Executive order declaring a state of emergency regarding homeless transportation to Orange County.

ORANGE COUNTY

LEGAL NOTICE



COUNTY OF ORANGE

EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 4 of 2026 DECLARING A STATE OF EMERGENCY IN ORANGE COUNTY REGARDING TRANSPORTATION OF PERSONS TO ORANGE COUNTY IN VIOLATION OF STATE LAW




I, Steven M. Neuhaus, County Executive of the County of Orange, State of New York, do hereby declare as an EXECUTIVE ORDER the following:




WHEREAS, the City of New York (hereinafter the “City”) is a self-proclaimed sanctuary city and has certain legal obligations regarding homeless individuals within its borders (see e.g., Callahan v. Carey, Index No. 45282/1979 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. City, Consent Decree Aug. 26, 1981; So Ordered Stipulation Mar. 15, 2024); Eldredge v. Koch, 118 Misc. 2d 163 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. City, 1983), rev’d in part on other grounds, 98 A.D.2d 675 (1st Dept. 1983); Boston v. City of New York, Index No. 402295/08 (Sup. Ct., N.Y. City, Dec. 12, 2008)); and



WHEREAS, on October 7, 2022, the City of New York declared a State of Emergency within the City of New York based on the arrival of thousands of individuals and families seeking asylum which has been extended by subsequent orders and remains in effect; and




WHEREAS, on May 9, 2023, the State of New York declared a state of emergency as to New York City’s homeless population and its inability to adequately house and provide for such persons which has been extended by subsequent orders and remains in effect; and



WHEREAS, the City failed and refused to adequately address the needs of the homeless population in New York City, and decided by its actions and inactions to abdicate its duty and responsibility to those homeless persons, necessarily transferring said duties and responsibilities to the County of Orange County Government, in violation of state law; and




WHEREAS, on May 11, 2023, the City transported 186 homeless persons to Orange County (hereinafter the “County”) and causing two hotels/motels within the County to be converted into illegal homeless shelters in violation of New York State Social Services Law and related Administrative Orders pertaining thereto without any coordination with or meaningful notice to the County or the State of New York; and



WHEREAS, local zoning codes do not allow use of temporary residence hotels or other temporary residence facilities for use as long term residential housing and the City’s transportation of homeless persons to the County for that purpose was illegal; and




WHEREAS, the County is not capable of receiving any significant number of homeless persons that the City previously transported, or hereafter may transport to the County, whose presence will gravely increase the homeless population in the County and number of people in need of government services across various sectors in the County; and




WHEREAS, the locations to which the City has previously transported said homeless persons had inadequate infrastructure to meet the needs of said individuals, including but not limited to transportation to work, food, medical care, and pharmaceutical opportunities and there are no programs, guidelines or policies of New York City that prevent the future transportation of its homeless population

to locations in the County with similarly inadequate infrastructure; and




WHEREAS, as all temporary housing shelter beds in the County are consistently and currently at maximum capacity and cannot accommodate additional unknown number of homeless individuals from New York City; and




WHEREAS, the City has represented that it has terminated its previous contract to provide for and pay for short term housing and any related services for said homeless individuals transported to the County as of December 31, 2024, and has not advised the County that any subsequent similar contract has been procured; and




WHEREAS, although the City has represented that it has terminated its previous contract to provide for the transportation of its homeless persons to the County, there is no reason to believe that the City will not contract with another entity and continue its transportation of homeless persons to the County; and




WHEREAS, given the City’s failure to implement policies, or otherwise provide assurances, that it will not institute its prior program of transporting its homeless to the County, there is a reasonable apprehension of immediate danger of the public emergency of potentially thousands of persons being transported to the County in violation of state law as referred above, resulting in the County being responsible for the public safety and welfare of these persons and all others affected in the County; and




WHEREAS, that due to the above circumstances, I find reasonable apprehension of immediate danger thereof that public safety is imperiled thereby, for not only the New York City homeless persons illegally transported to the County by New York City, but also to the other affected residents of Orange County; and




WHEREAS, all of the underlying conditions and reasoning for issuing the Emergency Declarations on June 7, 2023, July 6, 2023, August 5, 2023, September 4, 2023, October 3, 2023, November 2, 2023, December 1, 2023, December 31, 2023, January 30, 2024, February 29, 2024, March 30, 2024, April 29, 2024, May 29, 2024, June 28, 2024, July 28, 2024, August 28, 2024, September 26, 2024, October 26, 2024, November 26, 2024, January 8, 2025, February 7, 2025, March 9, 2025, April 8, 2025, May 7, 2025, June 6, 2025, July 7, 2025, August 6, 2025, September 5, 2025, October 6, 2025, November 5, 2025, December 5, 2025, and January 4, 2026 which Emergency Declarations and Executive Order No. 3 of 2023, No. 4 of 2023, No. 8 of 2023, No. 9 of 2023, No. 10 of 2023, No. 12 of 2023, No. 14 of 2023, No. 16 of 2023, No. 1 of 2024, No. 2 of 2024, No. 3 of 2024, No. 5 of 2024, No. 7 of 2024, No. 8 of 2024, No. 9 of 2024, No. 10 of 2024, No. 11 of 2024, No. 12 of 2024, No. 16 of 2024, No. 18 of 2024, No. 2 of 2025, No. 3 of 2025, No. 4 of 2025, No. 5 of 2025, No. 6 of 2025, No. 8 of 2025, No. 9 of 2025, No. 10 of 2025, No. 12 of 2025, No. 13 of 2025, No. 15 of 2025, No. 16 of 2025 and No. 1 of 2026 are incorporated herein by reference, remain as imminent threats to the County of Orange and the reissuance of an Emergency Declaration is necessary in order to protect life and property.




NOW, THEREFORE, I hereby declare, in order to protect life and property, or to bring the emergency situation under control, a State of Emergency in the County of Orange and make the following ORDER:




I Order that all hotels, motels and/or any facilities allowing short term rentals do not accept individuals transported to Orange County in violation of Social Services Law § 62 and related Administrative Directives of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, including, but not limited to, 06-ADM-07.




This proclamation/declaration and the orders in relation thereto are pursuant to my powers contained within the Orange County Charter (Section 3.02-q) and Administrative Code (Section 3-2-q) and Section 24 of the Executive Law of the State of New York.




I FURTHER FIND that this State of Emergency does not in any way impact travel or County employees or County operations, is not weather related, and does not suspend County operations. This Executive Order and all portions thereof shall take effect immediately, be filed and published as required by law, and individually expire as required by law.




ORDERED this 3rd day of February, 2026

/s/

Hon. Steven M. Neuhaus

Orange County Executive