NYC Council Can Expand Rental Assistance Program, Court Says (1)

The New York City Council is allowed to administer a rental assistance program using city funds, and Mayor Eric Adams (D) must enforce the council’s plan, a Manhattan state appeals court ruled Thursday.

The New York Supreme Court First Appellate Department rejected Adams’ argument the council is preempted by state law from administering the public assistance funds, which are part of a tranche of laws passed in 2023 expanding rental assistance to New Yorkers facing eviction or homelessness.

Nothing in the state’s Social Services Law says the legislature intended to preempt local rental assistance legislation, Associate Justice John Higgitt wrote ...