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Rockland County Executive Ed Day enacted a new Emergency Order in response to what Day says is "the City of New York’s discriminatory program to establish unlawful city shelters in Rockland County."
The new order claims the city's program is bad government and violates the rule of law, Day said.
“It is my duty to protect the general welfare of anyone in the county or coming to the county both long term and short term,” said Day.
Day added that Rockland County already has a housing crisis so extreme the county has been deputized by the state to take over the building and fire code enforcement in the village of Spring Valley.
"Sending busloads of people to this county that does not have the infrastructure to care for them will likely result in a one-way bus ticket to homelessness," he added.
The new order also bars other municipalities from establishing shelters in Rockland and prohibits them from foisting their own policies, costs, and responsibilities on Rockland County.
“This order’s sole purpose is mandating good and responsible government,” explained Rockland County Attorney Tom Humbach. “It regulates that government operates within existing laws, makes policies that reflect the best interests of the electorate, and supports those who are new to the county as well as those which have been here for some time.”
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