In mid-2022, New York began to experience an increase in the number of asylum seekers and other new arrivals seeking refuge in our city. This influx occurred on top of the ongoing crisis of mass homelessness. Accordingly, the large number of people needing emergency shelter and other services has created significant strains on the city’s relief systems.

These compounding crises have consumed public dialog around national immigration policy, the relationship between New York City and New York State, the legal Right to Shelter in New York, and, at the heart of it, our responsibility to care for one another as human beings.

The NY SANE coalition was initially convened by the Episcopal Diocese of New York, Win, The Legal Aid Society, and the Coalition for the Homeless to help gather the voices of all those in our city and state who strongly urge Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul to refrain from eroding New York’s legal Right to Shelter, and who believe that all unhoused people – both new arrivals and long-time New Yorkers – must be treated with compassion and humanity.

NY SANE members believe that Mayor Adams and Governor Hochul must adhere to five basic principles when addressing the current humanitarian crisis.

Click here for a list of NY SANE actions.

Click here for more information on the City’s and State’s challenge to the Right to Shelter.

Click here for facts about homelessness in NYC.