Today, The Legal Aid Society, the Coalition for the Homeless, and more than 100 organizations from around New York State representing advocates, service providers, and faith groups issued a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul urging her to develop a comprehensive statewide plan for the asylum seekers and other new arrivals coming to New York.

The letter calls on the Governor to create a state plan that: immediately identifies and secures new locations to alleviate the shelter capacity crisis so that families and individuals are not relegated to sleeping on the streets; and helps reduce the skyrocketing shelter population to house homeless New Yorkers and create more capacity in the existing system.

“Governor Hochul has so far failed to galvanize the full weight of State government to ensure the humane treatment of new arrivals to New York City and the City’s compliance with all Right to Shelter court orders and local laws,” said Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society. “This moment demands urgency from the Hochul Administration, and we call on the Governor for increased resources in the form of funding, facilities, staffing, coordination and more, as legally obligated under New York State’s Constitution.”

The letter urges Governor Hochul to take four specific actions that will help ensure sufficient capacity for all new arrivals and New Yorkers in need of shelter: invalidate executive orders in counties that have refused to accept new arrivals; reach out to mayors and county executives throughout the state to encourage them to receive new arrivals, identify more State-owned facilities that can serve as temporary housing, and coordinate the relocation of these individuals.