NEW YORK, NY – January 19, 2010 – (RealEstateRama) — Public Advocate Bill de Blasio today held a press conference with advocates calling for changes to the City’s approach to homelessness.
“Our City budget is tight, but that does not excuse ignoring those who bear the greatest burden in this recession,” said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. “Reducing resources for crucial services and breaking our promise to New Yorkers with section 8 vouchers will only exacerbate our City’s homelessness crisis. I hope the Administration will work with us to adopt new solutions to address this growing problem, instead of continuing mistakes of the past.”
Public Advocate de Blasio sent a letter yesterday to Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs offering to work with the Administration to develop a new, comprehensive plan for addressing homelessness. De Blasio also called on the Administration to preserve vital homeless services as the City develops its priorities for the FY 2011 budget.
Specifically, de Blasio called on the Administration to devise a permanent plan to ensure that Manhattan has adequate services for homeless adults, since it has the highest street homeless population in the City. The Administration recently announced plans to close the Open Door drop-in facility in March without securing a replacement and has previously considered moving the Bellevue Hospital men’s intake facility to Brooklyn. The elimination of these two facilities in Manhattan would have a severe impact on the borough’s homeless population.
De Blasio also called on the Administration to fulfill its commitment to the 2,500 – 3,000 Section 8 voucher holders whose benefits were revoked on December 17, 2009 and for the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) to provide a full public accounting of what led to the revocation of these vouchers and what happened to the people affected by the decision. Although the City has fewer resources, government cannot renege on its promises to vulnerable New Yorkers.
Finally, de Blasio called on the Administration to either enact local law or regulation that stops referrals of homeless persons to dwellings that fail to meet basic health and safety standards. Over the last several years, the number of homeless New Yorkers who have moved in to so-called “three quarter housing” from the shelter system has increased. The poor conditions in three quarter housing, which consist of small residential buildings operated as illegal and overcrowded boarding houses, endanger inhabitants’ health and safety.
