New York City on Monday evening confirmed that it agreed to temporarily stop sending homeless families to Newark after the New Jersey city's mayor sued.
The temporary remedy came after hours of negotiations behind closed doors earlier in the day.
As of this writing, the lawsuit continues, although a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio said Newark's motion for a temporary restraining was withdrawn by a court order.
Democratic Newark Mayor Ras Baraka sued the city last week, claiming the program, known as Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA), puts a burden on his community.
The program sends homeless families to communities across the country to get stable housing, often in neighborhoods cheaper than in the five boroughs. The city pays a full year of rent up front and is supposed to inspect apartments to make sure they are in good condition.
The lawsuit and a city watchdog investigation this week found families are put in substandard housing, with vermin and no heat:
Sources said the city and Newark agreed Monday to conduct inspections of the apartments, and, once a confidentiality agreement is in place, release the release names and addresses of where New York has sent the families over the years. The relocation addresses have been points of contentions for Newark officials, who say they do not know where the families are going and therefore cannot ascertain the conditions they are living in.
1,198 families have been sent to Newark since SOTA's inception. The city says 35 have been sent to Elizabeth.
Thursday night, the Union County Board of Freeholders also passed a resolution urging the New Jersey state attorney general to get involved and help put a stop to the program.
The city is set to be back in court Thursday. It intends to file a formal challenge to the ordinance the next day if the cities cannot come to an agreement. That ordinance was passed in Newark last month essentially banning any type of rental for which someone pays a full year of rent up front.
Chris Bollwage, the Democratic mayor of Elizabeth, New Jersey, told NY1 on Friday that he was joining Newark's lawsuit. There is no confirmation as of this writing that Elizabeth will drop its lawsuit or that the city will stop sending homeless families to that city.
De Blasio has defended the SOTA program.
"My objection to what Newark has done is they are demonizing the poor," he said on WNYC's The Brian Lehrer Show on Friday. "If there literally are not enough apartments to turn to — no matter how many we keep building, there's just not enough — and it's a right now program…we look to the region."
------
Looking for an easy way to learn about the issues affecting New York City?
Listen to our "Off Topic/On Politics" podcast: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | iHeartRadio | Stitcher | RSS