Lawsuit Seeks to Raise Shelter Allowance for Public Assistance

The Legal Aid Society, Empire Justice Center, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC (Bond), and Hughes Hubbard have filed a class-action lawsuit against the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA). The lawsuit, filed on behalf of individuals and families from both New York City and upstate New York, challenges the State’s public assistance shelter allowance schedule, which is set in regulation by OTDA and which has remained unchanged for decades despite skyrocketing housing costs, driving tens of thousands of New Yorkers into homelessness. Attornies Susan Antos and Haley Kulakowski talk with Mark Dunlea for Hudson Mohawk Magazine.