New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday signed an order requiring communities statewide to take homeless people from the streets to shelters when temperatures reach freezing, saying he was ready for a legal challenge from anyone who believes "people have a civil right to sleep on the street and freeze to death".

Cuomo said the executive order, which takes effect on Tuesday, will protect the state's growing homeless population.

The order came as temperatures in parts of New York state were dipping below 0 C. It calls for police departments and social service agencies to move people into shelters, including those reluctant to go.