New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration agreed Thursday to postpone implementation of planned eligibility restrictions for city homeless shelters, writes The Wall Street Journal.

The City Hall move preempts a possible injunction against the plan to require single adults to demonstrate they have no other housing options to secure admission to a shelter. The Legal Aid Society, a nonprofit advocacy group, filed a court challenge to the policy, which was to have taken effect Monday.

Instead the two sides will submit written arguments and return to court December 9.

Advocates for the homeless and City Council members denounced the new limits when they were announced last week. Seth Diamond, commissioner of city Department of Homeless Services, defended the proposal, saying shelters “should be reserved for those who have no alternative.”