City Limits sat down with Democrat Eric Adams and Republican Curtis Sliwa to quiz them about what they would do, if elected, to address the city’s ongoing housing and homelessness crises—specifically their policies when it comes to families and children in the shelter system.
Both bombastic personalities with sometimes polar opinions on the issues facing the city, Democrat Eric Adams, the current Brooklyn borough president and former NYPD captain, and Republican and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa clashed in the first few minutes of the Wednesday debate.
‘Single room occupancy units are one of the earliest forms of affordable housing, allowing hundreds of thousands of working-class residents to live here. And yet, New York City has limited their construction for 65 years, supposedly in the name of progress.’
‘We are seeing a rampant level of opposition to every suggestion of new housing going back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. If we are going to address the housing shortage and fuel the recovery, we must strengthen our practices to ensure there is always a net positive for communities.’
‘In one of the most expensive housing markets in the country, people will continue to rent basement apartments whether they are legal or not. We need legalization to make them safe.’
Con Edison cut the gas to the West 145th Street building—a former cluster site shelter housing dozens of formerly homeless families—on May 14, after inspectors found dangerous corrosion on the line leading to the street. Tenants are still waiting.
The CPC voted 9-0 in favor of the proposal, which would pave the way for roughly 8,200 new apartments by 2035. The plan will now head to the City Council for final binding vote within the next 50 days.
It’s the first time that New York City has received the grant, despite counting roughly 7,400 homeless young people under age 24 without an adult head of household—often referred to as runaway and homeless youth (RHY)—in 2019
The Democratic nominee for mayor says he wants to convert shuttered lodgings outside Manhattan into 25,000 units of supportive and permanently affordable housing. While his plan is light on details, it’s excited housing advocates.
In June, the city spent $122 million to purchase 14 former cluster site buildings, turning them over to nonprofit organizations to fix up and operate as permanent housing. The organizations have their work cut out for them: There were more than 1,100 open Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) violations across the portfolio at the time of purchase.
City Limits uses investigative journalism through the prism of New York City to identify urban problems, examine their causes, explore solutions, and equip communities to take action.
Founded in 1976 in the midst of New York’s fiscal crisis, City Limits exists to inform democracy and equip citizens to create a more just city. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded by foundation support, ad sponsorship and donations from readers.
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