“Coming out of this pandemic, addressing our affordable housing and homeless crisis is something that the mayor should be meeting with some urgency and a major expansion of resources,” said Rachel Fee, executive director of New York Housing Conference.
The voucher program, known as Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA), covers a year of rent for New Yorkers with a steady income who move out of city shelters—and usually out of NYC altogether. Newark lawmakers accused the Big Apple of outsourcing its homelessness response while squeezing New Jersey’s own affordable housing supply.
The site opened to people moving off the streets and subways on March 28, amid significant backlash to ongoing homeless sweeps and calls by advocates and some elected officials for the city to use hotel rooms as low-barrier, private spaces for people bedding down outdoors.
Advocates say the limited enforcement undermines the effectiveness of the city’s own rental assistance vouchers, putting New Yorkers at risk of homelessness or extending the amount of time they remain in shelters even if they have the means to pay.
While the policy is handed down by the mayor, an array of New Yorkers—from everyday residents to top city officials to nonprofit service providers—play a role in recommending locations for sweeps, according to hundreds of internal emails reviewed by City Limits.
“It’s pretty dreadful,” one housing advocate said. “The governor decided to-go drinks and a stadium in Buffalo were more important than housing the homeless and marginalized New Yorkers.”
“If we are truly invested in preventing and eventually ending this horrific blight of hatred and violence against people who are homeless, we must work to end homelessness itself. This can be accomplished in two phases: immediately offering stabilization beds to New Yorkers living on the street, and providing permanent affordable housing.”
Ana Maria Archila, running alongside gubernatorial candidate Jumaane Williams, has focused her campaign around housing, with a radical plan to create or preserve 1 million affordable homes statewide while cutting out speculators and large corporate landlords.
“We must reject policies that single out, scapegoat, and sweep away the rights of our neighbors with mental illness.”
The Adams administration has touted Safe Havens as an alternative for those who would rather sleep outside than in a traditional homeless shelter. But there are too few of the facilities to accommodate the majority of unsheltered New Yorkers.
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