Sandy Nurse Says No Budget Without CityFHEPS Expansion. East New York Is Why.

What Is Happening

New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse has drawn a line. She will not vote for the city's FY2027 budget unless it includes significant expansion of CityFHEPS, the city's rental voucher program, and Mayor Zohran Mamdani drops the lawsuit his administration filed to block that expansion.

Nurse was quoted directly: she would not support a budget that "does not have significant expansion to CityFHEPS and a dropped lawsuit."

She is not alone. Council Member Pierina Sanchez said she would "have a tough time voting on a budget that doesn't include significant expansion." The City Council's Progressive, Black, Latino, and Asian caucuses have all publicly called on Mamdani to fund the expansion. The budget deadline is June 30, 2026.

What CityFHEPS Is

CityFHEPS stands for City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement. It is New York City's rental voucher program. The city pays the difference between 30% of a household's income and their rent, up to a cap set by federal fair market rent standards. Vouchers can be used anywhere in New York State and last up to five years.

To qualify today, a household must have a gross income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and meet at least one eligibility condition — most commonly, facing eviction or living in a shelter. A family of four earning up to roughly $64,300 per year qualifies on income.

The History of This Fight

In July 2023, the City Council passed a package of four bills expanding CityFHEPS. The reforms were significant. They removed the requirement that applicants live in a shelter for 90 days before becoming eligible. They allowed people to demonstrate eviction risk with a rent demand letter instead of waiting for a formal court case. They raised the income eligibility ceiling. They removed work requirements.

Mayor Eric Adams refused to implement the laws. Legal Aid Society and tenant advocates sued. The courts ruled in favor of the expansion. The Appellate Division upheld it.

Then Zohran Mamdani took office. He had campaigned on a promise to "ensure expansion proceeds as scheduled and per city law." In February 2026, his administration filed an appeal to the New York Court of Appeals, arguing the city cannot afford the expansion. His FY2027 budget proposal cuts $500 million from the program, citing unsustainable cost growth.

The cost of serving existing voucher holders has tripled in three years. The Citizens Budget Commission says the program will cost the city $1.7 billion this fiscal year. Comptroller Mark Levine estimates full expansion would add $6 to $20 billion over five years. The Mamdani administration cites these numbers as its reason for the reversal.

The Council's response: shelter costs nearly five times more than permanent housing. Every family kept out of shelter saves the city money long-term. Nurse made that case directly in April 2026: "Monthly shelter costs are nearly five times more expensive than permanent housing, while filling our vacant NYCHA, supportive housing, and housing lottery units is a painstakingly slow process. We can balance the budget and expand vouchers to get families into safe, stable, permanent housing."

What This Means for East New York

District 37 covers Bushwick, Brownsville, Cypress Hills, Cityline, and East New York. Sandy Nurse has represented this district since 2022. The neighborhoods she covers have some of the highest rates of rent burden, eviction filings, and shelter entry in the city.

Under the 2023 expansion that Mamdani is appealing, a tenant in East New York who receives a rent demand letter from their landlord could apply for a CityFHEPS voucher without first entering shelter. Under the current blocked version of the program, that same tenant must enter shelter to qualify. The difference is whether families have a path to stay in their homes or are forced out first.

The 47,000 households that would become newly eligible under the expansion are people exactly like the residents of East New York: working households earning too much for Medicaid but too little to absorb a missed paycheck, a rent increase, or a landlord harassment campaign.

There is no housing lottery they can realistically wait for. NYCHA has a multiyear waitlist. Supportive housing has its own eligibility gates. CityFHEPS, if expanded, is the one program that could move fast enough to keep a family housed when the eviction notice arrives.

If You Are Facing Eviction in East New York

What Happens Next

The budget deadline is June 30. If the Council does not pass a budget by then, the city operates under an emergency spending plan. Speaker Julie Menin's current budget framework does not include CityFHEPS expansion. The Mamdani administration has not publicly signaled it will drop the lawsuit or restore the $500 million cut.

Nurse and at least one other council member have said publicly they will vote no on a budget without the expansion. Whether that bloc holds — and whether it is large enough to force a negotiation — will be determined in the next 11 days.

East New York Times will follow this through the June 30 deadline. If you are facing eviction in East New York and want to share your situation, email info@eastnewyorktimes.com.