A Manhattan-based appellate panel has upheld a decision that blocked New York City from instituting a new process for determining the eligibility of single homeless adults for temporary admission to shelters. Among other things, applicants would have been required to prove they had no other place to go before entering a shelter. City Council and other opponents immediately went to court, arguing that what they characterized as a "shelter denial plan" violated a 1981 consent degree (NYLJ, Feb. 22, 2012).
The new process was to have gone into effect on Nov. 14, 2011, but Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische (See Profile), ruling in two companion cases, said the city had not followed the "express, rigorous procedure," including publication and public hearings, for enacting new rules. A unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, affirmed that decision "for the reasons stated" by Gische without further comment yesterday. Joining the ruling in Callahan v. Carey and Council v. Department of Homeless Services, 9222 and 9223, and were Justices John Sweeny (See Profile), David Saxe (See Profile), Leland DeGrasse (See Profile), Sheila Abdus-Salaam (See Profile) and Paul Feinman (See Profile). Oral argument was held on Jan. 22.
