The city now operates 753 shelter beds for young people between ages 16 and 20 across the city, a 500-bed increase over what existed when Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014.
‘There are valuable programs in place that, with commitment and accountability, enable homeless New Yorkers to be housed and regain the dignity to achieve a better future for themselves and their children.’
When Mayor de Blasio in 2017 announced a plan to end the use of hotels as homeless shelters by 2023, there were about 7,500 homeless people in hotel rooms paid for by the city. Today, there are 11,750.
‘To end this cycle and significantly reduce family homelessness caused by domestic violence, we urge the city to move beyond short-term fixes.’
Parents account for the majority of homeless unaccompanied New Yorkers under age 25, according to city data,
‘It’s just a work in progress,’ says one outreach worker. ‘It is not something that is going to happen overnight or in a week’s time.’
Policymakers and most everyday New Yorkers have yet to come face-to-face with the extent of the crisis, even as mass instability takes a lasting toll on individual lives and social networks in the city.
What will get street-homeless people off the sidewalk: more engagement, or a better place to sleep?
It was cold on Wednesday when Christine Quinn—CEO of the homeless-services organization WIN—spoke to the Max & Murphy Show on WBAI. For the former Council speaker and 2013 mayoral candidate, the temperature was an important point of reference.
‘It’s counterproductive to tie the hands of the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), an agency already stretched to the limit as they attempt to deal with an affordable housing crisis.’
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