The city is moving hundreds of homeless adults from hotel rooms—rented in the early days of the pandemic to limit the spread of the coronavirus—back into congregate shelters, where residents sleep in barracks-style dorms.
‘We need to strengthen the safety-net for families at risk of homelessness, and make sure that even as people get jobs they don’t lose their rental assistance.’
The event, hosted by NBC New York, Telemundo and Politico, featured slightly different questions than many of those asked in previous debates. Of course, ardent debate watchers will note that many of the candidates’ answers were not exactly new, but the format did elicit some interesting moments.
Homeless New Yorkers have been bracing for a return to the barracks-style shelters for months. Nonprofit providers and DHS began sending letters as early as March urging homeless hotel residents to discard excess belongings to comply with a “two-bag policy” at shelters.
The 40 or so families living at the Hotel Ellington in Manhattan, where the city has been paying for rooms to house homeless New Yorkers for nearly two decades, were told late last month they would have to move. “I’m tired of moving,” one tenant said.
‘Many vulnerable individuals experiencing homelessness or in need of other services are shuttled into the criminal justice system in a cruel and costly revolving door, often leaving them rightfully distrustful of social services providers.’
‘If NYC’s leadership can commit to ending traffic deaths—not just to the tools they’ll use to achieve it but to the actual goal—then they should be able to do the same on the housing issues that shape our lives,’ housing advocates ANHD said in their analysis of the candidates’ written policies.
The City Council voted Thursday to raise the value of municipal rent subsidies for homeless New Yorkers, which advocates say will help thousands of individuals and families secure permanent housing and leave shelters—despite some flaws in the specifics of the legislation.
The bill would raise the value of city-backed housing subsidies for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness. The voucher values currently trail actual market rents, making it hard for families to find a landlord willing to accept them.
‘The right to shelter provides unshakeable protections for those who would otherwise have no choice but to sleep on the street. Threats to the right to shelter by New York mayors aren’t new—Both Giuliani and Bloomberg mounted strident challenges to modify and undo it.’
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