Homeless advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Friday, challenging a rule that “target[s] the manner in which homeless persons use the subway system.”

New York advocacy organizations Urban Justice Center (Safety Net Project) and Picture the Homeless seek to block a rule that bans the use of large wheeled carts on trains and prohibits people from staying in the subway station for over an hour. The organizations claim the new rule is discriminatory, arbitrary and capricious, and fails to meet procedural regulatory standards.

The lawsuit notes that homelessness disproportionately affects people of color and people with disabilities. The regulations target homeless individuals taking shelter in the subway while carving out exceptions for people passing out literature or performing. Such exceptions are inconsistent with the rule’s purported goal of reducing the spread of COVID-19.

The rule purports to address public health and safety concerns, but the organizations allege that the city had begun edging out homeless New Yorkers before the pandemic. A task force was formed in 2019 to “combat the persistent and growing issue of homelessness in the New York City subway system.” According to the complaint, these underlying motives contradict the rule’s stated purpose of “safeguard[ing] public health.”

According to the two petitioning organizations, the MTA failed to meet standard rulemaking requirements. It did not provide any “scientific or statistical study” to suggest these restrictions would have any effect on containing the spread of COVID-19 in the New York subway system.

The Urban Justice Center and Picture the Homeless request the rule be voided and seek civil penalties to address damages caused to individuals affected by the rule.