Mamdani appeals housing voucher expansion, breaking campaign pledge
Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks to the press during February’s state budget hearing. Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office on Flickr
After failing to reach a deal with housing advocates, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has appealed a court ruling that ordered New York City to expand its housing voucher program, a move that departs from one of his key campaign pledges. Filed on Tuesday, the appeal puts Mamdani in the position once held by former Mayor Eric Adams, whose initial opposition sparked a legal battle that has stretched for nearly three years. In February, Mamdani indicated he no longer intended to support the program’s expansion due to the city’s projected $7 billion budget deficit, and after negotiations failed, his appeal now extends the legal battle indefinitely.
The program, known as CityFHEPS, is one of the largest rental assistance programs in the nation. It allows low-income New Yorkers to pay 30 percent of their income toward rent, with the city covering the remainder. The program is a lifeline for the roughly 65,000 households, or about 140,000 people, who currently use the vouchers, as 6sqft previously reported.
In May 2023, the City Council passed legislation expanding eligibility for the vouchers. Adams vetoed the package, but the Council overrode his veto. The administration then filed a lawsuit citing policy concerns and the program’s estimated $17 billion cost.
The expansion would make an additional 47,000 households eligible. It also removes the requirement that unhoused individuals spend at least 90 days in a shelter before qualifying, allows applicants to demonstrate eviction risk with a rent demand letter, and raises income eligibility from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 50 percent of the area median income.
The program is projected to add $17 billion in expenses over the next five years, according to a January 2024 estimate from the city’s Independent Budget Office. Even before the City Council passed the 2023 expansion legislation, the program’s cost had already surged, from about $25 million in 2019 to more than $1.2 billion in 2025, as reported by the New York Times.
In February, while announcing a projected $7 billion budget deficit, down from the $12.6 billion gap Mamdani had cited two weeks earlier, which he attributed to Adams and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the mayor reversed a previous campaign promise.
Last July, after securing the Democratic nomination, Mamdani called Adams’ pushback on CityFHEPS a “ridiculous waste of time during a housing crisis” in a post on X. His campaign website also pledged: “Zohran will drop lawsuits against CityFHEPS and ensure expansion proceeds as scheduled and per city law,” as 6sqft previously reported.
Housing advocates argue that expanding the program is essential to addressing the city’s affordability crisis, which has been worsened by recent cuts to federal rental assistance under the Trump administration.
Win, the city’s largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for homeless families, released a report last month warning that housing people in shelters costs the city far more than investing in CityFHEPS vouchers, since families without permanent housing often cycle back into shelters.
In a statement, Christine Quinn, president and CEO of Win, criticized the mayor for what she called a “blunt reversal” of his previous commitments to CityFHEPS.
“The city’s failure to settle its challenge to codified CityFHEPS expansions is nothing short of a betrayal. Mamdani promised time and time again to drop this suit,” Quinn said. “This blunt reversal of that commitment is an abject failure when it comes to meeting the most basic needs of homeless families—the very population these vouchers are meant to serve.”
“This lack of leadership means more families stuck in shelter, more trauma, and skyrocketing shelter costs for the city. Let it be understood under no uncertain terms: we will not back down until the city has reversed course, dropped the suit, and pledged money to the CityFHEPS voucher program,” she added.
According to City Limits, while Mamdani has filed the appeal, negotiations are expected to continue through the state and city budget sessions, which end in April and June, respectively. During talks, the administration reportedly proposed keeping income eligibility the same, maintaining work requirements, and expanding vouchers to residents of rent-stabilized apartments.
The City Council and legal aid groups rejected that offer, leaving the administration looking for more time. Potential compromises could include limiting the number of vouchers or “phasing in” the expansion to gradually cover a larger pool of eligible New Yorkers.
In its appeal, the city’s Law Department criticized former Mayor Adams while reiterating arguments from his administration, which maintained that the City Council lacks authority to legislate on CityFHEPS.
“When the mayoralty changed hands in January, there was no plan to fully fund CityFHEPS in its current form, let alone in an expanded form. This case is not about the policy merits of expanding CityFHEPS. It instead concerns who holds authority to determine whether and how to do so,” the city’s lawyers wrote in their brief, as reported by City Limits.
However, Joe Calvello, the mayor’s press secretary, told Gothamist that the administration is still seeking a resolution.
“This is not the end of negotiations,” he said. “As the budget process advances, we will continue working toward a resolution while advancing a comprehensive, whole-of-government response to the city’s housing and homelessness crisis.”
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