Lawsuit Seeks Increase in New York Shelter Allowances After Legislature Rejects Bills to Tie Them to Market Rent

The Legal Aid Society and Empire Justice Center filed a lawsuit last month against New York State seeking an increase in monthly shelter allowances provided to public assistance recipients. The suit argues that the payments violate the state constitution’s requirement to provide aid, care and support for the needy.

Minerva Pacumio, 54, one of the plaintiffs, receives a $250 monthly shelter allowance for a one-bedroom apartment in Queens that rents for $1,900.

She lives with her two adult daughters, one of whom is disabled, and owes thousands of dollars in back rent. Kimberly Maldonado, 55, another plaintiff, receives $215 a month toward $1,114 rent for her rent-stabilized Brooklyn apartment. The shelter allowance for families with children in New York City has remained at $450 for a family of four since 2003.

For adult-only households the amount has barely changed since 1988. Propublica reported that the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance reviewed the allowance four times since 2003, most recently in 2023, when more than 100 comments requested an increase. This marks at least the fourth lawsuit filed by Legal Aid against the state over shelter allowances in nearly 40 years.

In the late 1980s Legal Aid won a case on behalf of Barbara Jiggetts that required the state to cover rent temporarily for New York City families with children facing eviction. The state did not raise the allowance until 2003, five years after the court deadline.

The state supplement that bridges the gap between the allowance and actual rent is mandatory in New York City only for families with children.