the mayor is deliberately moving us backward.

"Half of New York City’s families are unable to afford minimum expenses, the state has failed to provide support, and the administration-appointed Rent Guidelines Board again increased already historically high rents. I urge the City Council to vote to override the mayor’s vetoes, and truly stand with the low and middle-income New Yorkers the mayor claims to support with this action."

"Ending the 90-day rule is an important but incomplete part of addressing the voucher issues that exacerbate the housing and homelessness crisis in our city. The mayor’s executive action is not a substitute for the broad and lasting legislation passed by the City Council.

"By including work requirements in that order, the administration is actually moving us backward. Particularly given Albany’s inaction on the Housing Access Voucher Program, the city has even greater responsibility to provide housing support. Yet far from streamlining access to housing, this is conservative, counterproductive policy and philosophy that will shut out New Yorkers most in need.

"I implore the mayor to rescind these requirements, and to enact the full package of legislation that was passed by the City Council and desperately needed by so many New Yorkers."

"If the Board approves any increase today, it would be a failure, and an unsustainable burden on tenants across New York City. Rents are already at historic highs, and last year the Board approved the steepest increase in a decade. A further increase would only drive the city deeper into the housing and homelessness crisis, and drive New Yorkers from their homes.

"It is true that some property owners, particularly small-scale ones, are facing financial challenges. The city and state should make efforts to improve access to programs that provide them support. The solution cannot be demanding more and more money from tenants who simply do not have it, and doing so would ultimately harm everyone involved. Every year, landlords are going to ask for hikes – yet rather than addressing systemic issues, as we have seen, the greatest impact of increasing rent will be increasing homelessness.

"I urge the Board, which has conducted hearings citywide, to truly listen to the tenant voices that have echoed throughout those meetings, and vote to oppose any increase to their rent and their hardship."

"Juneteenth is a celebration – of freedom, of empowerment, of resilience, of the strength and successes of the Black community in this country. At the same time, it is also a reminder – of where we’ve been, where we’re going, and how far we still have to go.

"Like many Americans of African ancestry, I find myself in a space of simultaneously celebrating the recognition of Juneteenth, while also understanding that it pales in the context of what was demanded, but never delivered. 

"Many corporate organizations and government institutions are eager, especially today, to lift up Black individuals in high positions, to mark a show of progress on racial equity. And it is certainly progress, and welcome. However, we cannot conflate the success of individuals with the overall success of the entire Diaspora. If one person succeeds, and not a community with them, that success is limited, and can be used to obscure and perpetuate injustice. We need a focus on power and progress not just individually, but systemically.

"In the 158 years since Juneteenth began with the proclamation of freedom for enslaved Blacks in Galveston, Texas, we have marched forward, persevering through hardship and progressing toward true liberty and justice. Let us march on till victory is won.

"Today, we celebrate the cause of freedom and the fight for liberation and justice; tomorrow, we work to build a better New York City and nation."

After the 2023 state legislative session failed to produce any meaningful action on housing, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams today called for legislators to continue working toward and enacting a deal, rather than leaving New Yorkers without relief until next year.  In a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, the Public Advocate urged the state legislature to return to the Capitol for a special session to pass a package of housing legislation that would provide both immediate and long term relief to tenants across the city and state.

Specifically, the Public Advocate is calling on the state legislature to pass, and the governor to sign, a package of tenant protection and support bills that have needlessly stalled in Albany, including the Right to Counsel 2.0, create of a Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) , and Good Cause Eviction. This comes after the Assembly announced Tuesday that it would reconvene next week to finalize legislative business.

“I ask, on behalf of New Yorkers struggling to find and remain in their homes, that the three of you work together imminently to discuss and finalize an agreement around Right to Counsel, HAVP and Good Cause Eviction protection,” Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams wrote. “This includes any needed special session, with assurance that the governor will immediately sign these bills into law. With rents spiking to historic highs, and thousands facing eviction, Albany has a moral and governing mandate to not let these issues go unaddressed for months that New Yorkers cannot afford.”

The housing and homeless crisis that has long impacted New York City has only worsened in recent months and years. There are an estimated 92,000 people in the city without a home, rents have made this city the most expensive in the nation, and half of all New York families are unable to afford even the minimum costs of living here. About one in ten children in New York City are without a home, and in some areas, one in five. The reality of this crisis is present, the call to action urgent.

The full letter from the Public Advocate to state leadership is below.

Dear Governor Hochul, Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins, and Speaker Heastie,

This letter is in regards to the state’s failure to pass meaningful housing legislation. 

In the midst of a housing crisis, the New York State government failed to deliver much needed housing relief to the people of New York. First we watched the Governor’s Housing Package collapse, without any community input. After the NYS Budget passed, it was disappointing to not see the Right to Counsel 2.0, the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP), and Good Cause Eviction legislation voted on this session. However, I understood the housing coalition’s support of the end-of-session amended versions, despite these versions gutting the full weight of the bills, as concessions were necessary to secure votes for passage. Even given these concessions, the session ended with no consensus on housing legislation, leaving the people of New York without vital protections and resources in the midst of a historic housing crisis.

While building income-targeted affordable housing is desperately needed, it is also a longer term solution. Preserving units that already exist is paramount to helping right now. Right to Counsel 2.0, HAVP and Good Cause Eviction protections are the most immediate solutions. To be clear, the proposals as presented were watered down and filled with items supporting real estate interests, the very same entities responsible for and contributing to the housing crisis, and were hard to accept. Still failing to pass a single housing bill, when New Yorkers’ need for housing is so dire should not be where we end up.

I ask, on behalf of New Yorkers struggling to find and remain in their homes, that the three of you work together imminently to discuss and finalize an agreement around Right to Counsel, HAVP and Good Cause Eviction protection. This includes any needed special session with assurance that the governor will immediately sign these bills into law. With rents spiking to historic highs, and thousands facing eviction, Albany has a moral and governing mandate to not let these issues go unaddressed for months that New Yorkers cannot afford.

Sincerely, 

Jumaane D. Williams 

Public Advocate for the City of New York

"The sudden departure of Commissioner Sewell leaves open questions to be answered about what it means for public safety and policing in our city. While I have many areas of disagreement on issues with her and the administration she was appointed by, I found her to be attentive and responsive to some of these issues raised.

"Commissioner Sewell was brought into an environment where crime was up, public distrust of law enforcement was high, and department morale was low. Her appointment, especially as a Black woman, was inspiring for many, but it was not a panacea. That these challenges did not immediately resolve in her tenure says more about the pervasiveness of these problems than her leadership.

"It is clear that from One Police Plaza to Rikers Island, there are longstanding patterns which enable damaging practices around transparency, misconduct, misuse of tactics, and an inability to address this harm. I hope that the next person to take this role is ready to be a true partner in public safety, who recognizes the role police play without inflating it, and is willing to sincerely adopt greater transparency and meaningful accountability. Unless there is real commitment to building new systems, rather than reviving failed ones, the next Commissioner will be bound by the prevailing and repeated patterns of unnecessary tension around public safety, violence and how law enforcement is used."