$500-Per-Day Fines Ignite Clash Over NYC Home Care Bill

BROOKLYN, NY— Outside the district office of Lincoln Restler, disability advocates, including New Yorkers who rely on live-in home care, demanded answers and called on him to withdraw support for a bill they said could strip care from thousands and force them out of their homes.

"I'm just saddened that he just literally ran away from us and jumped off the curb," Jose Hernandez said of Restler, not stopping to speak outside his office. "He says his staff is here. We don't need his staff here today to raise concerns about the Bill.”

The confrontation continues the divide over Intro. 303, which would cap home care shifts at 12 hours and authorize enforcement penalties. Workers have pushed for the measure to end 24-hour shifts.

Evan Yankey, advocacy director of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled, said advocates have struggled to secure direct meetings as the bill advances.

“We haven't been able to get a meeting with the Council Member himself,” he said. “That's tough because we know this bill is going to lose people with disabilities care and also lose workers' jobs.”

T.R. Cutugno, who attended the rally outside Restler’s office, said the proposal does not address the state-controlled Medicaid system that determines how care is authorized, creating a gap between city enforcement and state policy.

Without changes at the state level or additional funding, she said, patients could lose access to 24-hour care without a viable alternative.

“This is not an intersectional bill,” Cutugno said. “I wouldn’t have a life. I can't get out of bed.”

Intro. 303, known as the “No More 24 Act,” would impose $500-per-day fines for violations and bar home care employers from assigning shifts longer than 12 hours within a 24-hour period.

Nina Bakoyiannis, a District 33 resident, said she does not defend the current live-in care system and acknowledged the need to improve working conditions, but warned the policy debate has flattened a complex issue.

“It is complicity in a system that pits marginalized groups against each other while the real structures causing harm remain unscathed,” she said. “Instead of engaging in that complexity, this issue has been flagged into a slogan with no nuanced discussion of the problem.”

Hernandez, Bakoyiannis and Cutugno, all of whom rely on live-in home care, said securing that care can take months, with limited oversight and few clear points of accountability.

Restler defended his position in a statement to Patch.

“I support the goals of Intro 303 because I do not believe home health aides or any workers should ever be forced to work 24-hour shifts,” he said. “Our office met with BCID last month and unfortunately, they missed some emails sent from our office about this bill. We remain happy to review constructive suggestions to strengthen this bill for people with disabilities and all New Yorkers.”

The legislation has drawn broader attention as workers press to end 24-hour shifts that often include unpaid overnight hours. Advocates have held protests and a hunger strike to push for passage.

“More patients are at risk of injury and neglect," Vic Galvan, a protester and student at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, told QNS. "More working people are forced into working longer and longer hours, because the greatest city in the world cannot afford to offend insurance companies and sweatshop bosses — because elected officials cannot stand up for what they promised.”

Council Member Christopher Marte, who introduced the bill, signaled a looming deadline for action.

“If there is no action on this bill by May 15, I will be with these workers on the ground, and taking whatever action we need to take to make sure that they put this bill to a vote,” Marte said.

He also said he and the speaker’s office reached an agreement to advance legislation by mid-May, though the speaker’s office said discussions remain ongoing.