Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council leadership are taking Mayor Eric Adams to task for appearing to say Tuesday that a law enacted earlier this year gave homeless individuals the right to sleep outside, saying that was a right the unhoused already had.
Adams made the remark during his weekly off-topic press conference, referring to a law known as Local Law 62, to establish a “Homeless Bill of Rights.” He invoked the law in an attempt to illustrate what he sees as the hypocrisy of unnamed council members criticizing him for potentially letting migrants sleep on the streets, while passing legislation that said they have the right to do just that.
