On Dec. 18, during the City Council’s last meeting of 2025, Councilmember and Veterans Committee Chairperson Bob Holden condemned the City Council and Speaker Adrienne Adams for “deliberately killing” a package of legislation dedicated to helping veterans via an “obscure procedural maneuver.”
The package included bills from Holden, and Councilmembers Vicky Paladino, Joann Ariola and Inna Vernikov that would assist veterans with housing access, homelessness prevention, mental health support and more. Now that the council is dismissed for 2025, the bills will have to be reintroduced next year. At the closing of the meeting, Holden said the City Council’s message to veterans was clear: “Drop Dead.”
