Posted on 09/29/2023 4:40:15 AM PDT by MtnClimber
In 1938, New York State held its eighth and penultimate constitutional convention. Little did the various power brokers attending the event know that what they had really accomplished was to fire a bullet that would destroy the City of New York some 85 years in the future.
The state constitutional convention was dominated by New Dealers who were busy inserting their socialist agenda everywhere. The ideal of the American Constitution, that freedom comes from government non-interference, was considered laughably outmoded in a ‘modern’ age..
Instead, Senator Robert F. Wagner, a key New Deal figure, argued that, “the threat to freedom… comes from another source — from poverty and insecurity, from sickness and the slum, from social and economic conditions in which human beings cannot be free.”
The 1938 Constitution threw in a Labor Bill of Rights and Article XVII on Social Welfare. The wording was more aspirational and idealistic than legalistic. “the aid, care and support of the needy are public concerns and shall be provided by the state and by such of its subdivisions, and in such manner and by such means, as the legislature may from time to time determine.”
And no one thought very much about it until 1979 when a 26-year-old leftist lawyer named Robert Hayes sued Gov. Carey and the state on behalf of a wino. The wino, Robert Callahan, a far gone alcoholic who died before the case was settled, became the titular name on Callahan v. Carey which established a ‘right to shelter’ for, in the words of Justice Andrew Tyler (a Harlem civic leader later convicted of perjury for his relationships with gamblers), “homeless alcoholics, addicts, mentally impaired derelicts, flotsam and jetsam”.
Hayes’ argument hinged on the Constitution saying “shall be provided”. The State of New York (meaning the city’s taxpayers) were obligated to fund housing for every single addict and bum.
And that was horribly expensive and difficult until the whole world showed up 44 years later.
Now New York’s liberal elites are arguing over whether the “right to shelter” only applies to New York’s mentally impaired derelicts and addicts or those of the entire world who have been arriving in endless numbers as part of the Biden administration’s open borders policy.
“Never was it envisioned that this would be an unlimited universal right or obligation on the city to have to house literally entire world,” Gov. Hochul protested.
Mayor Eric Adams has claimed that the mass invasion of illegal aliens will “destroy” New York and has begun warning that the city will start expelling single young men from shelters after two months. He has gone to court to suspend the disastrous 1979 ‘Right to Shelter’ consent decree
Legally speaking he’s likely to lose because the city’s radical courts have repeatedly held that everyone has the right to be housed even if it’s a right that has no actual legal basis.
The 1938 constitution simply stated that the legislature can provide for the needy, but each successive progressive constitutional misinterpretation is a deliberate effort to warp it further. New York voters, now long dead, allowed New Dealers to open the gates of hell. Seventies activist lawyers pried it open further and their successors want it to be open all the way.
While Callahan, the bum at the head of the case died, Robert Hayes, the lawyer who brought the case, now heads the Community Healthcare Network which provides health and social services and receives an annual salary of $414,671 with another $42,784 in benefits.
In the face of a mass invasion, Hayes still insists that, “If the governor doesn’t think there’s a statewide right-to-shelter, she’s very, either very ill-informed or frankly derelict in her obligation.”
All while meeting their 2030 Net Zero goals. I will buy popcorn.
Daniel Greenfield ping
The policy sounded so pretty on paper.
Does New York have to “House the World?”
YES IT DOES!!!! Why, well when they voted themselves a Sanctuary City/State (to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation or prosecution, despite federal immigration law) the responsibility to House the World came with it.
SUCK IT NY!!!!!
Robert Hayes, the lawyer, earning an annual salary of $414,671 with another $42,784 in benefits.
“Homeless bums and illegals been berry berry good to me”
We didn’t vote for this.
BTW, if you think taxpayers in the other 49 won’t get stuck with this bill...
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, is it.
Do the a-holes who voted demoncrap all these years expect Texas to house the world?
Just wait until they start deporting illegals. NYC as a sanctuary city will be swarmed. The city’s population could literally double almost overnight.
Living in New York State is one of those jobs Americans won’t do.
What a putz - they are seeing but a tiny sliver of what's coming over the border into Texas every damn day.
For the Whole World? Smile. Head Shake. hee hee hee
Every Governor should bus all their illegals to New York! Then, when Trump gets back in office he won’t have far to look to deport all of them. Win, win!
“And that was horribly expensive and difficult until the whole world showed up 44 years later.“
The law, as socialist as it was, presupposed legal Americans. These “migrants “ are not even remotely legal or their entrance legally ordered.
If these Leftist RATS don’t like what’s going on at the border they should publicly blame Traitor Joe. Since they haven’t I guess they don’t care that much.
Sounds like he’s doing well working for the homeless industrial complex (which is a real thing).
Short answer.. Yes, you must quarter and feed Obama's army up until they take to field, after that they will just TAKE whatever they need..
What are they talking about? The border is secure, according to Biden.
They can share the load with Westchester County.
Good bedrock under Manhattan. Can hold lots of weight.
Good, it won't tip over.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.