Read our feature article on Zohran Mamdani’s election here.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is moving to block an expansion of the city’s main housing voucher program as homelessness reaches record levels.
In February, Mamdani cited a projected $7 billion budget deficit and said he would not support expanding CityFHEPS City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement), a rental assistance program for low-income residents facing eviction or homelessness. The expansion had already been passed by the City Council and upheld in court. Meanwhile, Mamdani has left the NYPD’s $6.4 billion budget untouched.
In March, Mamdani appealed a ruling ordering the city to implement the expansion, continuing a legal fight that began under former Mayor Eric Adams. As a candidate, Mamdani had criticized Adams for blocking the measure and pledged it would move forward under his administration.
CityFHEPS currently serves about 65,000 households, or roughly 140,000 people, covering rent costs above 30% of a tenant’s income. The proposed expansion would extend eligibility to an estimated 47,000 additional households and remove requirements that force people to spend months in shelters before qualifying. Mamdani’s appeal has stalled those changes indefinitely.
The decision comes as homelessness continues to rise. In February, more than 100,000 people slept in city shelters each night, the highest level since the Great Depression. Across the city, more than 350,000 people lacked stable housing. Over one in eight NYC public school students were homeless for at least part of last school year.
At the same time, Mamdani resumed homeless encampment sweeps under the supervision of the NYPD.
Blocking the expansion of CityFHEPS leaves fewer pathways to stable housing. This leaves more workers in overcrowded shelters or cycling between temporary arrangements and the streets, where they are met with police violence.
Just like his predecessors, Mamdani attempts to roll back the conquests of the people and cut social programs, while funding essential to capitalist domination like the NYPD remains untouched.
Image: Zohran Mamdani speaking at a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) meeting in New York City, 2024. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
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