NYC NOW - Why Some New Yorkers Must Become Homeless to Get Help

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

For some New Yorkers, qualifying for a CityFHEPS housing voucher means first entering the shelter system. Reporter Karen Yi breaks down the fight over expanding the city’s rental assistance program and why advocates say delaying it could cost more in the long run. Photo: Lajoy Clark, Ciro Sollazzi, and Kevin Joseph Cuffy for Gothamist -Got any questions, comments or story ideas? Send us a message at [e-mail]

From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Jenae Pierre. The city FEPP's voucher is the largest municipal housing assistance program in the country. Before becoming mayor, Zohramm Dani campaigned on extending the program, which helps more than 65,000 households across New York City. But that extension hasn't happened yet. On today's episode, we meet some of the people who depend on this assistance. But first, here's a lot of the people who depend on this assistance.

That's what's happening in our area. City officials are criticizing immigration enforcement after a clash outside of Bushwick Hospital over the weekend. Police say officers responded to a crowd outside Wyckoff Heights Medical Center after federal agents brought a detained man there for care Saturday night. Eight people were arrested. Here's Mayor Zohraimam Dhani. Ice raids are cruel and inhumane.

They do nothing to serve in the interest of public safety. And I've said that even directly to the president. here in this city, it is, you hear it from so many New Yorkers, the impact of this. And I think it is clear for everyone to see. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson says several vehicles were damaged and officers suffered minor injuries. Food pantries across New York City saw twice the number of visits from families with children last year than before the pandemic. The new numbers were released by the Food Rescue Group, City Harvest. The group says child hunger rates have remained sovereignly high as the cost of food and housing has risen.

Edwin Pachico runs Redemption Red Hook Food Pantry. He says he's seeing more families who are struggling to make it to the end of the month. Families that are trying to make their dollars stretch a little bit more are working or are in school, but just need additional assistance. Cost of living in New York City is outrageous. Pachico says many families are primary caretakers or grandparents caring for y'all. kids. Pantry saw an average of one million visits by families with children every month. It'll cost a little more to catch the path train. A new fare increase went into effect Monday. A single

ride is now $3.25. Unlimited passes are also getting pricier. A 30-day pass will cost $131.50. Reduced fares for eligible riders stay at $1.60, and discounts for buying in bulk are still in place. 10 ride and 20 ride options bring the per trip costs down slightly. The Port Authority says the changes are part of its regular fare updates. More than 65,000 households depend on the City FEPS voucher. That's the fighting homelessness and eviction prevention supplement. Still ahead? Who are these New Yorkers?

And why should the program be expanded? That's after a quick break. Welcome back. CityFEPs vouchers go out to more than 65,000 households across New York City. That's the fighting homelessness and eviction prevention supplement. It's the largest municipal housing assistance program in the country. Mayor Zoramamam Dhani initially pledged to expand the program during its campaign.

But his administration is now saying the program is too expensive, and the city just can't afford it. WMYC and Gothamist reporter Karen Yee spoke to some New Yorkers who are advocating for the program's expansion. Welcome to the show, Karen. H&A. All right. So I really want to know who these people are who are impacted by this. And what's keeping them from qualifying right now? Yeah, that's the question that I wanted to know, too.

I mean, this fight over these housing vouchers has been going on for many, many years. There's a lot of legalese over it, a lot of advocates pushing for it across the spectrum, a lot of conversations around money and budget. And I really was interested like you in the who. Who exactly are we talking about that is being left out. out of these vouchers right now. There's basically four different categories of New Yorkers who would qualify for a city FEPs voucher under the expansion laws passed by the city council.

The first bucket is New Yorkers who are currently in housing. Right now the vouchers are for people who are in shelter. The expansion would say if you are facing eviction or at the brink of eviction and you're about to go into a homeless shelter, you can get a voucher. The second category is for New Yorkers who earn too much. There are income requirements as there are with any of these programs. to qualify for a voucher. Some New Yorkers are sort of stuck in the middle.

They're working, but they make slightly too much to qualify for city thefts, but not enough to really get out of the shelter or find their own apartment and afford it. The third category would be New Yorkers that aren't currently working. There's a variety of reasons why people aren't working. Maybe they lost your job. Maybe they have a disability. Maybe they're looking for work. And it would apply to them so that they could be able to get out of the shelter.

And the last category is a little bit tricky, right? Vouchers are for New Yorkers who are in shelter, but who are in the city's largest shelter system for adults. The expansion laws would allow the voucher to be for people in specialized shelters, like shelters for young people. Can you introduce us to some of these New Yorkers? Yes. I met a man named Cyril Salaazi on a bench along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn.

Hi. I'm going to meet you. So Salaazi lives in a one-beder. apartment in Kensington, and he's been there for a long time. He's been there for 22 years. And when we met, he was a little nervous to meet me. I'm afraid to leave the house because I don't want to run into the, you know, the dirty looks from the managing agent and so forth. Why was that?

Well, he's facing an eviction notice. So he was sort of wary, looking over his shoulder, concerned that management would come out and give him a dirty look because he owes them two years of money. It's been quite stressful. He tells me that, you know, he's feeling very anxious. He's very ashamed because this is the first time that he's found himself in the situation. He's always sort of hustled to provide for himself. But these are sort of factors that were outside of his control.

He lost his job. The pandemic happened. Then he got sick. He couldn't go back to work. And he burned through all his savings. So now he's sort of figuring, trying to think, what are his options? He doesn't really have anywhere to go if he actually gets evicted from his apartment. But every time I see a homeless person, I get the fear struck inside of me.

You know, and that I'm going to wind up to be one of those people. He says that when he sees people who are homeless on the street, he really feels for them. But he also has this fear in the back of his head that he could eventually become homeless himself. And now that fear is even more present because he has this eviction notice and is currently fighting to stay in his apartment that he just can't afford. Yeah. So how would an expansion of the voucher program helps Salazi, you know, if his issue that he hasn't paid his rent in two years? Right. So the vouchers allow tenants to pay 30% of their paycheck toward rent, and the city will subsidize the rest. Currently, Serra's rent is almost everything that he makes in a month with his disability payments and his snap payments for food emergency food assistance. So he has to choose between using all of the money to basically pay his rent, which is $1,200 a month for his one bedroom, or having enough to eat or being able to afford other things for his home and to live.

The voucher would allow him to keep up with future rent payments because he would only have to have. to pay 30% of whatever is coming into his paycheck or his bank account. But the rental arrears, what he owes for two years, you're right. That's still an issue. And so he's pursuing another avenue, which is an existing program called a one-shot deal, where you can apply in the city will help cover your rental arrears for whatever time period. So that would sort of reset him. But even if he is reset, there is no way he can afford future rent payments without something like a city theft's voucher. And right now, to qualify, you have to be in a shelter. And Salazi, obviously, is in housing.

To qualify, you have to have to leave his home, enter a Department of Homeless Services, adult shelter, then apply for city thefts, then find an apartment where he could use that voucher and potentially find an apartment where the rent is much more than the $1,200 a month that he's paying. Yeah, right, because you mentioned that he's in a rent-stabilized unit, right? That's right. Yeah. So basically, he would have to face that fear of homelessness. Exactly. And that's what he's scared of. He's never had to be there before.

But right now he's sort of stuck. He can't really go back to work. He's sick. He has a disability. There's no way for him to make more income. Karen, what about New Yorkers who are trying to get housing? I spoke with 32-year-old Kevin Joseph Cuffy. Hi, I'm Karen.

Nice to meet you. He's currently in a shelter in Bushwick. Now, Cuffy works full-time, and he earns about $19 an hour, which is over minimum wage, but it's too much to qualify for a voucher. And yet, it's not exactly enough for him to save up and be able to get his own place and really stay there. I feel like I'm probably just going to end up back in the shelter. Due to housing expenses, I have enough to not hit the minimum wage rack, but I don't have enough to live. I think Huffy has sort of cycled in and out of homelessness for several years now,

and he's really looking for something long term. He doesn't just want to keep revolving back and forth, getting a place that he can't afford. the rank goes up ending back in shelter, crashing on friends' couches. And so he's saying, with what I make, he's sort of squeezed in between. Like not he earns too much, but too little. Yeah. And that's because a single person can't earn more than $31,000 a year to qualify for a voucher. And Kevin, as you mentioned, is working, making around $40,000 annually if, you know, he's working full time.

Right. And the expansion laws would boost that to about $56,000. for an individual. Right now, people are a little bit in a catch-22. And potentially making those decisions, do I take fewer hours that I can qualify for the City Feb's voucher and then maybe get it, but that could limit your career mobility, your opportunities, just what's coming into your bank account as well. Yeah.

It's like, do I put out less in the world to get more for my life? Right, right. It's a really hard, I think these are the decisions that people are navigating constantly when they're struggling and trying to find their way into systems that can be very onerous. Yeah. There's also the question of youth shelters, right? Yes. I met LaJoy Clark.

She's 20 years old and she was living in a youth shelter, but she doesn't qualify for vouchers because she's not in the traditional adult shelter system. Like I explained, there are five different city shelter systems. The biggest one and the one people are most familiar with is the adult shelter, which is run by the Department of Homeless Services. But there are other shelters that are specialized for different groups of people. One of those is for young people, youth, runaway homeless youth.

And vouchers, city-FEPs vouchers right now are only for people within the adult population run by the Department of Homeless Services. So shelters that LaJoy Clark was in, which is a youth shelter run by a different city agency, they're not eligible. For her to be eligible, she's 20. She would have to leave the youth shelter,

which is those tend to be smaller. There are programs specifically for young people because, you know, your brain is still developing. Maybe you've never held the job. Maybe you want to go back to school. You know, there's other needs that you have when you're a young person experiencing homelessness other than sort of being mainstreamed into the general adult population. So LaJoy would have to enter a women's adult shelter to then be able to apply for city thefts. And she says she just doesn't want to do that. You know, she's been through a lot in her life. She's, she's nervous about what an adult shelter could be. There's different personalities. People have different situations going on

in her life. Yeah, and some people think it's dangerous. Absolutely, absolutely. And it can be dangerous. I mean, there are reports of violence and assault at some of these shelters. And it could be large, right? There can be congregate settings as many as 200 women. And in the youth shelter, it's a much more smaller space. But LaJoy wants to move on with her life. She wants to be able to maybe go to nursing school and get her own place. And so when we met last month, she was actually getting ready to leave. She was getting ready to leave the shelter system and just leave New York City where she was, where she can get a job and find more affordable housing. Man, LaJoy wants a fresh start here.

Absolutely. And she can't get it in the city that she was born and raised in. That's so sad. But, you know, Karen, that's the story for so many New Yorkers who were born and raised in this place. It's impossible to afford the city. Right. And I think her point is, you know, I think she wants the city to be able to be able to. to create more opportunities for young people. I think there are reports of really high unemployment

rates, particularly for youth. And so they're up against all these greater forces. You have really low vacancy rates in affordable housing units. You have very expensive housing. You have unemployment rates and sort of a joy in the middle of it trying to navigate all this and not able to get a voucher. Let's talk a bit about the Mamdani administration and where they stand in all of this, because so many of these people that you spoke into sounds so desperate for help, you know, making the city work for them, right? Like Lejoy, she's leaving, like we said, because she can't afford to be here. Mayor Mumdani, as I mentioned earlier, campaigned on expanding this program, but now he's pulling back on that. What is his administration saying now about why they're pulling back?

The main argument here is cost. He did campaign. He said, I will expand the city FEPs laws. These were a package of laws passed by the city council in 2023. And former mayor Adams said, no, I'm not going to expand this. They took him to court. And it's his ongoing battle. He said, I will drop litigation. I will expand these laws. Then he took office.

He saw the budget. There is a yawning budget deficit. And he said it's just too costly. You know, it's not feasible for the city to do. So right now, city thefts actually cost $1.2 billion. His administration estimates that expanding. city PhEPs in its entirety would drive those costs up to $4.7 billion by 2030. And to give you a sense of the scale of that is that's basically the entire budget for the

Department of Homeless Services Agency. Oh, wow. Okay. So now what the mayor has done is he's appealing a court decision that ordered the city to expand rental assistance and sort of echoing and taking a page from his predecessor, Mayor Eric Adams, even though he opposed it on the campaign trail. But expansion advocates say this would actually save the city money, the expansion. Yeah, they're saying whatever the city is paying or could pay in vouchers would save the money in the long term. Save the money in terms of what they're paying to house people in shelter, so people would be avoiding shelter in the first place.

Shelter can cost for a single person $142 a night, which is $52,000 a year. And if you're keeping people like Salazi, right, we talk. about his rent-stabilized unit, that's $1,200 for a one-bedroom a month. If he would have to go into shelter, the city would be paying for his shelter costs, then he would apply for a voucher, have to look for an apartment, and potentially find an apartment that is much more expensive than the $1,200. And so the city would actually be paying more for a voucher later on and for the shelter than if they would just give him a voucher right now.

That's their argument about how the city can actually, yes, it is a costly program to run, But they're saying it's costly because it works, right? And it can work to sort of alleviate the shelter population, but also prevent people from entering the shelter system in the first place. Yeah. And who wants to force a man in his 60s into the shelter system in the first place? You're exactly right. There's also the level of like emotional trauma, right, that you're sort of sparing people from having to enter a very crowded shelter system. Yeah.

So where does this stand right now? Is there any sign of a resolution between the mayor and the mayor? the city council? Well, I'm told that negotiations are ongoing. When the mayor took office, the administration was in, was in conversation and trying to reach a settlement and a compromise with several of the groups that are involved in this. You know, some ideas that were floated were let's expand some parts of it, but not all of it. The negotiations obviously didn't get anywhere, and the mayor filed his appeal in court because he was up against a court deadline. So the court case is proceeding that probably will take a few months to resolve itself as sort of both cases

file their arguments. In the meantime, negotiations are happening, so we may see a compromise and some sort of settlement outside of court before then. But, you know, as we talk a lot with you on the show, the housing crisis continues, the affordable housing crisis continues. People like the four New Yorkers I spoke to are still having to make tough decisions about whether they stay in the city, you know, what kind of work they take, you know, where they can live.

And it's really stressful for them. Very stressful. I was just reading an email from the case manager for LaJoy. I was asking how she's doing. She moved to Niagara Falls. And he was telling me that we've been in contact with her. She seems to be happy and is employed while adjusting to a slower-paced lifestyle outside of New York City. I love that.

I love to hear that. That's WNYC's Karen. Thanks a lot, Karen. Thanks, Jane. And thank you for listening to NYC now. I'm Jenae Pierre. See you next time. Thank you.