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The
lawsuit filed in state court in Manhattan says the counties,
which stretch from the city's northern suburbs to Niagara Falls
on the U.S. border with Canada, are interfering with the city's
right to contract with hotels located elsewhere in the state to
temporarily house migrants.
New York City has declared a state of emergency in response to
tens of thousands of migrants bused to the city since last year
from states along the U.S. southern border in a political
dispute over border security.
The city last month said it was receiving 500 migrants per day
and expected that number to increase and announced that it would
move some migrants to other parts of New York.
Counties outside New York City have used various means to block
the city from relocating migrants, including declaring states of
emergency or barring hotels from providing temporary shelter to
migrants.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, said in a statement
that the city should not have to shoulder the influx of migrants
on its own.
"This lawsuit aims to put an end to this xenophobic bigotry and
ensure our state acts as one," Adams said.
Representatives for several of the larger counties named in the
lawsuit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit is the latest salvo in a growing legal battle over
New York City's efforts to ease its migrant crisis.
At least nine counties have sued to block the city from
relocating migrants; in turn, hotel operators contracting with
the city have sued the counties for interfering with their
business.
On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked suburban
Rockland and Orange counties from enforcing bans on migrant
housing. The judge said the bans illegally discriminate against
migrants and violate their rights to travel freely within the
state.
The city in Wednesday's lawsuit is seeking to strike down
executive orders issued by the counties and bar them from being
enforced.
(Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by
Alexia Garamfalvi and Lisa Shumaker)
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