The legislation directs the Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-based Violence and the Department of Social Services to establish a new fund and dispense modest grants to survivors of domestic violence.
“Often a proxy for racial, disability or family status discrimination, Source of Income (SOI) discrimination prevents voucher holders from accessing housing and undermines the strides that New York City has made investing in rental assistance.”
Length of stay at the cavernous barracks on Randall’s Island will depend on the availability of other housing options, and the efforts of New York City officials who have pledged to streamline exits from the emergency shelter facility.
Jimmy McMillan’s performance in a gubernatorial debate in October 2010 sealed his status in New York political lore and cemented a six-word slogan into our vernacular. Today, he is fighting to hold on to his apartment from a nursing home in Queens.
“It is time for the governor and the legislature to step up to the plate and start acting like a partner to Mayor Eric Adams instead of a spectator. In fact, in recent years the state has been reducing its support for the city’s shelter system by not keeping up with its financial obligation.”
A bill introduced in the City Council this week would create a 15-member commission that includes people who have experienced homelessness to study current shelter locations, identify new sites and figure out how to pay for them. “Homeless New Yorkers come from every neighborhood in New York City and accordingly we need to equitably site shelters,” the bill’s sponsor said.
Just 19.4 percent of the 7,788 federal Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV) issued to New York City by the Biden Administration in May 2021 have been used to secure an apartment, according to city data. That’s compared to a national rate of 48.7 percent.
The choice of Randall’s Island for the asylum-seeker tents recalls the historic role of the island—along with adjoining Wards Island—as a drop-off point for New York City’s most marginalized groups.
The Fair Student Funding Formula, used to distribute the majority of New York City’s education budget to each of its 1,600 public schools, has been criticized for failing to provide enough funds to students who need it most, including those in temporary housing and in the foster care system. A working group has until the end of October to recommend changes.
New York City is opening its latest checkpoint for recently arrived immigrants, this time converting a hotel near Madison Square Garden into an intake and assessment center with rooms for nearly 300 families and single adults, City Limits has learned.
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