Newark remains locked in a legal battle with New York City over Mayor de Blasio's controversial program to relocate homeless families out of state. Now, participants of the relocation program want to join the fight.

Eugene Samuels is one of three people seeking to intervene in the ongoing legal battle over the Special One-Time Assistance Program. He was supposed to move to Newark with a year's worth of rent in his pocket, until Newark outlawed the program due to concerns over tenant safety and landlord accountability.

Instead, Samuels is living in a shelter. He said he doesn't want his chance to get an apartment to go down the drain.

"Put me into a fresh start, have my own place," Samuels said. "I won't have to worry about no roomates, have my own kitchen, my own bathroom, the whole nine yards."

Samuels and the other program participants hoping to join the lawsuit say both cities failed to keep tenants safe, and they want a seat at the table as a judge weights the program's fate.