If you are in need of immediate housing assistance and have nowhere to stay tonight, you should seek emergency shelter assistance.

You must go to the Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing (PATH) Office to apply for shelter if you are: 

• A homeless family with children under 21 years of age 
• A homeless single pregnant women
• A homeless family that includes a pregnant woman

Applying for shelter at PATH is the first step in the process. 311 does not provide the locations of individual shelters.

What to Bring

All family members must be present when applying at the intake center. You must bring identification. Except for single pregnant women, you must also bring documents proving that your household meets the definition of a family.

Examples of identification include: 

• Driver's license
• Passport or visa
• Welfare card
• Green card
• Picture employment card
• Birth certificate
• Social security card
• Medicaid card
• IDNYC
• Pay stub

Examples of documents showing the definition of a family is met include: 

• Child's birth certificate that lists the adult as the parent
• Proof of legal custody
• Documents filed in court or with the NYC Health Department for paternity
• Marriage certificate or domestic partnership certificate

Learn more about how families with children or pregnant women can apply for shelter.

You can also call the PATH Office for more information. 

What Not To Bring

Don't bring any:

• Contraband, alcohol, or illegal substances
• Expensive personal belongings
• Friends, visitors, or anyone who is not a member of your family
• Food
• Pets (service animals are permitted)

Smoking is not allowed.

PATH Intake Facility Location

The PATH Office is open 24 hours, 7 days a week, including holidays. 

The intake facility meets all building requirements as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Interpreter assistance will be made available if you do not speak English or if you are deaf or hard of hearing.

You must go to the Adult Family Intake Center (AFIC) to apply for shelter if you are:

• A homeless married couple
• A homeless family with no children under the age of 21
• An unmarried homeless couple who meets the DHS definition of a family unit

Children or siblings under the age of 21 cannot be accepted at this center.

Applying for shelter at AFIC is the first step in the process. 311 does not provide the locations of individual shelters.

Intake Facility Location

The AFIC is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays.

The intake facility meets all building requirements as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Interpreter assistance will be made available if you do not speak English, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing.

The AFIC is in Manhattan at:

400-430 East 30th Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
New York, NY 10016

The AFIC will remain at this location until further notice.

What to Bring

To apply for shelter, you must bring identification and proof that your household constitutes an adult family.

Adult families must be:

• A married couple with a valid marriage certificate, OR
• Two adults legally registered as domestic partners who can demonstrate that they have lived together for the past 6 months, OR
• Two or more adults who can demonstrate that they have lived together for the past 6 months and can demonstrate that a medical condition or other situation requires that they be sheltered together, OR
• Two or more adults who can provide birth certificates to prove a parent/child or sibling family relationship.

Learn more about how adult families can apply for shelter.

What Not To Bring

Don't bring any:

• Contraband, alcohol, or illegal substances
• Expensive personal belongings
• Friends, visitors, or anyone who is not a member of your family
• Food
• Pets (service animals are permitted.)

Smoking is not allowed.

If you are a homeless single man or woman, 18 or older, you must first go to an intake facility to apply for emergency shelter.

Applying at an intake center is the first step in the process. 311 does not provide the locations of individual shelters.

If you have been in a shelter within the past 12 months, you should go back to that shelter. Otherwise, you should go to an intake facility.

What to Bring

Bringing ID with you is strongly suggested, though not required.

The following forms of ID are helpful during the intake process:

• ID with a picture and proof of age. Examples include:
  • Driver's license
  • IDNYC card
  • State-issued ID
  • Passport
  • Visa
  • Welfare card
  • Green card
• Social Security card
• Medicaid card
• Your most recent pay stub if you are working

Learn more about how single adults can apply for shelter.

What Not To Bring

Don't bring any:

• Contraband, alcohol, or illegal substances
• Expensive personal belongings
• Friends, visitors, or anyone who is not a member of your family
• Food
• Pets (service animals are permitted.)

Smoking is not allowed.

Intake Facility Locations

All intake facilities for individual adults are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, including holidays. 

Intake facilities meet all building requirements as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Interpreter assistance is available if you don't speak English, or if you are deaf or hard of hearing.

Transgender individuals may use the intake center that matches their gender identity. Gender identity is the gender you identify with, regardless of your biological gender or legal identity.

Men

30th Street Intake Center 
400-430 East 30th Street (at 1st Avenue), Manhattan

The 30th Street Intake Center for Single Men will remain at this location until further notice.

Women

During Code Blue, Code Red, and Code Grey, outreach teams check on people who live on the streets and in the subway more frequently.

Homeless people may also stay at any Department of Homeless Services shelter or drop-in center without going through the normal intake process.

Code Blue

When the temperature is 32 degrees or lower, including wind chill values, the City follows Code Blue procedures.

Enhanced Code Blue is activated during the following scenarios:

• Continuous or accumulating precipitation (snowfall of 3 inches or more)
• Ice storms and/or freezing rain
• Temperature or wind chills below -5° F (any amount of time)
• Sustained winds of 40 mph (or higher)
• At the request of New York City Emergency Management (NYCEM) or City Hall

When Code Blue is in effect, over 50 NYC hospitals (including public hospitals), as well as DHS drop-in centers and shelters, operate with a full open-door policy. This ensures every New Yorker has a safe, warm place to go. New Yorkers who see individuals they believe to be experiencing homelessness and in need should request homeless outreach assistance.

Code Red (Including Level 1 and Level 2)

When the temperature reaches a heat index of 90 degrees, or when an excessive heat warning is issued, the City follows Code Red procedures.

Code Grey

When the Air Quality Index (AQI) is forecast to be 201 or greater, the City follows Code Grey procedures until the AQI Advisory, Watch, or Warning has ended.