Council hears pleas to protect housing, food aid; considers local bills on federal funding transparency and census office

The New York City Council used an oversight hearing on July 26, 2025, to consider local responses to federal budget changes and to hear from dozens of advocates, service providers and residents about the human impacts of cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, housing programs and other federal supports.

What the committees took up

Council members previewed three local initiatives during the hearing: Intro 13-64 (a proposal introduced by Council Member Lincoln Ressler to require monthly reporting to the council on all federal funds flowing into city agencies), Intro 12-25 (a measure by Council Member Julie Menon to create a permanent Office of the Census to maximize city outreach ahead of 2030), and Intro 13-72 (a bill to cap rent contributions for city rental-assistance recipients at 30% of household income). Committee chairs said those local bills are intended to help the city respond more quickly and transparently if federal resources are reduced.

Why it matters: advocates warned the council that federal cuts could cascade into homelessness, food insecurity and reduced legal and immigrant services — and that those effects would land disproportionately on immigrants, noncitizen households, seniors and communities of color.

Major points from testimony

- Homelessness and housing stability: Supportive-housing providers and advocacy groups said discontinuation of federal streams such as the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program and threats to COC and HOPWA would directly jeopardize permanent supportive housing and re-housing pipelines. Joelle Ballenschwan of the Supportive Housing Network of New York testified that the city relies on roughly $165 million in CoC funding and about $44.9 million annually in HOPWA; cuts to those programs would endanger tens of thousands of supportive units and the services that sustain them.

- Local housing tools: Witnesses urged the council to expand CityFEPs (the city’s rental assistance program for families) and fully fund a previously-approved CityFEPS expansion, to cap voucher rent contributions at 30% (Intro 13-72), and to move quickly to occupy vacant supportive units. Council members emphasized that shelter placements are far more expensive than housing and that prevention is cheaper than emergency shelter.

- Food security and SNAP: Food providers and anti-hunger groups described how SNAP changes — new work requirements, administrative verification, and state cost shifts — could push hundreds of thousands of city residents to food pantries. The Fiscal Policy Institute estimated 174,000 New Yorkers at immediate risk of SNAP loss from work-reporting changes and a larger group subject to the new requirements; the city was urged to prepare emergency food funds and expand outreach and casework.

- Immigrant services and legal help: Catholic Charities and other providers reported large contract cuts for immigrant legal services and family assistance programs; advocates emphasized the chilling effect of federal enforcement and described clients with urgent housing, food and legal needs.

- Census preparation: Several witnesses, including Assemblymember Landon Daze and Professor Jeff Weiss, urged passage of Intro 12-25 to create an ongoing city-level census office with year-round outreach to avoid an undercount in 2030 that could cost New York congressional seats and billions in formula funds. "A full and accurate count in Census 2030 will also help ensure the fair allocation of federal resources to New York City," NALEO Educational Fund testified.

Local bills flagged at the hearing

- Intro 13-64 (Ressler): require monthly OMB reporting on all federal funding into New York City, including programmatic breakdowns, so council and providers can track changes in near real time.

- Intro 12-25 (Menon): create a permanent Office of the Census charged with outreach and preparation ahead of 2030; proponents pointed to New York City's strong 2020 outreach and warned a citizenship question or other federal changes could depress participation.

- Intro 13-72 (various sponsors): limit rent contributions for city rental-assistance recipients to 30% of household income; supporters said the city's recent rule increasing contribution thresholds to 40% would raise eviction risk for voucher holders.

Representative direct quotes

- "The city must maintain full funding for CityFEPs and implement the expansion to ensure that more people can transition out of shelter and into permanent housing," said Christina Abattista of Urban Pathways. - "A full and accurate account of all New Yorkers is critical for the future strength of New York's democracy and its well-being and prosperity," Orlando Ovaiz of NALEO Educational Fund said in support of the census office bill.

Ending

Committee members thanked witnesses for testimony and committed to pursue follow-up work: asking OMB for detailed federal-funding exposure analysis, urging the mayor to fill vacant supportive housing units, and coordinating with Albany and the state’s congressional delegation to press for delays or waivers at the federal level. The council held the bills for further committee consideration; no votes were taken at the hearing.