More On Inspectors Arrest
Homeless Shelter Violence Problem
Internal reports from the city’s homeless shelter system from January to June last year reveal a system struggling to keep violence in check and a crackdown by the NYPD to regain control, NY1 reports.
Groundhog Day Homeless Hotel Use Up: $648K Per Night With 421-a Renewal More Gentrification Driving Rents Up More Displacement More Homeless
NYC spent $648K to house homeless in hotels for one night (NYP) City taxpayers shelled out a record $648,000 to house the homeless in hotels for just one night last year, according to an alarming new report obtained by The Post. The staggering figure included a block of 10 rooms at a hotel near Times Square at a cost of $549 each, according to the city comptroller’s report. Homeless people were put up for the night of Dec. 30 — when temperatures hit a high of 40 degrees and a low of 33. Stringer’s office said that in just four recent months, the city’s overall homeless hotel tab spiked 32 percent, with the daily bill jumping from $400,000 on Oct. 31 — when temps dipped to 44 degrees — to $530,000 on Feb. 28, when the low temperature was 47. The actual number of homeless people being placed in hotels during that time period increased by roughly the same amount, 33 percent, to 7,790 from 5,881. The report, which Stringer plans to make public Monday, also revealed that the average daily cost for commercial hotel bookings for the city’s homeless skyrocketed a whopping 600 percent over 16 months — going from $82,214 per day in November 2015 to $576,203 in February 2017. But while hotel rooms may sound lavish to some, they often lack such basic amenities as kitchens and easy access to social services, which are viewed as essential to helping homeless people.*
| DNA Info Reports 
Increase Funding Has Not Stopped Increases in Homelessness When Will the NY Daily News Connect Higher Rents Connected to Gentrification As the Cause?
Despite increasing funding for homeless services each year, the de Blasio administration has repeatedly failed to successfully decrease the number of homeless in the city and ultimately ends up spending more to combat the problem than predicted, the Daily News writes.
Both the Mayor and NYT Admit the Second Homeless Plan This Year Will Not Solve the Problem Nobody is Talking About the Causes the lost of the Cities Affordable Apts
Promises 90 New Homeless Shelters WHERE?
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he couldn’t see an immediate end to New York’s homelessness crisis and that a “blood-and-guts war strategy” was needed, but whether his strategy is gutsy enough to make a dent in the problem is unknown, The New York Times writes. *
City Spending On the Homeless Has Doubled Under de Blasio and Its Not Enough to Stop the Crisis
More On Inspectors Arrest
Homeless Shelter Violence Problem
Internal reports from the city’s homeless shelter system from January to June last year reveal a system struggling to keep violence in check and a crackdown by the NYPD to regain control, NY1 reports.
Groundhog Day Homeless Hotel Use Up: $648K Per Night With 421-a Renewal More Gentrification Driving Rents Up More Displacement More Homeless
NYC spent $648K to house homeless in hotels for one night (NYP) City taxpayers shelled out a record $648,000 to house the homeless in hotels for just one night last year, according to an alarming new report obtained by The Post. The staggering figure included a block of 10 rooms at a hotel near Times Square at a cost of $549 each, according to the city comptroller’s report. Homeless people were put up for the night of Dec. 30 — when temperatures hit a high of 40 degrees and a low of 33. Stringer’s office said that in just four recent months, the city’s overall homeless hotel tab spiked 32 percent, with the daily bill jumping from $400,000 on Oct. 31 — when temps dipped to 44 degrees — to $530,000 on Feb. 28, when the low temperature was 47. The actual number of homeless people being placed in hotels during that time period increased by roughly the same amount, 33 percent, to 7,790 from 5,881. The report, which Stringer plans to make public Monday, also revealed that the average daily cost for commercial hotel bookings for the city’s homeless skyrocketed a whopping 600 percent over 16 months — going from $82,214 per day in November 2015 to $576,203 in February 2017. But while hotel rooms may sound lavish to some, they often lack such basic amenities as kitchens and easy access to social services, which are viewed as essential to helping homeless people.*
City Spending On the Homeless Has Doubled Under de Blasio and Its Not Enough to Stop the Crisis
Homeless Shelter Violence Problem
Groundhog Day Homeless Hotel Use Up: $648K Per Night With 421-a Renewal More Gentrification Driving Rents Up More Displacement More Homeless
| DNA Info Reports
Increase Funding Has Not Stopped Increases in Homelessness When Will the NY Daily News Connect Higher Rents Connected to Gentrification As the Cause?
Despite increasing funding for homeless services each year, the de Blasio administration has repeatedly failed to successfully decrease the number of homeless in the city and ultimately ends up spending more to combat the problem than predicted, the Daily News writes.
Both the Mayor and NYT Admit the Second Homeless Plan This Year Will Not Solve the Problem Nobody is Talking About the Causes the lost of the Cities Affordable Apts
Promises 90 New Homeless Shelters WHERE?
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he couldn’t see an immediate end to New York’s homelessness crisis and that a “blood-and-guts war strategy” was needed, but whether his strategy is gutsy enough to make a dent in the problem is unknown, The New York Times writes. *
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he couldn’t see an immediate end to New York’s homelessness crisis and that a “blood-and-guts war strategy” was needed, but whether his strategy is gutsy enough to make a dent in the problem is unknown, The New York Times writes. *
City Spending On the Homeless Has Doubled Under de Blasio and Its Not Enough to Stop the Crisis
City spending on homeless to hit $2.3B this fiscal year (NYP) City spending on the homeless in this fiscal year is poised to reach $2.3 billion — nearly double the $1.2 billion spent three years ago, Comptroller Scott Stringer said Wednesday. The payouts anticipated for fiscal 2017 — which ends June 30 — include $1.4 billion for housing families and single adults in shelters, Stringer’s office found. The city also expects to spend $400 million for homeless-prevention and anti-eviction services, along with $188 million on rental subsidies. Additionally, the comptroller’s analysis showed that the city spent $102 million on rooms in commercial hotels for the homeless in calendar 2016 — a practice started under Mayor de Blasio.*
NY Times Continues to Play Cheerleader to Minimize de Blasio Problems Like Homelessness
Mayor de Blasio Scrambles to Curb Homelessness After Years of Not Keeping Pace (NYT) A surge in homelessness, and criticism of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of it, has become one of the visible and vexing issues of his first three years in office.*
apartments (NYDN) * Reports of homeless people more than doubled last year (NYP) Reports of homeless people to the city’s 311 hot line more than doubled last year — but the city says it’s because more workers are looking for them. Calls and phone messages about homeless people swelled 106 percent, from 24,625 in 2015 to 50,783 last year, records show. More than half of last year’s calls were the city’s homeless-outreach workers reporting the presence of a homeless person, records show. * Homeless deaths in New York City increased in FY 2016 (PoliticoNY)
Despite de Blasio's Vows to Do Away With Them More Homeless Hotels Coming for Next 9 Years
Homeless could get more hotels as de Blasio vows to get rid of them (NYP) The city could be using hotel rooms to house the homeless for another nine years under a new proposal, despite Mayor de Blasio’s stated goal of changing that policy “as quickly as possible.” The Department of Homeless Services, facing a record homeless population of nearly 60,000 across the city, posted a request last month for vendors that could supply “emergency shelter social services in commercial hotels.” The mayor announced in February that the city intended to phase out the hotels after a homeless woman and her two children were stabbed to death at a Staten Island motel where they had been placed by the city. “The goal is to use hotels less and less and eventually stop using hotels altogether,” de Blasio said at the time. But the department’s solicitation for bids notes that the resulting contract would be “anticipated” to last between three and nine years. From Nov. 1, 2015, to Oct. 31, 2016, the department made 425,000 hotel-room bookings at a cost of more than $72.9 million, according to city Comptroller Scott Stringer. With the homeless population growing, the city actually expanded the use of the hotels. But critics said the extended time frame is evidence that “homeless” hotels will be around for years. * As Homeless Crisis Grows in NYC, State Sits on $2 Billionin Yet-to-Be Released Housing Funds
The None Battle Against Gentrification and the Harm Done By 421-a and Airbnb to Affordable Housing, Causing More Homeless
Former Deputy Mayor Barrious-Paoli de Blasio Took Eye Off the Ball of the HOMELESS Problem
Former deputy mayor rips de Blasio's handle on homelessness in the city (NYDN) Ex-Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli blasted her old boss Mayor de Blasio for not having a long-term vision to deal with homelessness — and said she left the administration because she didn’t like the way it was handling the issue. The former nun, who was well-respected among advocates for the poor, said there is too much “immediatism” in the administration when it comes to homelessness. “They are not seeing the long term and they don't have a long-term plan,” she said in an interview on NY1 Noticias in Spanish. Barrios-Paoli, who had been the deputy mayor in charge of homelessness, stepped down last year citing “personal reasons.” “I thought that the best thing for me was to leave,” she said. Asked if she liked working with de Blasio, she added, “There were some difficulties.” She chuckled when asked to elaborate, then declined to say more. Meanwhile, city Controller Scott Stringer demanded that de Blasio immediately address what he termed “potentially dangerous conditions” at city homeless shelters. In a letter to the heads of the homeless, health and child welfare agencies, Stringer cites his finding that 82% of child care workers at shelters didn’
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
In Spite of A 60% Increase in Homeless Spending Since de Blasio Took Office City's Homeless Program Out of Control
De Blasio’s administration has increased spending on homeless services by about 60 percent since he took office, reaching a historic $1.6 billion this year, at the same time the population in city shelters is up nearly 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Majority of New Yorkers Say DeB Failed Homeless and Should Not Be Re-Elected Low Turn Out NYC Can Easy Go Around or Distract Real Issues
De Blasio can’t seem to get it right with the homeless (NYP) A poll Wednesday reported that half of New Yorkers don’t believe Mayor de Blasio deserves re-election. Now a follow-up survey explains a big reason why: his mismanagement of the homeless scandal. The Quinnipiac poll released Thursday shows New Yorkers give a huge thumbs down — 59 percent to 31 percent — to the city’s handling of the homeless crisis. And little wonder: Fully 51 percent continue to say they see more homeless people on the city’s streets and in the parks and subways, where they sleep, loiter and panhandle. Some 96 percent say homelessness continues to be a serious problem — with 70 percent calling it “very serious.” And they’re losing patience as the mayor flails about in search of a solution. What will it take for de Blasio to comprehend that he’s dropped the ball here and do something — starting maybe with holding his homeless czar, Steven Banks, accountable? Recall that Hizzoner at first refused to admit anything was wrong, even after The Post called attention to the issue. Since then, he’s tried to mask the problem by pretending a rise in homelessness is actually a decline. Fact is, de Blasio has tripled the number of homeless in hotels (after vowing to stop using them altogether). The shelter population has broken 60,000, the highest number ever. And de Blasio has slimed communities that resent having shelters foisted on them without their input as heartless and racist.
NY Times Continues to Play Cheerleader to Minimize de Blasio Problems Like Homelessness
Mayor de Blasio Scrambles to Curb Homelessness After Years of Not Keeping Pace (NYT) A surge in homelessness, and criticism of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of it, has become one of the visible and vexing issues of his first three years in office.*
apartments (NYDN) * Reports of homeless people more than doubled last year (NYP) Reports of homeless people to the city’s 311 hot line more than doubled last year — but the city says it’s because more workers are looking for them. Calls and phone messages about homeless people swelled 106 percent, from 24,625 in 2015 to 50,783 last year, records show. More than half of last year’s calls were the city’s homeless-outreach workers reporting the presence of a homeless person, records show. * Homeless deaths in New York City increased in FY 2016 (PoliticoNY)
apartments (NYDN) * Reports of homeless people more than doubled last year (NYP) Reports of homeless people to the city’s 311 hot line more than doubled last year — but the city says it’s because more workers are looking for them. Calls and phone messages about homeless people swelled 106 percent, from 24,625 in 2015 to 50,783 last year, records show. More than half of last year’s calls were the city’s homeless-outreach workers reporting the presence of a homeless person, records show. * Homeless deaths in New York City increased in FY 2016 (PoliticoNY)
Despite de Blasio's Vows to Do Away With Them More Homeless Hotels Coming for Next 9 Years
The None Battle Against Gentrification and the Harm Done By 421-a and Airbnb to Affordable Housing, Causing More Homeless
Former Deputy Mayor Barrious-Paoli de Blasio Took Eye Off the Ball of the HOMELESS Problem
Former deputy mayor rips de Blasio's handle on homelessness in the city (NYDN) Ex-Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli blasted her old boss Mayor de Blasio for not having a long-term vision to deal with homelessness — and said she left the administration because she didn’t like the way it was handling the issue. The former nun, who was well-respected among advocates for the poor, said there is too much “immediatism” in the administration when it comes to homelessness. “They are not seeing the long term and they don't have a long-term plan,” she said in an interview on NY1 Noticias in Spanish. Barrios-Paoli, who had been the deputy mayor in charge of homelessness, stepped down last year citing “personal reasons.” “I thought that the best thing for me was to leave,” she said. Asked if she liked working with de Blasio, she added, “There were some difficulties.” She chuckled when asked to elaborate, then declined to say more. Meanwhile, city Controller Scott Stringer demanded that de Blasio immediately address what he termed “potentially dangerous conditions” at city homeless shelters. In a letter to the heads of the homeless, health and child welfare agencies, Stringer cites his finding that 82% of child care workers at shelters didn’
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
In Spite of A 60% Increase in Homeless Spending Since de Blasio Took Office City's Homeless Program Out of Control
De Blasio’s administration has increased spending on homeless services by about 60 percent since he took office, reaching a historic $1.6 billion this year, at the same time the population in city shelters is up nearly 20 percent, The Wall Street Journal writes.
Majority of New Yorkers Say DeB Failed Homeless and Should Not Be Re-Elected Low Turn Out NYC Can Easy Go Around or Distract Real Issues
De Blasio can’t seem to get it right with the homeless (NYP) A poll Wednesday reported that half of New Yorkers don’t believe Mayor de Blasio deserves re-election. Now a follow-up survey explains a big reason why: his mismanagement of the homeless scandal. The Quinnipiac poll released Thursday shows New Yorkers give a huge thumbs down — 59 percent to 31 percent — to the city’s handling of the homeless crisis. And little wonder: Fully 51 percent continue to say they see more homeless people on the city’s streets and in the parks and subways, where they sleep, loiter and panhandle. Some 96 percent say homelessness continues to be a serious problem — with 70 percent calling it “very serious.” And they’re losing patience as the mayor flails about in search of a solution. What will it take for de Blasio to comprehend that he’s dropped the ball here and do something — starting maybe with holding his homeless czar, Steven Banks, accountable? Recall that Hizzoner at first refused to admit anything was wrong, even after The Post called attention to the issue. Since then, he’s tried to mask the problem by pretending a rise in homelessness is actually a decline. Fact is, de Blasio has tripled the number of homeless in hotels (after vowing to stop using them altogether). The shelter population has broken 60,000, the highest number ever. And de Blasio has slimed communities that resent having shelters foisted on them without their input as heartless and racist.
de Blasio Plays the Race Card Using the Homeless on White Maspeth Protesters Sounds Like His 2017 Campaign Theme to Rally His Progressive Vote
De Blasio lets his minions play the race card (NYP) If Mayor de Blasio thinks the Queens folks who’ve derailed his push for a new homeless shelter in Maspeth are just racists, he should say so himself. If he doesn’t, he needs to fire the aides who keep pushing that smear. It’s been more than a week since mayoral aide Aja Worthy-Davis said city Comptroller Scott Stringer should be “ashamed” after “courting a group advocating for kicking women and toddlers onto the street [and] using ‘White Lives Matter’ as their protest song.” Stringer had merely visited the Juniper Park Civic Association in Maspeth to hear concerns about the mayor’s ill-advised shelter plan for the area. More, he’d made a point of warning that the city needs more homeless shelters — but that communities deserve to have input on siting issues. Cue Worthy-Davis’ harsh words — which themselves echo two videos put on the City Hall Web site by the mayor’s aides. State Sen. Joe Addabbo accuses the mayor — rightly so — of hiding “behind an imaginary racial battle” that has no place in solving homelessness. Worse, it seems de Blasio is leaving it to his aides to play the race card for him. * The Post writes that it seems de Blasio is leaving it to his aides to play the race card for him, with mayoral aide Aja Worthy-Davis saying city Comptroller Scott Stringer should be “ashamed” after “courting a group… using ‘White Lives Matter’ as their protest song.”*More than half of all New Yorkers are roughly onepaycheck away from homelessness, new study says:(DNAINFO)
Increased Homelessness
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
The Media Reports on the Homeless, the Mayor 180 Admits Its A Problems, But Nobody Explains the Reason for the Increase
A Mayor Whose Pro Developer$ Housing Policy Failed Homeless Policy, Dumps Shelters on Communities That Won't Vote for Him
De Blasio rips opponents of homeless shelter conversion (NYP) Mayor de Blasio warned opponents of a Queens homeless shelter that he won’t be “intimidated” by their protests, even egging them on to demonstrate at Gracie Mansion. The mayor blasted Maspeth residents who oppose the conversion of a Holiday Inn into a homeless facility. “We’re not going to be intimidated by protests,” the mayor said Friday on WNYC Radio.
As Shelter Population Surges, Housing for Disabled Comes Up Short (NYT)
Advocates have been fighting for years for accommodations for people with disabilities, and the shortcomings have become more pressing.
De Blasio BlamesMedia Coverage of Homeless For Surge in 311 Complaints (DNAINFO) de Blasio said Thursday that heightened media coverage of the homeless in recent weeks is fueling the surge in 311 complaints since he's taken office. He said recent stories claiming an increase in the number of homeless people on city streets are overstating the problem — but they are having an impact on the public. "I think the media has put a lot of attention on this issue lately, more than previously," he told reporters during a press conference at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx. "I'm not sure if the attention that's been given is proportionate to what's happening. I think it's caused people to be more and more concerned."
Under Press of Causing A Racial Divide de Blasio Limits Plans for Maspeth Hotel to 30 Homeless Men Protests Continue
Feds unseal charges against Cuomo cronies in bribery scandal (NYP) The city has dropped its plan to fully convert a Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter, citing "local opposition" that includes numerous protests from neighbors. The hotel near Maurice Avenue and the Long Island Expressway had been eyed as a full shelter by the city and its owner, Harsh Patel, for months.* Maspeth HolidayInn won't be turned into full shelter due to 'local opposition' but will househomeless men (WPIX)
Homeless
de Blasio Has No Strategy on the Homeless Crisis . . . Panic in City Hall . . . NY Post Fire the Commissioner
De Blasio lets his minions play the race card (NYP) If Mayor de Blasio thinks the Queens folks who’ve derailed his push for a new homeless shelter in Maspeth are just racists, he should say so himself. If he doesn’t, he needs to fire the aides who keep pushing that smear. It’s been more than a week since mayoral aide Aja Worthy-Davis said city Comptroller Scott Stringer should be “ashamed” after “courting a group advocating for kicking women and toddlers onto the street [and] using ‘White Lives Matter’ as their protest song.” Stringer had merely visited the Juniper Park Civic Association in Maspeth to hear concerns about the mayor’s ill-advised shelter plan for the area. More, he’d made a point of warning that the city needs more homeless shelters — but that communities deserve to have input on siting issues. Cue Worthy-Davis’ harsh words — which themselves echo two videos put on the City Hall Web site by the mayor’s aides. State Sen. Joe Addabbo accuses the mayor — rightly so — of hiding “behind an imaginary racial battle” that has no place in solving homelessness. Worse, it seems de Blasio is leaving it to his aides to play the race card for him. * The Post writes that it seems de Blasio is leaving it to his aides to play the race card for him, with mayoral aide Aja Worthy-Davis saying city Comptroller Scott Stringer should be “ashamed” after “courting a group… using ‘White Lives Matter’ as their protest song.”*More than half of all New Yorkers are roughly onepaycheck away from homelessness, new study says:(DNAINFO)
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
The Media Reports on the Homeless, the Mayor 180 Admits Its A Problems, But Nobody Explains the Reason for the Increase
A Mayor Whose Pro Developer$ Housing Policy Failed Homeless Policy, Dumps Shelters on Communities That Won't Vote for Him
De Blasio rips opponents of homeless shelter conversion (NYP) Mayor de Blasio warned opponents of a Queens homeless shelter that he won’t be “intimidated” by their protests, even egging them on to demonstrate at Gracie Mansion. The mayor blasted Maspeth residents who oppose the conversion of a Holiday Inn into a homeless facility. “We’re not going to be intimidated by protests,” the mayor said Friday on WNYC Radio.
As Shelter Population Surges, Housing for Disabled Comes Up Short (NYT)
The Media Reports on the Homeless, the Mayor 180 Admits Its A Problems, But Nobody Explains the Reason for the Increase
A Mayor Whose Pro Developer$ Housing Policy Failed Homeless Policy, Dumps Shelters on Communities That Won't Vote for Him
As Shelter Population Surges, Housing for Disabled Comes Up Short (NYT)
Advocates have been fighting for years for accommodations for people with disabilities, and the shortcomings have become more pressing.
De Blasio BlamesMedia Coverage of Homeless For Surge in 311 Complaints (DNAINFO) de Blasio said Thursday that heightened media coverage of the homeless in recent weeks is fueling the surge in 311 complaints since he's taken office. He said recent stories claiming an increase in the number of homeless people on city streets are overstating the problem — but they are having an impact on the public. "I think the media has put a lot of attention on this issue lately, more than previously," he told reporters during a press conference at Lincoln Hospital in The Bronx. "I'm not sure if the attention that's been given is proportionate to what's happening. I think it's caused people to be more and more concerned."
Under Press of Causing A Racial Divide de Blasio Limits Plans for Maspeth Hotel to 30 Homeless Men Protests Continue
Feds unseal charges against Cuomo cronies in bribery scandal (NYP) The city has dropped its plan to fully convert a Holiday Inn Express into a homeless shelter, citing "local opposition" that includes numerous protests from neighbors. The hotel near Maurice Avenue and the Long Island Expressway had been eyed as a full shelter by the city and its owner, Harsh Patel, for months.* Maspeth HolidayInn won't be turned into full shelter due to 'local opposition' but will househomeless men (WPIX)
Homeless
de Blasio Has No Strategy on the Homeless Crisis . . . Panic in City Hall . . . NY Post Fire the Commissioner
De Blasio’s homeless ‘strategy’ isn’t a strategy at all (NYP Ed) It’s increasingly plain that Team de Blasio’s “strategy” on homelessness amounts to . . . panic. Sunday’s Post broke the news of a new de facto conversion of a hotel into a shelter on Madison Avenue, the 72-room MAve Hotel. Neighbors see a whole cluster of shelters opening up, since the 12-story Latham Hotel around the corner on East 28th Street is already a shelter, while the 416-unit Prince George Hotel next door provides low-income housing for ex-homeless. The city’s spending hundreds of thousands a month to house homeless in the MAve. Ironically, another part of city government last year sued the principal owner, Salim “Solly” Assa, for allegedly operating an illegal hotel on West 55th. After vowing to end the use of hotels as shelters, Mayor de Blasio instead has tripled the number of homeless in hotels this year. Meanwhile, City Hall is apparently trying to put homeless at the head of the line for some affordable-housing units. Crain’s reports that Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been has been calling developers who built affordable units under the state 421-a program to bully them into going along. Under new rules the city issued recently, 421-a units reserved as “community preference” are now to go to homeless who once lived in that community. (The city says taxpayers will help pay the rent if needed.) Landlords are sure to sue to stop the bait-and-switch: They never signed up to run shelters, and their regular tenants — in both market-rate and affordable units — would be furious to have a homeless population thrust into their buildings. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli told NY1 Noticias last week that the mayor and homeless czar Steve Banks “don’t have a long-term plan.” For decades a key city-government leader on homelessness, Barrios-Paoli left Team de Blasio last year amid rumors that she was furious at being ignored. We’ve long warned that the city won’t turn the corner on homelessness as long as de Blasio insists on leaving Banks in charge. Let’s hope the mayor will finally see the light when his latest desperation measures fail.New York City is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month housing homeless families in the NoMad hotel, but simultaneously suing the property’s owner for operating illegal and dangerous rentals, the Post reports. * Builders That Got Tax Breaks Must Set Aside Some Units for Homeless, City Says (NYT) Moving to reduce the number of New Yorkers in shelters, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is requiring developers that got 421-a subsidies to give some units to homeless people.* Hotel taking in homeless people is a fire safety disaster (NYP) A Madison Avenue hotel the city uses to house homeless families is flouting the city’s fire laws. Some rooms lack required sprinklers, there are no fire safety directors, and a lobby fire exit has been bolted shut, according to a source familiar with the hotel at 27th Street and Madison Avenue.
De Blasio’s homeless ‘strategy’ isn’t a strategy at all (NYP Ed) It’s increasingly plain that Team de Blasio’s “strategy” on homelessness amounts to . . . panic. Sunday’s Post broke the news of a new de facto conversion of a hotel into a shelter on Madison Avenue, the 72-room MAve Hotel. Neighbors see a whole cluster of shelters opening up, since the 12-story Latham Hotel around the corner on East 28th Street is already a shelter, while the 416-unit Prince George Hotel next door provides low-income housing for ex-homeless. The city’s spending hundreds of thousands a month to house homeless in the MAve. Ironically, another part of city government last year sued the principal owner, Salim “Solly” Assa, for allegedly operating an illegal hotel on West 55th. After vowing to end the use of hotels as shelters, Mayor de Blasio instead has tripled the number of homeless in hotels this year. Meanwhile, City Hall is apparently trying to put homeless at the head of the line for some affordable-housing units. Crain’s reports that Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been has been calling developers who built affordable units under the state 421-a program to bully them into going along. Under new rules the city issued recently, 421-a units reserved as “community preference” are now to go to homeless who once lived in that community. (The city says taxpayers will help pay the rent if needed.) Landlords are sure to sue to stop the bait-and-switch: They never signed up to run shelters, and their regular tenants — in both market-rate and affordable units — would be furious to have a homeless population thrust into their buildings. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli told NY1 Noticias last week that the mayor and homeless czar Steve Banks “don’t have a long-term plan.” For decades a key city-government leader on homelessness, Barrios-Paoli left Team de Blasio last year amid rumors that she was furious at being ignored. We’ve long warned that the city won’t turn the corner on homelessness as long as de Blasio insists on leaving Banks in charge. Let’s hope the mayor will finally see the light when his latest desperation measures fail.New York City is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a month housing homeless families in the NoMad hotel, but simultaneously suing the property’s owner for operating illegal and dangerous rentals, the Post reports. * Builders That Got Tax Breaks Must Set Aside Some Units for Homeless, City Says (NYT) Moving to reduce the number of New Yorkers in shelters, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration is requiring developers that got 421-a subsidies to give some units to homeless people.* Hotel taking in homeless people is a fire safety disaster (NYP) A Madison Avenue hotel the city uses to house homeless families is flouting the city’s fire laws. Some rooms lack required sprinklers, there are no fire safety directors, and a lobby fire exit has been bolted shut, according to a source familiar with the hotel at 27th Street and Madison Avenue.
Former Deputy Mayor Barrious-Paoli de Blasio Took Eye Off the Ball HOMELESS
Former deputy mayor rips de Blasio's handle on homelessness in the city (NYDN) Ex-Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli blasted her old boss Mayor de Blasio for not having a long-term vision to deal with homelessness — and said she left the administration because she didn’t like the way it was handling the issue. The former nun, who was well-respected among advocates for the poor, said there is too much “immediatism” in the administration when it comes to homelessness. “They are not seeing the long term and they don't have a long-term plan,” she said in an interview on NY1 Noticias in Spanish. Barrios-Paoli, who had been the deputy mayor in charge of homelessness, stepped down last year citing “personal reasons.” “I thought that the best thing for me was to leave,” she said. Asked if she liked working with de Blasio, she added, “There were some difficulties.” She chuckled when asked to elaborate, then declined to say more. Meanwhile, city Controller Scott Stringer demanded that de Blasio immediately address what he termed “potentially dangerous conditions” at city homeless shelters. In a letter to the heads of the homeless, health and child welfare agencies, Stringer cites his finding that 82% of child care workers at shelters didn’
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
de Blasio Attacks Conservative Maspeth As Racist On Homeless Shelter Protests to Build A Progressive Coalition for His 2017 Re-Election
Lawmakers denounce de Blasio for calling constituents heartless (NYP) “I was appalled by that video, that propaganda video,” said State Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Queens). “I’ve never seen an administration go to that length to try and justify a failed policy. That was to me a sign of desperation.” Addabbo and State Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Queens) said their constituents’ anger was largely sparked by a lack of communication from the mayor’s office and Department of Homeless Services. They say the administration has often given them no notice that homeless shelters are coming to their districts, or that hotels are being converted for shelter use. Peralta even went as far as saying he was lied to by DHS when he asked about a shelter opening up in his district – which it did two months after he was told it wouldn’t. “That was their frustration. So to use that and turn it around and say, ‘Oh these people could care less about homeless’ – I think that was low,” said Peralta. “I think that was a political ploy. I think that was a political tactic you see in dirty campaigning during election time.” A mayoral spokesman said the video was balanced. “Our video shows the city two sides of an important debate. The mayor wants to house homeless New Yorkers safely, and our opponents want to kick homeless kids and families to the street,” said City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips. “If someone is ashamed of how they look in that debate, they should probably change sides.” The Post reported last month that the city’s use of hotels to house homeless individuals has jumped by 50 percent since February — from 2,656 in February to nearly 4,000 in July — despite a pledge by the mayor that the practice would be reduced and ultimately halted. The city was housing 58,874 individuals in its shelters and hotels as of Tuesday.* Bill de Blasio Versus NIMBYism (Gotham Gazette)*Homelessness among NYC schoolkids surges as population tops 100,000 (NYDN)
Michael Benjamin @SquarePegDem De Blasio's sad 'answer' to homelessness is a fantasy via @nypost
Daily News Blames Liberal Everyone Welcomed Homeless Policy Not Gentrification Push Out For Increase Homeless Numbers
Bill’s blame game on the homeless crisis (NYDN Ed) Deluded by righteousness and presuming the lowest motives among critics, Mayor de Blasio is unforgivably casting constituents as heartless racists in a drama of his own making. He needs to spend more time reckoning with his role in exacerbating record homelessness . The mayor’s Department of Homeless Services on Monday beat a retreat from a Maspeth, Queens, Holiday Inn it had intended to convert to shelter, after infuriated neighbors protested for weeks, including on the Brooklyn stoop of city homelessness czar Steve Banks. Still, says the city, it will continue to rent rooms in the hotel “for working adults.” The Maspeth revolt activated protests in Bellerose, where 40 homeless families lived in hotel rooms paid for by the city, with nowhere to squeeze into an overflowing shelter system now at population 59,928 and rising. Of those, as many as 6,000 live in hotels, a number rapidly rising. But dare to question the hotels, byproducts of well-intentioned policy gone amok, and heaven help your sinister soul. On Tuesday, the mayor called supplying shelter “a citywide moral and legal responsibility.” That followed a pair of manipulative internet videos — with the mayor’s name on them — shaming shelter opponents as harboring hate toward mostly black hotel residents. In one, a soundbite from the crowd rings “White lives matter.” Queens residents’ concerns about their new neighbors may be overwrought. But the worse offense is to impose on city neighborhoods ills that have metastasized because of a mayor’s own failed theories of social engineering.
True News Wags the NYP On de Blasio Turning Against Maspeth by A Video that Paints the Community as Racist
City Hall is oblivious and shows no interest in local input (NYP) So now when you fight City Hall, you can expect to be smeared by taxpayer-funded propaganda films casting you as heartless, children-hating villains. Two videos on City Hall’s Web site target a group of Queens residents and officials who demonstrated outside a homeless shelter to protest the way Team de Blasio is running roughshod over their neighborhood. One shows city officials ushering homeless children from the Bellerose shelter on a field trip as protesters rally outside. The other features a black mother and her infant — and scenes from the demonstration to a soundtrack of someone saying “white lives matter” over and over. The blatant message: Anyone upset about a shelter being jammed into their neighborhood with zero local input is just a racist. “I’ve never seen an administration go to that length to try and justify a failed policy. That was to me a sign of desperation,” says state Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Queens). In fact, the city’s efforts to ram through shelter sitings have met with backlash in all kinds of neighborhoods. Time and again, the mayor’s people meet local officials’ initial inquiries with earnest denials. Hiding behind regulations meant to protect the privacy of its clients, the Department of Homeless Services misleads elected leaders about its plans until it’s too late to stop them. Queens electeds, fed up with being stonewalled by DHS, have taken to checking the Buildings Department Web site to learn if local motels are being used as shelters. City Hall shows no interest in treating local officials as partners. Multiple Queens leaders say Team de Blasio not only fails to solicit local input, it’s oblivious to what it does hear from the community. Instead, it plainly prefers to damn the dissenters as bigots. We suppose that’s easier than rethinking the policies that have homelessness surging. Yet smug ideological lectures from City Hall can only further polarize the citizenry. That might be an effective short-term political tactic, but it’s no way to govern successfully in the long run.
Pols Frighten By the Markey Loss Because She Ignored Homeless Shelter March and Protest
Queens pols blast Mayor de Blasio over controversialhomeless shelter plan for pushing poor New Yorkers into outer-borough hotels(NYDN) The de Blasio administration is completely mishandling the homeless crisis by sticking down-and-out people in outer-borough hotels — and ostracizing communities in the process, a trio of Queens pols charged Thursday. “Anyone is a paycheck away from becoming homeless, but the way this administration ... is handling this crisis is nothing but a mess,” State Sen. Jose Peralta said at a press conference outside City Hall protesting Mayor de Blasio’s homeless policies. “Warehousing homeless New Yorkers is not the solution.” Peralta, along with City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, complained that the administration was pushing the homeless into hotels lacking services in far-flung areas of the city without informing the community. “Get this, if anyone complaints, here comes the administration saying we don’t care about poor people,” fumed Peralta. He insisted, “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Crowley said her office has been getting conflicting information from the city about plans to turn a hotel in Maspeth into a full-time shelter, which she says is evidence of incompetence. “This is a clear example the de Blasio administration does not know what they’re doing,” she said. Addabbo recommended the city consider using vacant lots to site shelters, a city-wide huddle with elected officials to find suitable spots, and reconsider using so-called “cluster sites,” which are apartments the city pays for to house the homeless in residential buildings. Activists typically don’t like clusters because they have no services for people in need.
de Blasio Using More Homeless Hotels Despite Pledge to Use Less
Number of homeless living in hotels doubles in two months (NYP) The number of homeless housed in hotels by the city has soared 50 percent in just two months – from 3,990 in July to 6,000 this month, The Post has learned. The surge comes despite a pledge by Mayor de Blasio in February to “utilize hotels less and less and, as quickly as possible, to stop using hotels,” following the murder of a homeless woman and her two kids in a Staten Island hotel. There were 2,656 homeless people in hotels at the time, with an average room cost of $161 per night.
As de Blasio Blames New Yorkers for Not Accepting Homeless Shelters Nobody is Demanding Answers Why Homeless are Increasing
New Yorkers fightcity’s efforts to house homeless in middle-class neighborhoods (NYDN) The record high nearly 60,000 people living in the city’s shelter system isn’t the only homeless crisis Mayor de Blasio is battling. The mayor is also grappling with a mutiny from New Yorkers who don’t want the exploding homeless population in their neighborhoods. And those New Yorkers are increasingly mobilizing to stop the tide of homeless in their residential, middle-class neighborhoods – with some success. In the past month, three different Queens hotels appear to have pulled out of deals to house the homeless because of community opposition. In all three cases, the city refused to budge, so the locals targeted the hotel owner Harshad Patel. It worked. After they sent flowers to his home with the ominous note, “We’ll go out there if you don’t want to meet us in Maspeth,” Patel told Maspeth resident he would nix plans for a 110-bed facility at the Holiday Inn there. He also owns two hotels in Bellerose that also take in homeless, along with regular guests, for emergency lodging when the shelters have no room. Robert Holden, a Maspeth community leader fighting the shelters, said their successes have led to other neighborhood groups calling and asking for advice to stop shelters, including Astoria and Rosedale in Queens, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn. But Queens City Councilman Barry Grodenchik, said the Bellerose protesters in his district had “legitimate gripes.” When the hotel in his district first began accepting homeless people, he heard few complaints, he said, but in recent weeks, as more and more people were placed there, the chorus has grown. “It’s quality of life issues,” he said, citing loud noise and panhandling. Meanwhile, the mayor is trying to appeal to people’s hearts. On the day of the Bellerose protest, Banks took children living in one of the protested shelters to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — and released a heart-tugging video documenting the visit. The trip, Banks said, was to show, “a helping hand from adults, rather than the back of a hand.”
Pro Developer Blaming the Victim - NYP, Daily News: Lies About the Cause of Increase in Homeless: Its' Gentrification Displacement Nothing to do with "Rights of Homeless"
NY Post: "The roots of the city’s homeless woes go back decades, to the mad decision to recognize a legal “right to shelter.” Advocacy groups — like the one where Banks spent most of his career — followed with endless lawsuits and other pressure to add to the “rights” of the homeless, and limit the city’s ability to use any form of “tough love."
Daily News: "At a time when decent, affordable housing is scarce, de Blasio’s uncompromising defense of a legal right to shelter for all — the life’s work of his welfare commissioner, Steve Banks — makes for a self-fulfilling crisis."
Mayor's Broken Promise to Close A Homeless Hotel Also
Bronx officials fumeat de Blasio’s failure to remove homeless from motel (NYP) The city is reneging on a promise to remove the homeless from a motel in Riverdale where an accused bank robber had lived, angry Bronx officials charged Tuesday. Homeless individuals were indeed moved out — but they were replaced by homeless families. “This is the ultimate in hypocrisy and lies and just a sign that this administration has no clue on how to conduct a homeless policy,” fumed state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx). The Post reported in May that 48-year-old motel/shelter resident Paul Taylor was arrested in front of the Van Cortlandt Motel and charged with two bank heists in February. Residents and local officials said it was only then that they learned the motel had been leased as a homeless facility. Weeks after the Post report, de Blasio administration officials attended a community-board meeting and publicly promised to remove the homeless by September. “The mayor has a plan to discontinue that practice,” according to minutes from the June 9 Community Board 8 meeting. Lauren Gray, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services, said the city had hoped to empty the motel but needs to keep using it because of “increasing” demand. * The number of New Yorkers living in homeless shelters reached an all-time high over the weekend, a bleak milestone that officials blame on a lack of affordable housing and support services for the poor, the Daily News reports.
A Tale of Two CFBs: Albanese vs Campaign PAC NYCLASS,UFT's United for the Future
More about Lobbyists Mercury
de Blasio Using PAC Lobbyists Consultants To Get Around the Elections Law and Control Elections and the Press
The NYP Blames the Homeless Not the Loss Of Hundreds of Thousands Affordable Housing to Gentrification and Airbnb
Stuck-in-the-past Bill de Blasio still thinks more housing will end homelessness (NYP) Like most left-wing Democrats, Mayor de Blasio remains hopelessly mired in the past, declaring — as he did again just last week — that “the solution to homelessness” is more housing. De Blasio touted new figures he says show the success of the city’s programs — including emergency rental assistance and curbing evictions — in moving the homeless to permanent housing. Except for one missing detail: There are now more homeless families living in city shelters than ever before. But the reasons for this are not always strictly economic. In some cases, the same kind of substance-abuse and mental illness that leads to street homelessness among single men are at play.Also, some families claim homelessness because they know by law they are guaranteed an automatic right to shelter and will be given preferred access to public housing.*
The New York City Planning Commission declined to impose a zoning plank requiring affordable housing on a boutique condo proposed in Manhattan, and the borough president filed a letter objecting, which will send the matter to the Council, the Times reports.
Developer Wants to Test Mayor's Inclusionary Zoning in Inwood, Councilman Opposes Project (NY1) * City Council Votes Against Sherman Plaza Development in Inwood, Which Would Have Been the First to Use New Affordable Housing Regulations (NY1) *
The New York City Council voted against an apartment project in Inwood, which would have been the first private development proposed under de Blasio’s new zoning rules that require affordable units in any project that needs city approval, the Daily News reports.
The Times Union writes that most state lawmakers running for re-election would say they oppose a massive pay hike for themselves, and if they get one, there’s nothing they could do about it, but that’s not being entirely honest.
The Daily News writes that the council’s vote against an Inwood project shows a key component of de Blasio’s drive to spur affordable housing is in deep trouble, and that the speaker should disabuse lawmakers of the idea that they have veto power over new construction.
Where Do the People Go After They are Push Out of Their Homes by Gentrification?
Luxury hotel now doubles as city homeless shelter(NYP) Cops: De Blasio to blame for homeless encampment(NYP)A homeless couple has been living for months outside a vacant, city-owned building in Upper Manhattan — with one cop “explicitly” blaming the problem on Mayor de Blasio, neighbors told The Post on Tuesday.A finance worker who lives around the corner said he’s called 311 and the NYPD at least 20 times during the past year, and had three “lengthy conversations” with desk officers at the 28th Precinct who said there was nothing they could do. “One of them explicitly blamed Mayor de Blasio, saying something along the lines of, ‘Look who our boss is and the directives we’re getting from the top,’” said the 41-year-old married father of two.
When Will the Media and Pols Blame Airbnb and Gentrification for Loss of Affordable Housing and Increase In Homelessness?
Bill’s losing battle: Accounting for record numbers of homeless families (NYDN) On Sunday, a record 12,750 families, including 23,207 children, spent the night in a city-sponsored hotel or shelter. So did an additional 2,378 couples, also an all-time-high number. “The usual summer increase,” a Department of Homeless Services spokesperson shrugged, alluding to an annual rush of parents to seek shelter in between school years to minimize further disrupting their children’s lives. Mayor de Blasio is spending an astounding $1.7 billion this year to house and aid the homeless, filling what he describes as an economic gulf between how much money poor New Yorkers make and rent they must pay to stay housed. Some of that money pays for legal services designed to forestall evictions; by the city’s reckoning this has prevented a still worse surge into shelter.
How de Blasio Dances Homeless: Cover-Up, FIA Uncover, Press Release Fix
FIRST: City Cover-Up Serious Crime At the Homeless Shelters
NY1
has obtained documents that for the first time detail the horrific
crimes that occur at city homeless shelters. These reports show domestic
violence, assaults and drugs are saturating the system. NY1's Courtney
Gross will examine these horrific stories all week long in her series
Unsafe Haven. Here is her first report. Thousands of homeless New Yorkers choose to live out on the city's streets instead of inside its shelters.* 'I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE IN A BODY BAG': Homeless in New York would rather risk the street than being in hellish shelter system (NYDN) * De Blasio’s anwers on crime: deny, ignore and delay (NYP)
SECOND: NY1's Freedom of Information Discloses Horrific Crime At the Homeless Shelters
For
months, we heard stories about danger and crime, drug overdoses and
assaults. They are tales that are only now becoming much clearer, with
some hard numbers to back up the anecdotal evidence. NY1 has obtained
through a Freedom of Information Law request never-before-seen crime
reports, which, for the first time, detail violent and what are
called critical incidents that were reported in all of the city's
homeless shelters in 2015. The data and reports show that domestic
violence has overrun the system, overdoses occur in bathrooms, and
bedrooms and sexual assaults happen behind closed doors. The numbers
show that there were 416 reports of domestic violence last year, more
than one per day, and clearly a common occurrence at the city's family
homeless shelters. They show tat there were 153 assaults that led to
arrests, violence plaguing the city's shelters for single adults. There
were 90 reported sexual assaults, rapes or attempted rape. Forty adults
died inside shelters, at least five from what appears to be drug
overdoses. "
THIRD: The Mayor Announces A Quick Fix in A Press Release
City
Hall says security at shelters is one of its top priorities. Earlier
this year, after several murders at homeless shelters, the mayor
promised to increase security at both shelters that house those with
mental illness and hotels that have been converted to shelters. And now,
hours before our report aired, NY1 learned that the NYPD will begin
training the Department of Homeless Services peace officers, and the
department will deploy an action team to develop a plan to upgrade
security at shelters. The administration is also promising to address
domestic violence in shelters more aggressively, including putting more
social service workers in shelters and providing more training for
shelter employees.*De Blasio orders NYPD to take control of homeless shelters (NYDN) * NYPD’S 'BAIT-AND-SWITCH' AT SHELTERS: Cops raid homeless shelters to bust people wanted on warrants (NYDN) * Homeless Shelter Security Staff to Get NYPD Training(NYO) *New York Police Will Retrain Security Staff at Homeless Shelters (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the safety plans after a 90-day review of city homeless services. NYCHA $950 Million Police Academy Simulates the Mean Streets (NYT) The 730,000-square-foot complex in Queens includes several reproduced urban settings, like a subway station, apartments, precinct houses and courtrooms.
Gross: Do you think the shelter system is safe?
Max Vidal, homeless: No,
not at all. That's why a lot of people right now are in the trains and
places out other than a shelter, because they would rather not be in a
shelter. They would rather be on a train because it's safer.For many
years, the Department of Homeless Services has become a de facto mental
health system because a substantial number of people have had nowhere
else to turn for help but the shelter system," said Steven Banks,
commissioner of the city's Human Resources Administration. All of these
instances are merely examples of what we have found: a system that has
clearly become saturated with violence and crime.* Report paints scary picture of homeless shelter violence (NYP) * Shelter the shelters: De Blasio must secure homeless havens (NYDN Ed) * De Blasio receives recommendations
today from a review of the city’s homeless system that he announced
back in December. Among the things, he’ll consider is whether to
eliminate the Department of Homeless Services as a standalone agency.
DHA was created by former nYC Mayor David Dinkins and initially chaired
by now-Gov. Cuomo.
The Failed Homeless Commissioner and Other Given A Job to Shut Them Up?
Failed Homeless Services chief made aFamily Court judge (NYP) Continuing a trend of cushy landings for high-level appointees who leave or are pushed out of their posts, Mayor de Blasio has nominated former Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor to be a Family Court judge. Taylor resigned suddenly from his $219,773 position on Dec. 15 as the mayor announced a 90-day review to overhaul the struggling agency. Taylor has since been largely out of sight after being retained in a consulting role at full salary to help shape the new homeless policy. Critics say his nomination to a judgeship raises questions. “Whatever Gilbert Taylor’s qualifications may be, the appearance of using a Family Court judgeship as a soft landing for someone who botched the city’s response to the homeless crisis is concerning,” said City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), chair of the Committee on Courts & Legal Services. Other top administration officials have also kept collecting paychecks after losing their posts. Stacey Cumberbatch, once the commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, became an assistant VP at the municipal hospital system in January, retaining her $205,868 salary. In October, Rose Pierre-Louis left the mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, but also kept her $205,868 salary as a “senior adviser” to the mayor on gender issues. Consultant George Arzt added that keeping appointees in government is “a reward for loyalty — and that’s a huge commodity when you’re in government.”* 
More on How the City Failed the Homeless
NYP Helps the Mayor Distract From the Growing Homeless Crisis With Sonia's Train
Saturday - NY Post HomelessWoman Watch Day 4: SheStill Has 3 Carts, Thanks De Blasio (Gothamist)
Homeless hoarder’s junk train ‘just wasn’t fair’: De Blasio (NYP) Mayor de Blasio said on Thursday he gave the order to throw out a Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore. “Look, unfortunately someone who is a hoarder often collects a lot of trash, and that is what we found yesterday, and it just wasn’t appropriate for all those carts to create public problems,” Hizzoner said when asked about Sonia Gonzalez, after The Post reported that she’s been blocking traffic with her line of carts and dollies for years. * The Post writes that de Blasio realizes the power of thetabloid’s front page, as evidenced by him having city workers stop a homeless woman depicted on the cover from continuing to haul around more than 20 grocery carts of her belongings:* NYC Mayor de Blasio said he gave the order to throw out a homeless Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore.* Homeless hoarder’s junk train ‘just wasn’t fair’: de Blasio (NYP) de Blasio said Thursday he gave the order to throw out a Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore. “Look, unfortunately someone who is a hoarder often collects a lot of trash, and that is what we found yesterday, and it just wasn’t appropriate for all those carts to create public problems,” Hizzoner said when asked about Sonia Gonzalez, after The Post reported that she’s been blocking traffic with her line of carts and dollies for years. * The 2017 New York City budget has cut spending for homeless shelters, despite high levels of homelessness and calls for more funding to solve the crisis, according to a new report from The Independent Budget Office.
Memo to the NYO: Creating Gonzalez's Train Has Nothing to Do With Creating More Homeless, the City and State's Housing Policy and Pay to Play Devloper Corruption Has Done That
Cart lady’s trash train is gone — but the guy who built it is still running city’s homeless policy (NYP) Human Resources chief Steve Banks — de Blasio’s point-man on homeless policy — called Gonzalez’s plight “a very troubling situation.” No kidding.But then there’s his solution: “It is incumbent upon all of us to let the outreach workers continue to do their work today.” Sorry: “Outreach” is nowhere near enough. Of course, Banks was part of the problem long before the mayor hired him. For decades, he was the top guy at Legal Aid, a key “advocate” in expanding those “rights.” Don’t blame de Blasio for the whole homeless problem — blame him for expecting solutions from a guy who helped create Sonia Gonzalez’s crazy train.
NYT Are the Homeless Dasani's Better Off Today After Two Plus Years of de Blasio?
A Neighborhood’s Profound Divide (2013, NYT) Dasani, one of New York ’s 22,000 homeless children, lives on the margins of a gentrified city. A 5 point series by the NY Times * Invisible Child: Dasani's Homeless Life - The New York Times There are more than 22000 homeless children in New York , the highest number since the Great Depression. This is one of their stories.
Cuomo's NYP vs de Blasio NYT Fight Over the Homeless
Cuomo Knocks deBlasio Yet Again on Homelessness (NYP) “Why do editors fight with reporters? Because they have different roles,” Mr. Cuomo said when asked about the repeated public feuding between the two Democrats. But reporters and editors—known to shout in the newsroom now and then—typically don’t put their disagreements in print, something Mr. Cuomo’s administration did in giving the New York Post a letter in which they alleged a gang-rape had happened at a city shelter, and which Mr. de Blasio’s administration did when it handed the New York Times an angry response to the state denying the rape had happened.* Activist-labor group calls on Cuomo to work with City Hall on homelessness (PoliticoNY)
The Mayor and Council has Not A Clue How to Solve the City's Affordable Housing Crisis As They Spin Failed Plans
De Blasio’s infinitely-bedeviled affordable-housing hopes (NYDN Ed) When it comes to Mayor de Blasio’s latest housing plan, one City Council member says, “The devil’s in the details.” Wrong, says another, “The devil’s in plain sight.” They’re both right — as last week’s hearings on the plan made painfully clear. Critics say the mayor’s proposed rules to promote “affordable housing” (and fix practically every other problem under the sun) fall short. Well, yeah: His promises are sky-high. Plus, his ideas for delivering are so Rube-Goldberg complex that everyone sees things to gripe about. And de Blasio’s “inequality” mantra only fuels the discontent. But, oy, the details. The scheme features a mind-numbing range of variables, from the percentage of subsidized apartments to tenants’ income levels and even the neighborhood’s median earnings. And Team de Blasio isn’t just trying to get “affordable housing” built. It also aims for greater “economic diversity” in neighborhoods — even as it (rightly) argues that middle-income folks, as well as the poor, can have trouble paying market-rate rents in some areas. Never mind that, say some advocates, who want builders to offer more units and bigger subsidies for poorer tenants. Some even warn that de Blasio’s plan will speed gentrification and push up rents elsewhere in neighborhoods — a nutty flip on the idea of progress. The Not-In-My-Back-Yard crowd also hisses at the plan. And construction unions see a chance to demand higher wages. But builders eye the bottom line: If they can’t make a decent profit, they won’t build. “We are pushing as far as we can,” says de Blasio’s Housing Preservation and Development commissioner, Vicki Been. “If we push too far, we get zero housing.” Decades of city “affordable housing” efforts — with tools from rent regulation to Section 8 vouchers to tax breaks for developers — haven’t made a dent in the “crisis.” Instead, celebrities and top earners make headlines hoarding subsidized units, insiders cut the line for the relatively few “affordable” units and the squeeze continues for everyone else. De Blasio’s plan for 80,000 new subsidized units will yield the same result — assuming he can figure out how to get it passed. * New York City workers and police officers persuaded more than 100 homeless people to get off the street overnight into Sunday as the temperature plummeted below zero, but at least one man talked police into letting him stay, the Post writes: * Unions and activists are starting to lobby New York City Council members on alternative zoning proposals that promote local hiring and more safe work zones and call for more affordable units in areas that are up-zoned: http://goo.gl/sGgtG8
The Mayor's Plan Will Cost Billions and Will Not Build Enough Affordable Housing
Mayor de Blasio madetwo big self-harming choices when retailing his grand housing plan (NYDN) "Twelve years ago you would have thrown a ticker tape parade” for a mayor who planned to build affordable housing across the city, Councilman David Greenfield cracked while facing fury against Mayor de Blasio’s plan to do just that. Yet, like many others who spoke that long day — some tearfully describing appalling housing conditions and costs — the same advocates now urge the Council to reject the mayor’s proposal unless they see fundamental alterations. Speaker after speaker condemned de Blasio’s plan as a mortal threat to the city’s poor. How was it that Mayor de Blasio’s head-on Robin Hood assault on New York ’s real estate fat cats bombed with the very progressives who ought to champion the most aggressive affordable housing mandate in the country?
de Blasio Clueless On How to Manage the Homeless Problem Keeps Throwing Money At the Growing Crisis
Bill’s costlyhellholes: As the homelessness crisis grows, the administration seems to bethrowing good money after bad (NYDN) Ponder Mayor de Blasio’s priorities — and the goods he is buying with spiraling outlays on serving the homeless. The rapidly rising figures are astonishing. All together, the mayor will spend $1.7 billion on homelessness this year, a whopping 46% more than just two years ago. For context, $1.7 billion is more than the city spends annually to pick up and dispose garbage, run the fire department or keep the city’s drinking water clean. That amount includes $1.3 billion to run shelters, an outlay larger than the city spends on parks, senior centers, libraries and cultural institutions combined. Thousands of homeless families live in decrepit, roach-infested temporary apartments and hotels that have numerous housing code violations — with landlords reaping thousands of dollars a month for each apartment. Families frequently complain they receive little guidance securing an apartment so they can leave these abysmal accommodations — even though facility operators are paid to help them. Conditions are often so frightening in congregate shelters for single individuals that many live on streets or subways — and the city’s census of street denizens is questionable.
If the Council Pass the Mayor's New Housing Bill They Will Take Direct Responsibility for the Gentrification Throwing People Out of Their Homes
It’s impossible to overlook the self-harming choices de Blasio made in retailing his grand plan, when two of his most consistent political instincts served him poorly. One is to come up to the plate swinging for the bleachers, proposing citywide plans of history-making sweep. That’s what he did with the Housing New York vision unveiled in the first months of his term — promising to build and preserve 200,000 affordable apartments over 10 years via supersizing currently low-rise neighborhoods. The other is to insist on exhaustive consultation with affected communities — opening up the entirely reasonable expectation that hours of feedback collected at late-night meetings actually would be reflected in results.
The Mayor's Housing Plan Will Not Stop Gentrification
In fact, in East New York , that’s not how it’s actually going to work at all. The city’s analysis showed that all the housing developed there initially would have to be taxpayer-subsidized, because the neighborhood was so poor no developer could profit from building market-rate housing there. But with East New York serving as de Blasio’s inaptly chosen testing ground , activist groups rallied residents to oppose his plan as a Trojan horse for developers set on gentrifying the scrappy area. The same horror movie trailer unspooled in other low-income areas targeted by the mayor for development: Local residents shuddered that newcomers would come in to shove them aside, with even the supposedly affordable rents far beyond their meager budgets. Seeking to salvage a deal with the City Council, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, the savvy steamroller leading the housing effort, has now hinted that a compromise could be had, perhaps paying for more apartments for the poorest by raising rents on other affordable apartments. But there’s no such thing as free housing . Ultimately there are only two ways for the critics and their allies on the Council to get what they want.One is to bank on stepped-up luxury development, with rents so high they yield cash to spare to house the poor — furthering the very gentrification activists fear. Or more likely: de Blasio dips into his $8 billion affordable housing piggybank, committing to pay dearly to buy down rents to a level the poor can actually afford, and diverting funds that could have otherwise built additional affordable apartments.
DiNapoli Protects de Blasio On Homeless By Auditing Cuomo on His Homeless Mess
Audit slams Cuomo administration for bad oversightleading to lousy living conditions at homeless shelters (NYDN)The bombshell audit by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli found the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's failures resulted in a “range of substandard living conditions, the most egregious of which pose obvious and dangerous risks to shelter residents' health and safety.” DiNapoli's auditors found rodent and vermin infestation at 16 shelters statewide, fire safety issues at 18 facilities, mold growing in resident rooms at eight, and worn and soiled mattresses.* New York City , the Daily News reports: * New York City has made progress toward “functional zero” homelessness among veterans, which means that the number of homeless veterans entering shelters over 90 days equals the number leaving, The Wall StreetJournal writes * In response to an audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted the state previously had not been aggressive enough in tackling poor conditions at NYC homeless shelters, but nonetheless still laid a large share of the blame on the city.
"Mayor"Cuomo=failures“substandard ...conditions...pose obvious and dangerous risks to...health and safety.”
de Blasio Brought Back the Homeless Hotels to Avoid Community Opposition NIMBY Politics
De Blasio banned the opening of more homeless shelters (NYP) Mayor de Blasio personally banned the opening of new shelters in 2014 because of community backlash — and instead told officials to put homeless families in less secure hotels like the one where a mom and two kids were slaughtered Wednesday on Staten Island, The Post has learned. De Blasio issued the edict during a meeting with Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli and Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor — both of whom later resigned amid the growing homeless crisis, a DHS official said. “They started pushing us to put clients in commercial hotels because they didn’t want to notify the people in the communities,” the DHS source said. “When you open up a shelter, you have to notify the community, City Council members, officials, and people get upset. [De Blasio] had opened a lot of shelters that fall and was afraid of opening more. So he started opening up these hotels.” De Blasio sent senior policy adviser Lincoln Restler to work with DHS on the hotel program, but Restler ignored senior staffers’ fears that the hotels could endanger homeless residents, the DHS source said. * Unarmed homeless-services cops face violence in shelters, dozens of serious incidents categorized as 'priority one' (NYDN)
“These commercial hotels don’t have adequate security, and [city officials] know that,” the source explained. “Regular shelters do. [Many] have full-body metal detectors. A boyfriend can’t just walk in and go to his girlfriend’s room if he doesn’t live there.” In the Staten Island bloodbath, it’s unclear if tighter security would have prevented the atrocity. Surveillance video showed that victim Rebecca Cutler, 26, let Michael “Skyes” Sykes, her boyfriend who was also the father of one of the children he allegedly stabbed to death, into the hotel through a side door, a staffer there said. The city was not using any commercial hotels for the homeless in January 2014, City Hall officials said. But since then, Gotham ’s homeless population has soared — and so has the number of homeless staying in the commercial hotels. As of this week, roughly 2,656 people were housed in 41 hotels throughout the Big Apple, the City Hall source said, adding that only 16 had full-time security. The Ramada Inn in Willowbrook, where Wednesday’s killings took place at about 8:50 a.m., only had security at night.Cops were still searching for Sykes, 23, after tracing his whereabouts to Brooklyn , where his mother currently resides.* De Blasio and Cuomo Fire Tense Letters Over Security in Homeless Shelters (NY1)The latest public feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo is over security in homeless shelters, after a multiple fatal stabbing in a Staten Island hotel on Wednesday.*
Flashback Mayor’s Effort toReduce Homelessness Is Off Pace, Study Says(NYT 2008) The report criticizes the Bloomberg administration, saying it failed to deliver on what the mayor has repeatedly endorsed as an essential measure of public accountability: progress evaluations. Only one assessment of the plan’s various programs has been released so far, in 2005, the report says. “Without regular information,” it says, “it is unclear which programs the Bloomberg administration believes have been successful, what have been the major challenges, and whether current efforts and funding are adequate in order to make progress toward its goals.” Mr. de Blasio, chairman of the Council’s General Welfare Committee, which oversees the city’s social services agencies, said the mayor’s intentions were “very noble,” but cautioned, “It’s not just enough to set goals.”* WE'RE ALL EXHAUSTED': Unarmed homeless-services cops face violence in shelters, dozens of serious incidents categorized as 'priority one' (NYDN)
Stringer: de Blasio's Poor Management Making Homeless Problem Worse
Why $1.7B isn’t enough to fix the homeless crisis(NYP) The city’s spending on homeless services has skyrocketed by 46 percent over just two years — and there’s no sign New York taxpayers are getting their money’s worth, Comptroller Scott Stringer charged Wednesday. The three biggest agencies that deal with the homeless are pumping $1.7 billion into solving the crisis — up from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2014. “If you spend $1.7 billion, New Yorkers expect us to be doing a lot better than we are,” Stringer said in an analysis of the city’s preliminary fiscal-year 2017 budget.“Money’s not the issue. It’s more coordination, management and having the ability to get things done.” tringer, whose office recently uncovered deplorable conditions in the city’s shelter system, said he’s planning to dig deeper into where all the funding goes “because it’s a lot of money.” His analysis showed just over $1 billion allocated to operating adult and family shelters this year, up from $831 million two years ago. Funding for preventive services has more than tripled during that period — from $82 million to $259 million * Police said a man fatally stabbed a woman and two of her daughters in a Staten Island motel used to house homeless people, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said families would be moved out of the motel, The New York Times reports: * * A state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance official wrote a letter directing New York City to toughen security at emergency homeless shelters following the fatal stabbings and other incidents, The Wall StreetJournal reports:
What An Administration Even the Homeless Numbers Are Fixed
Banks in Charge of Mayor's Homeless Police Attacks Cuomo for Playing Politics
The New York City official in charge of homeless policy, Steve Banks, all but accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office of playing politics over homeless shelter safety after the murders of a woman and her two young children on Staten Island, Politico New York reports: * Lowballing the homeless count: another sign the mayor’s not serious (NYP) It’s been a month since Mayor de Blasio belatedly vowed to “own” the city’s homeless crisis “110 percent.” Huh. It’s hard to do that if the city has no idea how many are living on the streets — and its rules are designed to lowball the number. As The Post’s Frank Rosario and Bruce Golding reported Wednesday, volunteers taking part in Monday night’s annual street census were ordered not to count many of the homeless they encountered. HUD, which requires the census, says anyone whose “primary nighttime residence” is a place “not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation” is homeless. Last year’s census also took place on a sub-freezing night — and allowed de Blasio to claim a drop in street homeless. He stuck to those figures even as The Post demonstrated the opposite was true, accusing us of “fear-mongering” — before finally backtracking.* The Post writes that de Blasio will have a difficult timemeeting his commitment to “own” the homeless crisis “110 percent” because the city doesn’t know how many people are living on the street and is lowballing the number: * A state agency directed New York City to toughen security at its emergency homeless shelters following the fatal stabbings yesterday of a mother and her young children at a Staten Island hotel used to house the homeless. * NYC’s spending on homeless services has skyrocketed by 46 percent over just two years — and there’s no sign New York taxpayers are getting their money’s worth, ComptrollerScott Stringer charged.
City Homeless Count Only Includes People Living in Public Areas
Why New York City says only one of these men is homeless (NYP) Bums who seek warmth in ATM vestibules or McDonald’s on a frigid night have something in common with New Yorkers sipping champagne in the penthouses above them — they are not considered homeless. Thousands of volunteers who counted the city’s vagrants early Tuesday morning — with temperatures below freezing — were ordered to ignore private businesses, even though they are a common refuge. “Only survey public spaces, not private establishments such as restaurants or ATM booths,” said printed instructions from the Department of Homeless Services for the “Homeless Outreach Population Estimate [HOPE].” A list of “General Do’s and Don’ts” also told volunteers not to “go into private establishments (e.g., McDonald’s).” * New York City , the Post finds. * NYC food pantries low on money, and they need your help: (NYDN) * Mayor Joins Volunteers for Annual Homeless Count (NY1)* City to Provide Security for Hotels HousingHomeless After Triple Murder (NYO)
It Does Not Take A Rocket Scientist or Dumb Council Member to Understand Why the Homeless Live in the Cold On the Streets
HELTER SHELTER: Ex-teacher butchered by roommate at East Harlem shelter over cell phone — facility is scene of another gruesome murder over room lights in 2013 (NYDN) * DHS officers raid Harlem homeless shelter where man was butchered by resident(NYDN) * LETHAL MADNESS: Homeless shelters unequipped for influx of mentally ill (NYDN) It’s no wonder that thousands of the homeless brave wintry nights on the streets and in the subways when the alternative is to risk a from-hell roommate like Anthony White. The slasher secured his weapon without triggering a metal detector, then escaped from the 101-bed facility. All this, after White had been making death threats for a week, other residents of the Boulevard shelter said, ranting about his stolen iPhone, before he turned his murderous rage on 62-year-old Deven Black. A security guard is reported to have found White reclined on his bed with Black’s dead body on the floor. White ran out of the place amid horror-stricken staff.* 2 Lives Collide in Fatal Night at a Harlem Shelter (NYT) Deven Black and Anthony White ended up in the same room of an East Harlem shelter on Monday. By Wednesday night, Mr. Black was dead, his throat slashed, and Mr. White was on the run. *
Instead of Blaming the Mayor for Bad Management NYT's Pattern, Protect the Mayor and Publish His Flacks Press Release to Solve the Latest Problem
Mayor de Blasio Announces Plans to Boost Security and Mental Health Staff at New York City Shelters (NYT) The announcement came days after a killing at a shelter in Harlem, where a man with a history of psychiatric issues is suspected of fatally stabbing a former teacher.
Delayed Homeless Shelter Safety Report Released Whooping 21,401 Code Violations
Delayed New York City Report on Shelter Safety Violations Is Released (NYT) The report, which Mayor Bill de Blasio promised to release last May, documents longstanding problems in housing units rented as shelter space from private landlords. * New York City shelter safety violations has been released. * State presses city on homelessshelter security after two stabbings in four days via @Newsday * De Blasio Administration Makes Good on Commitment to Release Scorecard for Every City Homeless Shelter (NY1) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio released an overdue report cataloging violations at 600 sites used to house homeless people, which showed traditional shelters were safer than the cluster sites being phased out, The New York Times reports: * State orders increased security at 53rd Street homeless shelter (PoliticoNY)
Cuomo Ends the Christmas Truce Quickly the 2016 War Has Begun
De Blasio to defy Cuomo’s order to shelter homeless via nypost * Homeless reject Cuomo's plan to force them into hellholeshelters (NYDN) * Cuomo’s helping hand (NYDN Ed)* City to End Use of‘Cluster’ Homeless Shelter Units (NYO) “We are taking this initiative in order to end the use of this program, which resulted in substantial sums being paid for apartments—many that were in substandard conditions,” Mr. Banks said today at a City Hall press conference. *Homeless Advocates Question Executive Order(YNN) In a statement from Coalition for the Homeless President & CEO Mary Brosnahan, the group said it has “major concerns” with the effort to force homeless people into shelters and decried “aggressive measures” pursued by Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration.* Bratton says Cuomo’s executive order doesn’t change anything for #NYPD officers, re: homeless * Local governments and police agencies don’t have much time to comply with Cuomo’s new homelessness mandate, which was issued Sunday and takes effect tomorrow.* De Blasio and Bratton: Cuomo’s order has little impact on NYC (PoliticoNY) Mayor: ‘We appreciate the intent’ * NYPD stats show overall crime down, serious offenses up in ’15 (NYP) * Cuomo Orders Homeless People to Be Taken to Shelters in Freezing Weather (NYT) The executive order, which requires local authorities to remove homeless people from the streets when temperatures fall to 32 degrees, is likely to raise legal concerns and practical questions. * As an arctic front headed toward New York City , Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order requiring local governments across the state to take homeless people off the streets to shelters in freezing temperatures, The New York Timesreports: * The de Blasio administration supports the executive order, but a New York City official said Cuomo lacks the power to impose the mandate and knocked him for failing to provide more legal or financial resources to help the homeless, theDaily News reports: * Questions Over Cuomo’s Order on Homelessness (NYT) Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s plan to forcibly take people to shelters as temperatures drop has drawn scrutiny.
'HELL NO! I WON'T GO TO A SHELTER': Homeless New Yorkers reject Cuomo's order to vacate streets in freezing temps (NYDN) * COLD WAR: Gov. Cuomo freezes out Mayor de Blasio, issuing order to get homeless off street when temperatures hit 32 degrees (NYDN) New York City — to take the homeless who live outside to shelters when the mercury hits the freezing mark, the Daily News has learned. If they refuse to go, the order, which goes into effect on Tuesday, calls for the involuntary taking of the homeless to shelters when the temperatures hit 32 degrees or below. A Quinnipiac poll from October found 68% of voters disapproved of how de Blasio was handling homelessness and poverty. A Cuomo aide recently said the de Blasio administration “can’t manage the homeless crisis.” The mayor has said the city’s homeless crisis got worse after Cuomo cut a $68 million rental assistance program in 2011. After talks for a joint effort failed, the mayor recently announced a $2.6 billion, 15-year city plan to create 15,000 apartments that would cater mainly to people with mental illness and substance abuse problems. The city currently has a “Code Blue” procedure in place that goes into effect when the temperature hits 32 degrees or below. The procedure calls for double the amount of vans in the field for street outreach efforts to check on homeless individuals more frequently. It also allows the homeless to access shelters without going through the usual intake process. But unlike Cuomo’s order, it does not require the automatic taking of the homeless to shelters when the weather turns frigid. Cuomo’s executive order will not just have an impact on those living on the streets. It could also affect those sleeping in cars or in structures with inadequate heat during the cold weather. The order will not necessarily affect those who take shelter in subway stations that are heated. The state order, he says, will supersede any conflicting local laws on the issue * Gov. Cuomo signs order requiring towns & cities to takehomeless people to shelters when temperature drops to 32 * BdB spox: forcing homeless off sts requires state law & order "adds no legal or financial resources to NYC programs to assist the homeless" * Cuomo to order homeless indoors when temperatures drop(NYP) * A cool response from @BilldeBlasio on @NYGovCuomo's order to keep thehomeless off the streets in cold weather: (NY1)
War: de Blasio vs Cuomo
The Media Reports on the Homeless, the Mayor 180 Admits Its A Problems, But Nobody Explains the Reason for the Increase
de Blasio Plan to Fix Homeless Shelters: Make A Historic Promise and When That Fails Make Another Promise 2.0
The mayor says it is unacceptable that his administrationfailed to create report cards for city homeless shelters: (NY1) * De Blasio Administration Months Late in Creating Scorecards for Hundreds of Homeless Shelters (NY1) Almost eight months ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would be sending out squads of city workers to make rapid repairs on homeless shelters and promised to disclose all of that work publicly, giving every city shelter a scorecard. But NY1's Courtney Gross found out that's not yet happening. The administration's initial response was last May. It was here that the mayor promised to send repair teams into city shelters and give every single city shelter a scorecard so the public could keep tabs on all the work that was getting done. "There will be an accountability system," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time. "It will be a public system maintained by the Department of Homeless Services. There will be a public tracking system so you and members of the public can identify where we stand with each of the facilities. There will be a scorecard made available publicly. That will be up later this month." Eight months later, almost none of those scorecards are in. Only 23 shelters are rated when the promise encompasses nearly 700. A previous version of the Department of Homeless Services website promised reports "by September," but that never happened. Now, the website says "by November." Still, the scorecards aren't there. The tardiness comes even as criticism of shelter conditions has increased, particularly from de Blasio's chief political rival, Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The administration's initial response was last May. It was here that the mayor promised to send repair teams into city shelters and give every single city shelter a scorecard so the public could keep tabs on all the work that was getting done. "There will be an accountability system," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time. "It will be a public system maintained by the Department of Homeless Services. There will be a public tracking system so you and members of the public can identify where we stand with each of the facilities. There will be a scorecard made available publicly. That will be up later this month." Eight months later, almost none of those scorecards are in. Only 23 shelters are rated when the promise encompasses nearly 700. A previous version of the Department of Homeless Services website promised reports "by September," but that never happened. Now, the website says "by November." Still, the scorecards aren't there. The tardiness comes even as criticism of shelter conditions has increased, particularly from de Blasio's chief political rival, Governor Andrew Cuomo.* De Blasio visits Manhattan homeless shelter, takes resume (NYDN)
OK Its Deep Freeze Time Code Blue On the Homeless . . . What is Code Blue?
Lost on the street:Trying to get a straight answer from the city's top homelessness official onthe standard for removing someone from the street (NYDN) There was nothing ambiguous in Gov. Cuomo’s executive order commanding local authorities to transport to shelter anyone sleeping exposed to the elements who seems to be mentally ill, when the temperature falls below freezing. De Blasio and his point person on homelessness, Steven Banks, responded that they fully apply the law, dispatching Code Blue teams during frigid temperatures to locate street people and get them to shelters if possible. City Hall reported that, during one recent week, the operation brought 323 individuals to shelters, all but a few of them voluntarily. Standing alone, the number is meaningless. How does it compare with transports during winter weeks in past years? How many people refused help? How many people appeared to be mentally ill? How many people cycle into and out of shelter quickly? The administration does not release those numbers. Visiting the Daily News Editorial Board last week, Banks said annual comparative figures were not available. The limited data he could provide, pending launch of a promised tracking system, suggested only that the majority of street homeless contacted by his outreach workers stayed right where they were. During the board meeting he contorted every which way to avoid explaining what standards Code Blue workers apply in determining whether a street person appears to be mentally ill.
Friday
An NYPD sergeant has been served with internal disciplinary charges for her role in the confrontation that led to the death in 2014 of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died after an officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest on Staten Island . * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, locked in a feud with Cuomo, said he will go to Albany next week to hear the governor’s State of the State/budget speech and had not yet been briefed on its contents.* * New York City began its new rapid response program to more quickly address problems and repairs in homeless shelters, amid another round of one-upmanship between the mayor and the governor, the Daily News reports: * De Blasio’s plan to lift the minimum wage for 50,000 NYC workers to $15 an hour “establishes troubling patterns” of giving away taxpayer money with no offsetting savings or productivity gains and could require re-opening established contracts, the Citizens Budget Commission warned.* As City Hall increases spending by billions of dollars and hires thousands of new employees, some lawmakers and financial experts are pushing de Blasio to cut back and warning of possible budget troubles ahead.
Cuomo de Blasio: War PR Battles All Over On the Eve of Cuomo's Wish List Albany Speech
Thursday Clueless mayor vs. cynical governor: NY’s homeless wars (NYP)
Mayor de Blasio will raise wages for 50,000 city employees to $15 an hour by 2018 (NYDN) * New York City workers to $15 an hour, a Capitol observer on Tuesday noted it was Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the moderate Democrat, who dragged the liberal mayor along. Cuomo at a rally with 1199 and other labor leaders as part of his minimum wage campaign named in honor of his late father this week nudged New York City (and de Blasio’s administration) to push for a $15 minimum wage.
Cuomo Fires Back That He Will Save 50,000 Apts and the Homeless
Cuomo is seeking to return up to 50,000 illegally deregulated apartments into the rent stabilization system, alleging some building owners claim exemption from rent regulations while receiving lucrative tax breaks
Cuomo order would restore 50,000 rent-protection apartments (NYP) Cuomo is expected to announce Wednesday that he’s ordering landlords who received special tax breaks to restore 50,000 apartments in the city to the rent-protection rolls. Administration and housing officials are enforcing recent court rulings that found the apartments were illegally deregulated by landlords who received benefits under the J-51 housing program. The state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal is sending out notices to landlords who own 4,149 buildings throughout the city that received J-51 tax abatements between 1994 and 2015 who also registered their apartments as being exempt from rent-stabilization upon vacancy. The affected buildings include 1,986 in Manhattan , 859 in Brooklyn, 741 in Queens, 547 in The Bronx, and 16 in Staten Island . * Cuomo announces revised plan to add third rail to LIRR (NYP)* Cuomo is expected to announce a plan for a major revamp of Penn Station that would jump-start a long-stalled project to relocate Amtrak’s waiting area to the Farley post office building, The Wall Street Journalreports: * * Cuomo’s Long Island Sound tunnel plans could be written off as harmless political grandstanding, if not for that proposal for a $5 million study—further indication that a few million dollars isn’t real money in Albany , the Empire Centerwrites: * New York’s Penn Station, long ridiculed as outdated, crowded and miserable for travelers, would undergo a major overhaul under a plan expected to be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter. (Maybe even today, as Cuomo has an afternoon event scheduled at 4 Penn. Plaza in NYC).* Cuomo vowed to transform the “dark,” “bleak” and “ugly” Penn Station into a bright and beautiful hub at the center of a revitalized transportation system in the region. * Cuomo’s push to remake New York Penn Station could cost more than $3 billion and leverage air rights and retail space to attract developers that would largely pay for an overhaul, The Wall Street Journal reports: * Cuomo’s 2017 state budget is likely to call for billions of dollars for highways and bridges, but taxpayers won’t get their money’s worth if the state continues to rig bids for public-works projects that all but guarantee the jobs go to unions, the Empire Center’s Kenneth Girardin writes inthe Post:
Main Event in the Cuomo de Blasio War it the Battle Over the Homeless
A Real Plan Will Be to Find Out What is Causing the Homeless Increase And Fix That
Shocking De Blasio to launch plan to fix homeless shelters after damning report finds whopping 18,704 violations citywide (NYDN)
Wednesday New York Today: Empire State of Conflict (NYT) Tuesday: A look at city politics in 2016, freezing weather, and mulching your Christmas tree.* As Temperatures Plunge, Call to Keep New York’s Homeless Off Streets Has Little Impact (NYT) Advocates said the number of people taken off the streets on a cold Monday night seemed in line with what had happened during previous cold spells.* De Blasio Names Herminia Palacio as Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (NYT) The appointment of Dr. Palacio, 54 and a native of the Bronx , fills a key role in the city’s efforts to confront a rise in homelessness.* 'IT'S JUST LIKE RIKERS ISLAND:' These horror stories reveal why city's homeless people would rather stay outdoors in the freezing cold than go to a shelter (NYDN) * Homeless ignore Cuomo, stay outside in below freezing temps (NYP) * Out-of-towners flock to NYC’s homeless shelters (NYP) * de Blasio filled a crucial post in a depleted team at City Hall, appointing Herminia Palacio, a Bronx-born public health official, as deputy mayor for health and human services, The New York Times reports: * New York City-run lodging for homeless families is plagued by serious code violations, according to a report by Comptroller Scott Stringer, leading de Blasio to increase efforts to quickly upgrade conditions, the Daily News writes: * Pregnant, homeless woman refuses to go to NYC shelter on frigid day — 'Shelters are worse than the street' (NYDN)
More Designer News From the NYT to Protect Their Guy de Blasio on Homeless FU
Cuomo’s executive order on homeless people was confusing and seems like a move to exploit de Blasio’s weaknesses, but to really end the problem the pair needs to cooperate to build supportive housing and improve shelters, the Times writes:
So far, neither de Blasio nor Cuomo has real answers on the homeless (NYP) Sometimes Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio truly deserve each other — as when it comes to dealing with the homeless. Because so far neither man seems serious about getting these folks off the streets — even in the cold. Recall that when The Post spotlighted the surge of aggressive panhandlers and vagrants using streets as bathrooms, de Blasio denied it. Half a year later, he still has no plan to fix the problem. Even now, he claims “temperature alone doesn’t necessarily constitute” a reason to take a person to a shelter. “If someone’s not in danger, the law says that they still have rights to make that decision themselves.” Huh? Who wouldn’t be “in danger” living on the streets in below-freezing temps? Yet Cuomo isn’t moving to change the law — let alone to take folks off the streets in warm weather, which is only slightly less cruel.* Cuomo’s order to remove homeless people during frigid weather angered some living in the streets who fear it would lead to harassment, complained about shelter conditions or called for more affordable housing, the Times reports: * Cuomo took another swipe de Blasio’s handling of the homeless, charging that people live in the streets because they’re afraid of the city’s unsafe and dirty shelters, the Post reports: * As part of the de Blasio administration’s effort to overhaul homelessness services, the city will end its use of private apartments, known as “clusters,” to house the homeless, and convert them into low-rent housing, the Observer writes: * Daily News says that Cuomo’s executive order ongetting homeless people off the streets in freezing temperatures would “change lots,” writing that New York City’s response will show how in sync de Blasio and Bratton are with the governor* The city’s homeless shelters are a last resort for many New Yorkers, but they’re attractingan increasing number of people from out of town. Roughly 1 in 6 adult couples and 1 in 10 families with kids who enter the shelters gave a previous address from outside the five boroughs.* City-run lodging for homeless families has become a wretched refuge, plagued by thousands of serious code violations, a comprehensive new report by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer has found. In response, de Blasio will announce a “substantially increased” effort to identify problems and quickly upgrade shelter conditions. * Cuomo’s executive order on homelessness is drawing a mixed, muted response from municipalities across the state: Some are taking incremental actions and others aren’t doing much of anything.
Why Does the Media Cover-Up the Cause of the Homeless Increase?
Neither de Blasio nor Cuomo are serious about gettinghomeless people off the streets, the Post writes, as those living on the streets in below-freezing temperatures are in danger so the governor should move quickly to do more: * Cuomo’s executive order must be clarified, especially about who can be forced off the streets and how, amNewYork writes, as individual’s rights need to be upheld and their possessions treated properly:* What will @NYGovCuomo's executive order to move homeless people to shelters accomplish? * Cuomo’s executive order mandating shelters bring homeless people in from the cold when temperatures sink below freezing takes effect today. It has been greeted by social service providers with praise, questions and a reality check.* As temperatures plunge, Cuomo’s and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s political talk of taking New York’s homeless off the streets has had little impact, with numbers in line with past cold spells, The New York Times reports:
Bloomberg Data Driven on the Homeless de Blasio + Cuomo Playing Politics
De Blasio too scared of political pushback to solve homeless crisis (NYP) Mayor Bill de Blasio put politics over helping the homeless, rejecting proposed shelters in Queens for fear of a voter backlash, a new report charges. As far back as last winter, de Blasio was “less preoccupied with the overburdened shelter system” than with “the political threat from protests against proposed shelters” in Rockaway Beach and Elmhurst, sources told New York magazine in a cover story out Monday. After putting into place more than 20 new shelters — many of which eventually drew scrutiny for substandard conditions — de Blasio himself called for “an informal halt to all expansion” and ordered the Department of Homeless Services to investigate whether shelters were being “inequitably sited in certain neighborhoods.” “That was the mayor himself,” a former DHS official told New York mag. “He couldn’t take the pushback.” It isn’t the only time Hizzoner has gazed through a political prism in making policy decisions — in stark contrast to his predecessor, Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who took a more data-driven approach, sources told the mag. “I talk to lots of people in various places in the administration,” one business executive said. “Everyone says they don’t care about data as much and decisions are much more political. They’re not tracking things the way they used to, and that is pretty pervasive. They are not getting enough done, decisions drag, they don’t delegate outside of City Hall. New York reports: * NYC rents about 1,100 hotel rooms for homelessNew Yorkers, at a cost of more than $1 million a week. * De Blasio and Cuomo could become the first mayor and governor in decades who fail to set aside their differences to jointly fund a housing program for homeless New Yorkers, Politico New York writes:
de Blasio Flack Team Uses the Media to Get Out of their Homeless and Affordable Housing Crisis
De Blasio wants to shrink city apartments into walk-in closets (NYP) Thousands of tiny apartments the size of glorified walk-in closets will set a new standard for cramped New York City living under a plan that would end how small homes are required to be, city officials said on Monday. Mayor de Blasio wants to shrink the city’s current 400-square-foot apartment-size limit as part of his ambitious plan to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. * City pumps $16.9 million into aiding the homeless find jobs (NYP) Money that will fund job training and services for single adults and families at 39 shelters citywide de Blasio Flacks Will Be On Steroids in 2016 After a difficult year, Mayor de Blasio continues to insist he must “communicate” better.
Cuomo Thinking of Putting Homeless in Empty Building At Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
The ‘shock’ psych ward Cuomo may convert to homeless shelter (NYP) Under a plan being considered by Gov. Cuomo, hordes of city homeless people could soon find themselves housed in a facility that was once reserved for shock-treating the mentally insane, The Post has learned. The sprawling Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in eastern Queens has entire buildings that are empty — and could easily be converted into suitable lodgings for some of the Big Apple’s skyrocketing vagrant population. Cuomo and a group of homelessness advocates are giving it serious consideration and are also looking at other state psychiatric centers, sources said. Cuomo’s office confirmed that Creedmoor has been discussed — and that his Empire State Development Corp. is working on an overall plan for the site. “The governor’s staff has been holding meetings with dozens of homeless experts and providers to better understand the homeless problem in the city,” said Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever.* Cuomo is considering converting the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in Queens into lodgings for some of New York City ’s homeless population, as well as using other state psychiatric facilities, thePost reports: * The de Blasio administration said it is open to converting the nearly empty Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens into a facility for the homeless, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly proposing, the Daily News reports:
de Blasio Cuomo Political Posturing On Homeless
De Blasio Accuses Cuomo of ‘Political Posturing’ onHomelessness (NYO)
City To Start New Counting Methods for the Homeless
Councilman Blames Homeless Increaes on Presidential Candidates
City Council: How many homeless people are in New York ? (NYDN) The head of the City Council’s committee on homelessness pressed officials Wednesday for an accurate count of people living on the streets — and an explanation for why so many people think Mayor de Blasio has made the problem worse. Levin asked repeatedly how many people are actually living on the streets — and Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor couldn’t give an answer. Levin said he believes many of the attacks on de Blasio are unfair but the administration hasn’t effectively dispelled them. “Why do you believe that this is the narrative that is out there being espoused by Chris Christie and Donald Trump and whoever?” he said, referencing the two GOP presidential hopefuls. “If it is corresponding to the reality on the ground, then we need to know what that reality is. If it’s not corresponding to reality on the ground, then I’m afraid that it’s not being effectively debunked.” The city is working on coming up with a way to track the numbers in real time, Taylor said. Levin said he believes many of the attacks on de Blasio are unfair but the administration hasn’t effectively dispelled them. “Why do you believe that this is the narrative that is out there being espoused by Chris Christie and Donald Trump and whoever?” he said, referencing the two GOP presidential hopefuls. “If it is corresponding to the reality on the ground, then we need to know what that reality is. If it’s not corresponding to reality on the ground, then I’m afraid that it’s not being effectively debunked.” The city is working on coming up with a way to track the numbers in real time, Taylor said.*
Yes the Media Now Agrees Homeless Crisis, But Will Not Analysis What Caused It . . . To Protect the Real Estate Barons And Their Soldiers the Lobbyists
Bums force Bronx to cancel annual Christmas tree lighting (NYP) Vagrants are urinating in the street, hassling passers-by for cash — and now they’ve ruined Christmas in The Bronx. The annual outdoor Christmas tree lighting in the borough’s famed Little Italy section was canceled because the soaring panhandler population forced the sponsors to spend so much on security that there was no cash left for the celebration. “It’s unfortunate,” Frank Franz, treasurer of the Belmont Business Improvement District, told The Post. “It was a very expensive event, so we canceled it.”
One business owner, Rosa Paciullo, who for 20 years has owned Tino’s Delicatessen with her husband, Giancarlo, said bums even used the Vincent Ciccarone Playground where the lighting was held as a public toilet. “My daughter took her daughter to the [Ciccarone] park and a homeless guy peed in front of them. Some of them would come in and ask for money or food. It scared some of the customers away,” she added.* Vagrants who ruined holiday event still rule neighborhood (NYP)
After the Homeless Army Took Over the Streets the NYT Did Connect the Dots to the Progressive Mayor For Months
Only True News Has Connected the Dots to Show How the 421-a Tax Breaks and Airbnb is Fueling Gentrification and Pushing Blacks and the Poor Out of Brooklyn
Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) By one key measure after another, homelessness in New York City has worsened over the last two years. The number of people entering city shelters has increased under Mayor Bill de Blasio, and when they enter the system, people are staying longer, striking markers of a crisis that has forced its way to the top of the mayor’s agenda. Many people across New York believe the city is experiencing an epidemic of street homelessness. Mayor Bill de Blasio, the embattled liberal steward of a city in which people have a legal right to shelter, has disputed this. And in another troubling sign, the number of families re-entering shelters within a year of leaving is increasing as well. “An ever-growing homeless population is unacceptable to the future of New York City ,” he said. “It will not happen under our watch.” But it has happened.
Daily News: The Truth About Homelessness in NY is that Cuomo, de Blasio and Advocates Failing, Leaving cop to Respond
Since the Mayor Has Not Fixed the Homeless Problem? NYPD's Bratton Also Has A Modest Proposal
Bratton's advice on how to treat New York's homeless factually flawed and morally bankrupt (NYDN) * Bronx woman shares her story about homelessness, says NYPD boss Bratton is wrong if he thinks the homeless will go away if they aren't given money (NYDN) * Bratton could’ve hit home: The truth about homelessness in New York is that C uomo, de Blasio and advocates are all failing, leaving cops to respond (NYDN Ed) In suggesting that New Yorkers help get the homeless off the streets by spurning panhandling, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton gave voice to the frustrations of a cop who has been asked to solve social ills via arrest.
de Blasio Back Bratton No Money to Panhandlers
De Blasio backs Bratton on not giving $ to homeless andpanhandlers: * NYC Mayor Rebukes Obama Administration on Homelessness (NYO) Mayor Bill de Blasio struck back at claims made by the Justice Department that the policy of clearing homelessness encampments—one pursued by the NYPD and other local law enforcement agencies nationwide—may be unconstitutional. * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio struck back at claims made by the US Justice Department that the policy of clearing homelessness encampments – one pursued by the NYPD and other local law enforcement agencies nationwide – may be unconstitutional. * Bill Bratton’s Solution to Homeless Panhandling: Don’t GiveThem Money (NYO) * .@CommissBratton: "If [panhandling] is so upsetting to you, don’t give" * New Yorkers who are frustrated with homeless people begging on city streets should stop giving them money, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said. * If you don’t like seeing bums, stop giving them money: Bratton (NYP)* BEG MISTAKE: NYPD boss Bratton says panhandlers would disappear if people stopped plunking coins in their cups — but homeless advocate says 'he's mistaken' (NYDN) * NYPD cops angry over tiny 1% raise to protest at Gracie Mansion, hoping to send a 'strong message' to Edelman and de Blasio (NYDN) * NYPD Commissioner Bratton says panhandlers would move on if they didn’t get money (NYDN) * Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said he hasn’t ruled out running for mayor as he accepts a job as vice chairman at the corporate investigations firm K2 Intelligence, The Wall Street Journal reports: * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton urged New Yorkers to harden their hearts and close their wallets if they want to help stem the city’s vagrancy crisis.* Former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly says he doesn’t miss his old job. He has been named vice chairman of K2 Intelligence, and won’t rule out a future run for NYC mayor.* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio defended NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton a day after the commissioner outraged advocates by saying homelessness would disappear if people stopped giving money to homeless panhandlers, the Daily News reports:
Mayor 15 Year Plan to House the Homeless As the NYT Stand By Their Man de Blasio
Bill puts up the money (NYDN Ed) No one can now say that Mayor de Blasio stands by idly as the mentally ill homeless sleep on subway grates. On Wednesday, he announced a $3 billion commitment to house and serve 15,000 suffering souls over the coming 15 years.*City creating 15K units of supportive housing (NYP) * City Moves Forward Without the State to Build Housing for the Homeless(NYO)* New York’s Rise in Homelessness Went Against National Trend, U.S. Report Finds (NYT) An annual homelessness report by the federal government found that New York’s homeless people accounted for 14 percent of the national total * Tackling the Homeless Crisis, Without Mr. Cuomo NYT EDITORIAL BOARD The ill will between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the governor makes it harder to find a solution to homelessness in New York City .* The NYT says that in a “better world” de Blasio and Cuomo would work together to address homelessness in the city, but they “are stuck in a malfunctioning relationship that has turned once-routine city-state partnerships and problem-solving exercises into an unusually fraught psychodrama.”* Asked in a radio interview to describe his greatest failure in office, de Blasio said he “didn’t explain to people well enough what we were doing to address homelessness,” though he was proud of the efforts, theDaily News writes * De Blasio said failing to get ahead of the city’s homelessness problem and explain it to New Yorkers is the biggest mistake he has made so far in office.
Cuomo spokeswoman: "Everyone understands the City has had a very real homeless problem and we’re glad the city is starting to act on it." * The Post writes that de Blasio’s plan to build 15,000units of affordable housing over the next 15 years to combat homelessness will do little, if anything, to help those who refuse services and contribute to a declining quality of life:(NYP)
More on Cuomo
de Blasio Has His 531 Plan to Fix the Homeless
But is Never is Ask If 421-a, Airbnb and His Zoning Plan Will Make More Homeless and Less Affordable Housing
New York City , ordering teams to do a daily canvass of every block of an 8-mile stretch in Manhattan to reach out to those living on the street. * De Blasio vowed during a speech at the ABNY breakfast that he’ll never allow the city to return to the “bad old days.”
In a Daily News OpEd, Queens Sen. Tony Avella (a onetime NYC mayoral candidate) callsde Blasio’s new HomeStat plan “nothing but a press-release gimmick; a pointless publicity stunt to flip public opinion that has found him unable to admit, much less reverse, the increasing homelessness problem.”* The New York City Council had to add more than $130 million on to the budget for homeless shelters, a 17 percent increase for this year, after the city assumed in the original budget that the homeless population would drop, Crain’s reports: * State Sen. Tony Avella writes in the Daily News that deBlasio’s new HomeStat plan is nothing but a press-release gimmick and a stunt to flip public opinion that has found him unable to admit or reverse the increasing homelessness problem: * Even de Blasio is now admitting his team can’t manage thehomeless crisis, the Post writes, so the exit of homeless services commissioner Gilbert Taylor and the beginning of a review of the management structure is progress: * New York City HRA Commissioner Steven Banks, leading a review of the city’s homeless services, blamed previous mayors for the rising numbers of homeless people and said it would take a long time to reverse the trend, the Wall Street Journal reports * De Blasio shrugs off Staten Island'shomeless concerns (SI Advance)* Cuomo has dropped an unpopular proposal to convert vacant buildings at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens into shelters for the homeless. The move came amid complaints from community leaders, including Queens Sen. Tony Avella, one of the legislators who represents neighborhoods around the Creedmoor campus.
de Blasio's Homeless Commission Gone But Mayor's Statement About "Economic Realities" Remains A Mystery
Head of city’sflailing Homeless Services steps down (NYP) The head of Homeless Services stepped down Tuesday amid a restructuring of the department that under Mayor Bill de Blasio has seen a spike in the shelter and street population. Commissioner Gilbert Taylor will leave his post at the flailing city agency, which he has helmed since de Blasio was elected, to pursue another job that City Hall is helping him find. Two city officials — Administration Commissioner Steven Banks and Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris — will be in charge of the department’s restructuring. The Post has reported on the city’s staggering increase in homelessness, which is now at an all-time high of nearly 60,000 people in shelters. Taylor ’s departure is the second loss for the department, as Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios Paoli quit in August.New York City ’s Homeless Services, has stepped down amid a restructuring of the department that under de Blasio has seen a spike in the shelter and street population of homeless people, the Postwrites: * Another official working on homelessness in NYC is steppingdown: * Gilbert Taylor, New York City Homelessness Chief, Quits Post (NYT)The departure of the commissioner is the latest development in the homelessness crisis, which has become a major political liability for Mayor Bill de Blasio.* The city’s homeless crisis can’t be fixed with ‘streamlining’ (NYP) * SALARY ARRANGEMENT CRITICIZED -- "Critics ask whydeparting NYC homelessness commissioner is keeping $219,773 salary" A good-government group, two elected officials and a shelter resident questioned Wednesday why the embattled chief of the de Blasio administration's homelessness agency will keep his nearly $220,000 salary after leaving his post. Gilbert Taylor, who on Tuesday abruptly announced his resignation amid criticism of his agency's performance and record-high homelessness, is being kept on the payroll to advise a shake-up ordered by Mayor Bill de Blasio of how the city deals with people in shelters and on the streets.* * Outgoing New York City Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor lost influence as criticism mounted of the mayor’s handling of homelessness, but a program he started called HomeStat will live on in name, The New York Times reports: * Mayor Says New Program to Reduce Homelessness Will Include Daily Canvas (NY1) * Mayor, Police Commissioner Promote Homeless Strategies (NY1)
de Blasio's Took Office Pledging to Save$$$ and Provide the Homeless With Better Housing is Doing the Opposite
Mayor Bill de Blasio said it “will take years” for New Yorkers to see the benefits of the new policies he unveiled last week to combat homelessness, which has been soaring since the elimination of a rent subsidy program in 2011 and peaked last year,the Daily News reports: * As City Hall shows off new homeless outreach teams today, aclose look at the program - and how it fared elsewhere (AP)
On homelessness, DeBlasio made his bed (NYDN Ed) Behold the self-portrait of a man of action, a leader who has left behind his previous dismissiveness that an obvious crisis was anything other than under full control. But some things aren’t changing as de Blasio grapples with homelessness that has persistently escaped his grasp. He has repeatedly blamed a convergence of fates for why more New Yorkers are seeking help: relentlessly rising rents, lagging wages and a hasty withdrawal of city and state funds that once moved the homeless into housing. Both then and now, de Blasio also asks New Yorkers to trust that vast infusions of money — into rent grants and into new affordable housing — will stem the human tide. De Blasio entered office convinced he could pivot funds used for shelter, currently about $3,200 a month for each family, into lower-cost subsidies to move those same households into permanent housing. The mayor started by vowing to stop renting overpriced and unsafe private apartments as shelter and put a freeze on bringing new shelters online. He committed to using $60 million that was projected to save to help chronically homeless families secure their own apartments. By the end of 2014, the city rushed to open two dozen ad hoc hotels just to keep pace, infuriating unprepared neighbors. The shabby apartments remained in use even after the city Department of Investigation found that they were crammed with fire and health hazards. Last week, the City Council approved a 17% hike in budgeted shelter spending for this year, piling on $137.5 million more, $88 million of it from city taxpayers. The mayor budgeted $84 million for rent aid this year, but then had to up the total to $110 million.New York City councilman, Mayor Bill de Blasio passed legislation barring landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants relying on subsidies, but his administration has done little to enforce the measure, the Daily News reports: * The Daily News’ Alyssa Katz writes that de Blasio has consistently made choices that coumpound the homelessness crisis when it comes to leadership, deploying resources and deciding how to pay for commitments:*De Blasio admits it could ‘take years’ to see 'Home-Stat' benefits (NYDN)
de Blasio's Re-Zoning and the Continued Albany 421-a Continued Pay to Play Corruption Will Create More Homelessness
Even the Mayor's Officials Cheerleader the NYT Told Their Real Estate Progressive Puppet There is A Homeless Problem
De Blasio removing head of Homeless Services (NYDN)* De Blasio finally admits it’s time to fix the homeless crisis (NYP) Mayor de Blasio finally admitted Tuesday that “we need to catch up with the reality” of the city’s escalating homeless crisis — as he announced the abrupt exit of the commissioner responsible for helping New York’s needy. De Blasio said the Big Apple was struggling with “a different kind of homelessness” that’s “more and more about economic reality” — a major reversal from previous claims the problem was on the decline. The move follows a series of Post exposés about surging numbers of vagrants living on the streets — along with recent polling that showed 62 percent of New Yorkers disapproved of de Blasio’s handling of the homeless epidemic.
At a City Council hearing last week, Taylor was unable to say how many homeless people were currently living on the streets — which de Blasio pegged at 3,000 to 4,000 — or had entered city shelters since he was appointed. Sources also said Taylor was recently sidelined by the de Blasio administration when DHS was stripped of its power to award contracts, which was transferred to the Human Resources Administration.* Advocates are questioning the accuracy of New York City ’s street counts of homeless people – and government funding for homeless services often hinges on the data, New York Nonprofit Media reports: * Homeless Crackdown on 125th Street Only Relocated theProblem, Critics Say via @Dnainfo
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
Bums getting a little too comfortable in Washington Square Park (NYP) * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio finally admitted that “we need to catch up with the reality” of the city’s escalating homeless crisis — as he announced the abrupt exit of the commissioner responsible for helping New York’s needy.* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’d be working on the city’s approach to homelessness daily during a 90-day review announced after the resignation of Taylor, the Department of Homeless Services commissioner, The Wall Street Journal reports: * The Daily News writes that de Blasio is not close to a solution for the swelling homelessness crisis, but two years into his term, he has seen the “huge gap” between his dreams and his execution:* The departure of the commissioner, Gilbert Taylor, is the latest fallout from the homelessness crisis, which has become a consuming political problem for de Blasio as he tries to address deepening inequality in New York City .
Ignoring the 421-a and Airbnb Market Forces That Fuels Gentrification
De Blasio said the city would conduct a 90-day review of the its homelessness approach and he would be working daily on the problem, which has proved to be a challenge for his administration for much of 2015. * Taylor 's resignation comes after two weeks in which the Homeless Services Commissioner appeared to have a less-than-full command of data about the city's homeless shelter system during testimony he gave to the City Council, and during a sit-down television interview. In a City Council Hearing last week, Taylor could not give an accurate number for the amount of people living on city streets, or for the number of admissions to city homeless shelters since de Blasio took office. During an interview at the end of November with PIX11, Taylor gave himself and his agency an "A for effort" in addressing homelessness. De Blasio would not directly answer when asked Tuesday during a press conference whether Taylor was asked or encouraged to resign from his position by the mayor or any of his staff. http://politi.co/1ZaXjt1 * PALACE INTRIGUE: "The city is lookingparticularly for a Latino to fill the deputy mayor role, according to peoplefamiliar with the matter. Several prominent Latino city officials have leftCity Hall in the past year." WSJ's * The budget modification, released by Mayor Bill de Blasio in November, allocates $59 million in city funds to shelters for homeless adults for the remainder of fiscal year 2016, which ends on June 30. Another $78.6 million will go toward family shelters.
de Blasio's Evolving Homeless Crisis Blames Everyone But 421-a and Airbnb Forcing New Yorkers Out of Their Home
de Blasio Fighting Homelessness by Press Spin, Blaming the Press, Bloomberg and Management Incompetence
De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated andComprised Journalism (March 16th 2015) * Mayor Blames NYC Homelessness on the Economy NBC (WNBC) * De Blasio proposes a landlord-friendly tax tweak (Capital) May 15 2015 * Apparently it’s now OK to pee on the streets of New York City (NYP) July 10, 2015 * De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) July 14, 2015 Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * The Agnew de Blame the Press "Fear-Mongering" Edition * De Blasio mingles with bums in search of policy guidance (NYP) July 16, 2015 * BEGS TO DIFFER: De Blasio administration blames former Mayor Bloomberg for growing number of homeless New Yorkers (NYDN) Aug 25, 2015 * De Blasio, Cuomo clash (again) over who does more for homeless (NYP) Sept 3, 2015
Last month, de Blasio admitted he had failed to properly communicate to New Yorkers what specifically his administration has been doing to deal with the rising numbers
De Blasio blasts Giuliani as 'delusional' over homeless Increase ...(NYP) Sept 7, 2015 * Mayor de Blasio Says Homeless Problem Is ‘Decades Old’ (Sept 8, 2015 * OPERATION 'BUM-STAT': NYPD zeroes in on homeless crisis by using data-driven tactics that brought down crime in the 90s (NYDN) Sept 14, 2015 * De Blasio HeldWeekly Meetings on Homeless While Publicly Denying Problem (DNAINFO) Oct 15, 2015 * The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) Sept 19 2015 The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era * Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless (NYP) Sept 21, 2015 * Homeless city workers are a national embarrassment (NYP) Sept 27th 2015 * Gilbert Taylor last month: "I woulddefinitely give us an 'A' for effort." WPIX's Jay Dow:
de Blasio ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis
Head of homeless services ‘shocked’ over shady shelter (NYP) Oct 8th 2015 * De Blasio knew about homeless crisis even as he was denying it (NYP Ed) Oct 16, 2015 * De Blasio is underestimating the homeless population: advocate (NYP) Oct 19, 2015 * Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) Oct 26, 2015 * Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) Oct 26, 2015* Bronx woman shares her story about homelessness, says NYPD boss Bratton is wrong if he thinks the homeless will go away if they aren't given money (NYDN) Nov. 11, 2015 * Bill Bratton’s Solution to Homeless Panhandling: Don’t GiveThem Money (NYO * Bill Bratton’s Solution to Homeless Panhandling: Don’t GiveThem Money (NYO) Nov 19, 2015 * Fed-up deputy mayor quits after being ‘ignored’ by de Blasio (NYP) Nov, 1, 2015 The city’s top official on health and homelessness quit because she was tired of being ignored by a mayor more interested in boosting his national profile than attending to the city’s day-to-day concerns, sources said. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli worked for five mayors and oversaw seven city agencies under Mayor de Blasio — but she couldn’t get meetings with him, sources said.
NYT Break From Flacking for de Blasio - Learns to Count Homeless
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said homelessness in New York City had “exploded” over the past two years but praised City Hall’s efforts to create housing and curb substance abuse, the Wall Street Journal reports: * The federal government’s annual homelessness count showed an increase in New Yorkers living on the streets or in shelters, even as the number of homeless people nationwide dipped slightly compared with the previous year.
But Still No Cause Given
.The Homeless Have Become the Victims of the Shadow Govt Lobbyists Pushing 421-a and Airbnb
Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) By one key measure after another, homelessness in New York City has worsened over the last two years. The number of people entering city shelters has increased under Mayor Bill de Blasio, and when they enter the system, people are staying longer, striking markers of a crisis that has forced its way to the top of the mayor’s agenda. Many people across New York believe the city is experiencing an epidemic of street homelessness. Mayor Bill de Blasio, the embattled liberal steward of a city in which people have a legal right to shelter, has disputed this. And in another troubling sign, the number of families re-entering shelters within a year of leaving is increasing as well. “An ever-growing homeless population is unacceptable to the future of New York City ,” he said. “It will not happen under our watch.” But it has happened.
More on the Homeless
Broker: Homeless Hurting Real Estate . . . Not Doing to Well for the Homeless Either
Homeless Deputy Mayor Ignored Quits Because Of A National Agenda Pursued That Also Failed
Deputy Mayor Barrios-Paoli quit the de Blasio administration because she was tired of being ignored by the mayor about the growing homelessness problem
Fed-up deputy mayor quits after being ‘ignored’ by de Blasio (NYP) The city’s top official on health and homelessness quit because she was tired of being ignored by a mayor more interested in boosting his national profile than attending to the city’s day-to-day concerns, sources said. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli worked for five mayors and oversaw seven city agencies under Mayor de Blasio — but she couldn’t get meetings with him, sources said. As the exploding homeless problem began capturing headlines over the summer, Barrios-Paoli said, “I told you so. If you’re not going to listen to anything I say, I’m out,” according to the source. The source added, “The mayor is so focused on national issues, he has not taken time to focus on local issues.” Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo lambasted Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña for being disrespectful and unresponsive. “I cannot work with you,” the lawmaker fumed during an Albany hearing on Oct. 14. “I make a call to your office and nobody answers me.” She sat in on meetings with the mayor and senior staff 23 times in the first five months of 2015. By comparison, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, in charge of housing and economic development, convened with de Blasio 98 times. City Hall has not filled Barrios-Paoli’s position. “Shorris is pissed,” one political source said. “He’s getting all the health work she had. He’s annoyed she left, and he’s drowning in it.”
After True New Wags the NYP On How de Blasio Accused the Paper of Fear-Mongering the Tabloid is Still Half Asleep
NYP Today: “The media has put a lot of attention on this issue”
True News Friday: "On July 14th de Blasio Charges Homeless Crisis is A Case of Media Fear-Mongering
De Blasio knew about homeless crisis even as he was denying it (NYP Ed) If you faulted Mayor de Blasio last summer for being ignorant of the spike in homelessness in the city, you gave him too much credit. Turns out Hizzoner was well aware of the crisis — even as he denied it. In fact, he’d been holding weekly emergency meetings on the issue all along, news reports this week said. Even while pooh-poohing the problem and denouncing “hype” from The Post, which ran stories and photos that documented the growing chaos. “The media has put a lot of attention on this issue,” he said back then. He asked if the focus was “proportionate to what’s happening,” insisting that “reality is a little different” than the news reports. It wasn’t — as he later admitted: In 2014, city homelessness set a record, at nearly 60,000. In August, 311 homeless complaints reportedly had spiked 60 percent under de Blasio. And The Post published hard evidence, including a front-page photo of one vagrant urinating right in the middle of the street.
On July 14th A Month After Secret Meetings on the Homeless Crisis de Blasio Said The Post Is Making Up the Increase Homeless Stories
Friday Update
ON THE RISE: Study predicts that spending on NYC's homeless, including 271 shelters, to reach close to $1B in 2015 (NYDN)
Secret Meetings on Homeless
De Blasio HeldWeekly Meetings on Homeless While Publicly Denying Problem (DNAINFO) Mayor Bill de Blasio held a "Weekly Homeless Meeting" for months this summer with top city officials even as he publicly denied the city was experiencing a problem with homelessness, DNAinfo New York has learned. The mayor brushed that off saying he had inherited the homeless surge from his predecessor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and blamed media coverage for overplaying the issue. "I think the media has put a lot of attention on this issue lately, more than previously," de Blasio said then. But de Blasio had been meeting with city officials about the homeless issue as far back as June 5, according to Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter's schedule, a copy which DNAinfo obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. The FOIL request covered the period through the end of July.
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter When NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, head of the Coalition for the Homeless he did no know that Berlin Rosen worked for them. Unregulated Berlin Rosen Will Lead to Foreign Control of New York's Government - A Silent Coup d'eta On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."
de Blasio Underestimating the Homeless Population Advocate
Tuesday Update
According to two people familiar with the matter, New York City and New York state are in talks to create a new program that would provide more housing and support services for homeless individuals in the city, The Wall Street Journal reports:
De Blasio is underestimating the homeless population: advocate (NYP) The de Blasio administration is grossly underestimating the number of people living on the street, a top advocate for the city’s homeless said Sunday. “We do know that the city came up with a number between 3,000 and 4,000. Their methodology is so flawed, we believe the number to be easily two to three times that,” said Mary Brosnahan, president of the Coalition for the Homeless, the nation’s oldest advocacy group for people in need of shelter. By Brosnahan’s calculations, there are anywhere between 6,000 and 12,000 homeless people living outside of shelters now. With the winter approaching, those numbers could mean more deaths or grave injuries for many who either refuse shelter or can’t access it. Brosnahan said that numbers in city-regulated shelters are “hovering at 58,000 lately.” — “24,000 of those are kids,” she added. City Hall defended it’s estimates. “Not everybody on the street is homeless,” said spokeswoman Ishanee Parikh. “The HOPE [Homeless Outreach Population Estimate] count is specifically aimed at counting those . . . who are chronically homeless.” * New York City should confront homelessness through more housing with on-site services, expanded federal support and improvements in city-run shelters -- and prevention, City Councilman Mark Levine and the Coalition for the Homeless’ Mary Brosnahan write in the Times: * THEIR BIG DAY: Homeless shelter residents enjoy lavish meal from $35G wedding after groom gets cold feet, calls off nuptials (NYDN)
Previous Homeless Critic Now Responsible for Increase Mess
Is the NYT Flacking to Clear the Way to Make HRA's Banks Take Over Former Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli
Steven Banks, New York City ’s Human Resources Administration commissioner, had previously been one of the biggest critics on the homelessness, and is now a point person for the mayor on the issue, The New York Times writes:
NYP's Goodwin Makes Fun de Blasio For Claiming Bad Landlords Are the Cause of Homeless Then Claims Mental Illness Cause
Goodwin Says Nothing About Gentrification Causes Rising Rents, AirBNB Sucking Up Affordable Housing As A Cause of Homelessness
Tuesday Update
As dozens of homeless shelter contracts remain in limbo, some legal experts say New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has overstepped his authority in rejecting some of the contracts, and nonprofit leaders say it’s hurting their ability to help the homeless:
De Blasio proves he’s clueless about the homeless crisis (Goodwin, NYP) City Hall’s press release included praise for the mayor from a score of elected Democrats and legal-aid types, most of whom painted landlords as greedy and evil and tenants as their innocent victims. “The affordable-housing crisis and rise in homelessness are inextricably linked, and at the core of both lies the insidious harassment of tenants by bad-acting landlords,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez echoed the sentiment, saying her office often gets complaints from “working families” who face “harassment from unscrupulous landlords seeking to force them from their homes.” In the 1980's You Can Get An Apartment in Park Slope for $200 A Month Goodwin: "In that context, it’s worth noting that the mayor, who lives rent free in Gracie Mansion , owns two houses in Brooklyn that he leases for at least $5,000 a month each. If he’s so keen on forcing landlords to house poor families who might otherwise be homeless, why doesn’t he lead by example? That would be new."* De Blasio favors expanding publicly paid legal services (NYDN) * New York City Council members will introduce a dozen bills aimed at preventing landlords from pressuring tenants to move out by doing noisy, dusty or otherwise disruptive construction, The New York Times reports: * As de Blasio prepares for a Washington, D.C., event, the Post asks if he is progressive at all and contends his education policy only “pretends to try to educate the poor:” * Writing in The New York Post, Michael Goodwin says de Blasio’s recent and contradictory comments show he is a “clueless” about the city’s homeless problem.* Bronx lawmaker will introduce bill to determine how NYCHA developments impact homeless crisis (NYDN) * Bronx lawmaker will introduce bill to determine how NYCHA developments impact homeless crisis (NYDN) * New York City Council members will introduce a dozen bills aimed at preventing landlords from pressuring tenants to move out by doing noisy, dusty or otherwise disruptive construction, The New York Times reports: * Manhattan real estate prices increase by 18% over 2014, 'highest in 26 years' (NYDN) * Home prices in Williamsburgup 269% psf since 2004 (Real Deal) * REBNY sues de Blasio administration over hotel conversion bill (PoliticoNY) * Affordable Housing Program Gets No Interest From Developers in Queens (DNAINFO) NYC's Inclusionary Housing Program got no applications from developers wanting to build in the borough. * The mayor's balancing act between affordable housing &construction wages: (WNYC)* The de Blasio administration's rezoning of East New York in Brooklyn will be the litmus test in the mayor's fight against income inequality, but residents won’t be able to afford their rent, no matter how affordable, if they don’t have quality employment, write Audrey Sasson and Rachel Laforest: http://goo.gl/uDoLPa
Hotels who give$$ 2pols get protection from Airbnb Voters who get push out of their homes trickle down benefits
"Here in New York , the government is spending millions to try and stop Airbnb from threatening hotel chain"--Marco Rubio, here in New York 
Homeless Transparency Not
Head of homeless services ‘shocked’ over shady shelter (NYP) The head of the city’s Department of Homeless Services was caught off guard Wednesday when he had to learn secondhand that one of the government-funded homeless shelters he oversees in Queens is refusing to give building inspectors access.
.
City Hides the Homeless for Papal Visit And Russian TV Hits City's Homeless Policy
Monday Update Homeless city workers are a national embarrassment (NYP) After the story broke this month, a Russian TV station interviewed Joseph Puleo, president of Local 983 of District Council 37, a labor union that represents 3,000 city workers. You know times are bad when Russians show pity for the economic hardships of US citizens. “We’ve become a national embarrassment,” Puleo told me. “They’re probably watching this in Moscow now.” * City combats evictions in effort to control homeless population (NYP) * New York City will spend $60 million annually by mid-2017 – up from the $34 million currently budgeted – to expand the legal team helping residents avoid eviction and homelessness, The Wall Street Journal reports: * As de Blasio struggles to control rising homelessness in New York , the city plans to hiremore lawyers to help financially stressed residents avoid eviction – especially in neighborhoods that are quickly gentrifying.
Cops part the sea of bums in Harlem ahead of papal visit (NYP) The NYPD on Tuesday rousted the drug-abusing denizens of a homeless encampment under the Metro-North tracks on East 125th Street at Park Avenue — just blocks from where Pope Francis will visit a Catholic school. “They just kicked us out. They said, ‘Important people is coming by,’ ” said one man who calls the Harlem sidewalk home. Cops have been playing cat and mouse with the hobos for weeks — but this time, warned them to stay away or face arrest.* * Officials from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration broke ground on a first-of-its-kind combination homeless shelter/affordable housing development in the Bronx , part of an effort to maximize resources to combat the parallel problems, the Daily News reports: * Before Pop Francis’ visit, de Blasio and Cardinal Timothy Dolan said a partnership between the Roman Catholic Church and New York City would provide 150 beds this winter for homeless people, The New York Times writes: * After a crackdown on synthetic marijuana in a Harlem neighborhood many of the homeless people who live in the area are saying they feel harassed by police, who are going heavy on quality of life issues, theTimes writes: * Homeless cleared off 125th St set up shop elsewhere (NYT)* The unfortunate rise in homelessness – a result of decades of policies by the mayors who preceded Mayor Bill de Blasio – is a social problem that can’t be fixed with short-term stop gaps aimed at keeping up this mayor’s public approval numbers, activist Josmar Trujillo writes in the DailyNews: * New York Citywill deploy more lawyers to help tenants stay in their apartments(WSJ)
de Blasio Who Attacks the Press Reacts to the Press Promising to Put A Roof of the Head of City Workers
The Gentrification Housing Shark Created By NY Pols is Creating Homeless and Killing Affordable Housing
Tuesday Update: Roof for City Workers
De Blasio vows to put a roof over homeless city workers’ heads (NYP)
Homeless City Workers
Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless (NYP) Angelo Torres punches in to work at 5 a.m. each weekday and spends the next eight hours cleaning up debris on Staten Island’s Midland Beach
If Rip Van Wilhelm @BilldeBlasio gets up early,he can show the Pope the new homeless god's children he created
de Blasio Homeless Not My Fault . . Past Mayors Had Same Problem New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there is a homelessness problem, but his administration’s policies should not be blamed for it and public pressure has not led him to change approaches, The New YorkTimes reports: * Mayor de Blasio Says Homeless Problem Is ‘Decades Old’ In an interview with Joe Scarborough, New York’s mayor added, “What I think I have to do better is explain the origins of this problem and show people what we’re doing about it.” Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized de Blasio again today, calling the freshman Democratic mayor “ignorant” and accusing him of misrepresenting facts about the number of homeless people in the city.
Homeless Population Which Has Soared Under de Blasio Will Grow Even Bigger in the Cold
The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era, according to data released Thursday. There were 57,206 people housed in the facilities this week, compared with about 53,000 during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s final month in office in December 2013, the Mayor’s Management Report shows. * De Blasio’s latest Mayor’s Management Report showed positive results in many categories reflecting New York City’s well being, including drops in crime and complaints against police officers, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/Wrinter * Stop cutting corners, Mr. Mayor (NYP Ed) Team de Blasio complains the city comptroller’s office is dragging its feet on signing off on contracts for new homeless-shelter operators — but Scott Stringer is just doing his job. Perhaps the mayor and his minions could start doing theirs? With the homeless count up sharply since Mike Bloomberg left City Hall, Mayor de Blasio needs to start focusing on getting these unfortunates off the streets. Since January 2014, Stringer’s office has rejected 33 contracts submitted by the city Department of Homeless Services, impacting nonprofits that would provide 1,923 beds for single adults and 875 units for families. Without approved contracts, the city can’t pay the vendors.
.The Homeless Have Become the Victims of the Shadow Govt Lobbyists Pushing 421-a and Airbnb
Giuliani to de Blasio: The city’s homeless crisis needs tough love (NYP) * City Hall supplies filthy camp for bums with 32nd Street plaza (NYP) The bad old days are back on West 32nd Street — not because the city’s ignoring the mess, but because it made the mess. Incredibly, City Hall has created a wretched homeless camp where none previously existed — in the midst of one of Manhattan ’s busiest shopping, business and entertainment districts. To “improve” conditions near Penn Station, the Department of Transportation in August stuck a pedestrian plaza into the long block between Sixth and Seventh avenues. Its western end quickly turned into a squalid squatters colony of mentally unstable derelicts and druggies. How smart was it to install seating pods on the block that links Penn Station and Herald Square , in the midst of a scorching-hot summer? Since commuters rushing to trains or work have little time to sprawl out, vagrants plunged into the vacuum. City Hall seems oblivious to the vile-smelling, dope-snorting-and-shooting psychos who commandeer many of the three-seat pods. Monday Update Even vagrants think de Blasio’s to blame for homeless crisis (NYP) Even bums agree with Rudy — Mayor de Blasio is letting homeless people take over the streets. Hours after ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani ripped de Blasio’s handling of the homeless crisis in an exclusive Post column, vagrants across the city on Sunday echoed his condemnation of Hizzoner. “Giuliani is right. De Blasio is in denial,” said Floyd Parks, 60, a vagrant who was hanging around arecently broken-up homeless encampment in Harlem . * Hobo village is alive and well (NYP) * De Blasio faces uphill battle to house homelessvets in 2015 (NYDN)* Despite the NYPD spending days trying to dislodge dozens of homeless people from an encampment near the Metro-North station in Harlem, the vagrants remain in that spot near 125th Street, the Post reports * Rudy Giuliani Goes Trolling: Harass The Homeless ForTheir Own Good! (Gothamist) * De Blasio sees ‘tale of two Rudys’ on homelessness (PoliticoNY) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said former Mayor Rudy Giuliani is “delusional” for blaming homelessness on a progressive approach, saying homelessness went up by 40 percent under Giuliani, the Post reports: * A Times reporter and photographer visited homeless encampments across New York City , interviewing dozens of people, from teenagers to those in their 70s, about how they ended up on the streets: Wednesday Christie blasts de Blasio over ‘safest summer’ declaration (NYP) * Street living almost turns deadly for vagrant mauled by pit bull (NYP)
What is Causing Homeless the Increase?
de Basio NYT Meet 421-a Gentrification
As police officers, mental health workers, lawyers and others visit homeless encampments in New York as part of a City Hall initiative, a prime mission will be determining how people wound up on the streets, The New YorkTimes reports: * De Blasio, Cuomo clash (again) over who does more for homeless (NYP) Cops finally crack down on vagrants as the homeless blast de Blasio (NYP) * New York City , saying the state has invested heavily in housing for homeless in the past five years, Politico New York reports: *Since 1990, only 347,000 dwelling units were completed.
The City Affordable Housing Police he Giveth and Taketh More Away
New laws stop NYC landlords from forcing tenants to move (NYDN) Saying there’s no room in the city for “ruthless tactics,” Mayor de Blasio on Thursday signed into law a series of bills that will stop unscrupulous landlords from pressuring tenants to move out. Saying there’s no room in the city for “ruthless tactics,” Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a series of bills to stop landlords from pressuring tenants to move out and to protect the city’s rent regulated apartments
Is Homeless A Housing Problem, Mental Health Problem or an NYPD Target?
de Blasio Has the NYPD Targeting the Homeless
The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era, according to data released Thursday. There were 57,206 people housed in the facilities this week, compared with about 53,000 during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s final month in office in December 2013, the Mayor’s Management Report shows.
OPERATION 'BUM-STAT': NYPD zeroes in on homeless crisis by using data-driven tactics that brought down crime in the 90s (NYDN) Operation “Bum-Stat” is in full effect. The NYPD is mining some of the data-driven tactics it used to bring down crime in the late 1990s and applying them to the homeless crisis, multiple sources tell the Daily News. All precinct commanders are now required to inform higher-ups about homeless problems on their watch, including encampments, aggressive panhandling and crimes in homeless shelters, NYPD sources said. They are also expected to tabulate 311 calls about homelessness in their command. The information is then sent to 1 Police Plaza, the NYPD’s lower Manhattan headquarters, to be analyzed. It mirrors the type of information gathering used in the NYPD’s 20 year-old CompStat program, which tracks and maps crime trends. That system is widely credited with helping bring down crime to its current historic lows. In another sign of how seriously the NYPD is taking the crisis, nearly all of the department’s weekly CompStat meetings — typically devoted to crime trends — focused on the homeless problem two weeks ago, said one attendee.* The NYPD's recently revealed data-driven approach to tracking homelessness — or “Bum-Stat” — is part of an “extraordinary coordination” among city agencies, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, the Daily Newsreports: Wednesday Mayor de Blasio praises 'Bum-Stat' homelessness tracking (NYDN) * The NYPD’s data-driven approach to tracking homelessness — which cops call “Bum-Stat” — is part of an “extraordinary coordination” among city agencies, de Blasio said.
Operation Out of Sight Homeless
Everytime the NYP Prints A Homeless Hangout the Cops Move In to Clean It Out
Cops refuse to disrupt dreadlocked hobo’s encampment (NYP) Cops and social workers on Friday swarmed the pavement pad of a homeless hobo in Greenwich Village — the day The Post published his photo — but all they did was make him throw out his stash of trash. Seven cops, two Department of Homeless Services workers and a sanitation crew all approached Delfine Vizcarra — who sports a Rapunzel-like, ankle-length dreadlock — about 9 a.m. at his hovel in front of 505 LaGuardia Place. They spent nearly two hours talking to the pipe-smoking vagrant, but then left and let him stay without explanation — even though Mayor de Blasio said homeless encampments won’t be tolerated. “I don’t know,” one DHS worker said, declining to give his name, when asked what would happen to Vizcarra, 63, who neighborhood residents say has been living in the shanty — where he cooks on a small gas stove — for years. * RAT-INFESTED FIRE HAZARDS: City Controller Scott Stringer blasts Mayor de Blasio over homeless shelters (NYDN) * Since January 2014, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has rejected 33 contracts and held up millions of dollars in payments to nonprofits that shelter homeless people for fear they offer unsafe services, the Times reports:
Rudy Giuliani says people living in shelters aren’t homeless (NYDN) Monday A look at homelessness in NYC: "I'd rather be out herethan in shelters" (NYT) Wednesday Statistics provided by the New York City comptroller show rising numbers of homeless individuals and new contracting rules for shelters led to a 15 percent increase in the number of contracts submitted by City Hall for homeless services, Politico New York reports:
Team de Blasio Blames Bloomberg for Homeless Increase
NYP Keeps Pushing the Giuliani Homeless Pee Story
Homeless man back to ranting and peeing on Giuliani’s (NYT) * Editorial: Let the sunlight in on NYCHA's roof repairs (NYDN Ed) The vagrant whose public urination and late-night ranting prompted Mayor Rudy Giuliani to file a complaint with police was back on the former mayor’s block this week — and not in a good mood over his recent notoriety.
Back to the Welfare Hotels
New York Relies on Housing Program It Deplores as HomelessRanks Swell (NYT) * Homeless Families Endure Roaches, Mice and Failed Promises (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio has not delivered on his pledge to end the city’s use of an emergency form of housing that officials have deemed abhorrent and ineffective.* Despite pledges to end New York City’s reliance on emergency housing from private buildings that are in an abhorrent state, the city still relies on them to shelter the homeless because the demand for shelter is so high, the Times reports: * The New York Post blasts Mayor Bill de Blasio for trying to blame New York City’s homelessness problem on his predecessor Michael Bloomberg, writing he is closing his eyes to the 10 percent spike in shelter residents since he was elected * Gina Bellafante writes in the Times that homelessness isawful because it degrades lives, not streetscapes, and criticizes former Mayor Rudy Giuliani for recent comments about chasing homeless out of the city:
de Blasio Back to the Slumlords to Get the Homeless Off the Streets
BEGS TO DIFFER: De Blasio administration blames former Mayor Bloomberg for growing number of homeless New Yorkers (NYDN) The de Blasio administration, which has been under fire for the growing number of homeless New Yorkers, is pushing back and blaming former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. One of Mayor de Blasio’s top aides took to Twitter Tuesday to point out the city’s shelter population exploded under Bloomberg. “Who was mayor during time when NYC homeless numbered 25,000 in 2002 and jumped to 53,000 by 2013. Not @BilldeBlasio,” press secretary Karen Hinton tweeted. Her comment came hours after MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ripped de Blasio on air for 10 minutes, saying his “misguided liberalism” is contributing to the homelessness crisis. “There are a lot of liberal New Yorkers that are sick and tired of this happening with de Blasio,” Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida who lives in New Canaan , Conn. Philadelphia if he wants to run it.”* Scarborough slams Bill deBlasio for NYC's homelessness problem. * New York City continues to use a program that pays private landlords to house the spillover from homeless shelters, even though city officials have condemned it as expensive, wasteful and ineffective, The New York Times writes:
Homeless Complaints Up 60% and Mayor Blames Media Coverage
311 Complaints About Homeless Have Risen Nearly 60Percent Under @BilldeBlasio (DNAINFO) City’s 311 hotline flooded with over 20K homeless reports (NYP) As of Aug. 9, the 311 system has fielded 20,242 homeless-related calls, compared with 12,715 during the same period in 2013, the last year of the Bloomberg administration, according to data from the Mayor’s Office. If the volume of calls this year continues at the same rate, 311 could receive more than 30,000 reports about homeless people needing assistance or living on the street. * Mayor de Blasio’s latest bid to fake school success (NYP Ed) Mayor de Blasio pretends this week’s test scores for city students are “great news.” Black is white, too.
Students “raised up their test scores,” the mayor noted, a development with “profound ramifications.” And it’s all because “plans” he’s put in place “are really bearing fruit.” Truth is, the tests show kids — third- through eighth-graders — failing miserably. And almost no improvement whatsoever. It’s cause for alarm, not celebration.* Data released by the mayor’s office shows 20,242 calls to 311 about the homeless so far this year in New York City , a 35 percent increase compared with 14,958 calls at the same time last year, the Daily News reports: * De Blasio Blames Media Coverage of Homeless For Surge in 311 Complaints (DNAINF) The mayor said media coverage has increased concern about the homeless, prompting more 311 calls.
BDB doesn't think polls or media coverage reflect the feelings of city residents. He doesn't do town halls. So how is he taking the pulse?
How Many Homeless Plans Has de Blasio Had So Far 19 Months in Office
Groundhog Day: New Homeless Plan New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to unveil a plan today to address homelessness and move mentally ill people from the streets into housing and supportive facilities, The Wall Street Journalreports: Groundhog Day NYCHA Plan New York City officials directed nearly $80 million toward upgrading lights at 15 public housing developments flagged for high crime rates, but some developments that need it most are in the dark, the Daily News reports: Homeless and Crime Bratton Says Homelessness Is Fueling Perception of aCrime Spike (NYO) After announcement of a plan for handling New York City ’s homeless and mentally ill was pushed back to Thursday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said an increase in homelessness is fueling perception of a crime spike Bratton Bill Bratton thinksmore New Yorkers should be in jail (Gawker) * NYPD head Bill Bratton opposes letting more people out ofjail: (NYDN) * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks out against cuttingjail population: Thousands of criminals ‘have no values, no respect for humanlife’ (NYDN) * A report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shows that city officials are prioritizing treatment of less-severe mental-health cases at the expense of more severe, potentially violent cases, City Journal writes:
Homelessness Grows the Homeless Boss Goes
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, was reportedly “miserable” in her job and felt the mayor politicized too many decisions.
Deputy Mayor Barrios-Paoli leaving the de Blasioadministration (NYDN) Amid controversy over Mayor de Blasio's handling of homelessness, a deputy mayor will soon be leaving the place she's called home for 20 months. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, de Blasio's top official for homelessness, social services and health, is leaving City Hall, the administration announced Monday. She will depart at the end of September and take an unpaid post chairing the Health and Hospitals Corp. board. *
. Homeless Back Thursday Hours After Being Pushed Out Pushed Out on Friday Again
Bums back in hobo village hours after crackdown (NYP) * Times Square is not comparable to the drugs and prostitution of the 1990s, and that most of their actions are “awful but lawful”: * The Post writes that Mayor Bill de Blasio will need tomake major changes in his administration if he wants to seriously address issues of homelessness in New York City
.
.
Saturday Update Cops Move to Push Out the Homeless Again
Bratton tours notorious hobo village (NYP)Mayor de Blasio’s ‘whack-a-mole’ problem (NYP) Friday’s Post showed the NYPD’s dilemma on 125th Street : The cops rousted a sidewalk encampment near the Metro-North station on Wednesday; by the next morning, two dozen vagrants were back in place. Police again moved the homeless along; a Sanitation Department crew swept up — and a dozen of the “residents” had returned by noon. “They keep on waking us up and telling us to leave, but we come back,” one woman explained. This is going to be a long contest of wills — not just in Harlem , but in neighborhoods across the city. And the whole job can’t be dumped on the NYPD. For starters, the mayor needs to kick his mental-health bureaucracy into action — because it’s too often merely a revolving door, putting troubled people back on the street since helping them is just too hard.
The Out of Sight Out of Mind Homeless Plan
De Blasio seems to have abandoned the notion that homeless is not a problem in New York City, with his team now seizing on the issue in public and in private, discussing a series of changes intended to stem the crisis, the Times reports: * De Blasio seems to have abandoned the notion that homeless is not a problem in New York City, with his team now seizing on the issue in public and in private, discussing a series of changes intended to stem the crisis, the Times reports: * The Post’s Michael Goodwin writes that the shocking resignation of Lilliam Barrios-Paoli in the middle of a raging homeless crisis suggests things are going to get worse before they get better: * Mayor de Blasio takes tour of filthy, needle-ridden Bronx drug den — vows to clean up homeless encampments (NYDN) * Police Officers and Other New York City Agencies Visit Homeless Encampments (NYT) Police Commissioner William J. Bratton discusses the measures the city has taken to address a rise in homelessness.
Rudy Reconnects to the Homeless
Rudy Giuliani reports homeless man near Manhattan home (NYDN) * Upper East Side block as a bathroom that he personally filed a complaint with cops.
Shameless Pols Who Are Responsible for Increased Homeless Slam Cops Union Photo Campain
NYC pols blast cop union's photo campaign for 'shaming'homeless people (NYDN) “That’s just wrong. It’s tacky,” said Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who joined other pols and activists on the City Hall steps Tuesday. “Being poor is not a crime. Being homeless in New York City is not a crime,” said Councilman Steve Levin (D-Brooklyn), chair of the general welfare committee. “The public shaming of people that are homeless in New York City, that have fallen on hard times, that are sleeping on our streets, sleeping in our shelter system, trying to get their feet on the ground — that has to stop.” SBA president Ed Mullins defended the campaign — saying it’s supposed to shame politicians into action on the homelessness problem, not shame the homeless themselves. 2017 Bill de Blasio’s Message to His PotentialPrimary Foes: Bring It On (NYO)
Daily News' Gonzalez: Elites Trying to Dump Mayor
Elites could be crying out 'chaos' in NYC to get de Blasioout of office: @juangon68 http://nydn.us/1US9J71 Is this city descending into chaos, or are Mayor de Blasio’s critics using small spikes in crime to whip up the public against him? If you believe the blaring headlines, shootings are climbing, the homeless are taking over, drug use has suddenly escalated, and Times Square is hurtling back to its X-rated past. Even Curtis Sliwa has returned with his Guardian Angels show.This is all part of a storyline concocted by powerful people in this town who are bent on turning de Blasio into a one-term mayor.
Former Backer Turns On Mayor
Wall Street Turns Against de Blasio
“He’s anti-business, he’s anti-wealth, he’s anti-accomplishment. His performance has not been up to par. He’s failed.”
Top de Blasio backer considers 2017 run against ‘anti-business, anti-cop socialist’ (NYP) One of the nation’s wealthiest black business leaders is considering mounting a self-financed campaign to topple Mayor de Blasio in 2017 — saying he has lost faith in the candidate he once supported. “I’m giving serious thought to running for mayor of New York City . . . I was a political supporter of Bill de Blasio,” real estate mogul Don Peebles told The Post on Tuesday. Peebles and wife Katrina contributed $9,675 to de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and inaugural committees, records show. But during an extensive interview, the lifelong Democrat — who is reportedly worth $700 million — delivered a withering attack on the mayor’s handling of taxes, charter schools, stewardship of the NYPD and chilly relations with Gov. Cuomo. He slammed de Blasio on numerous fronts, from his management skills to his chat with his son, Dante, about how to act if approached by cops. While he resides in Boca Raton, Fla., Peebles owns homes in downtown Manhattan and is buying a place on the Upper West Side. He also has company offices in Midtown and owns a home in Bridgehampton, LI.Peebles is well-known in New York’s political and business circles. He served on President Obama’s national finance committee and has raised money for Bill Clinton and other politicians. * The narrative that the New York City media is portraying of violence and vagrancy returning to the high levels of the 1980s and 1990s ignores inconvenient facts and basic history, the Daily News’ Juan Gonzalez writes: * Gonzalez: Elites may be crying 'chaos' to get de Blasio out (NYDN) Thursday People beg Peebles: Please run against de Blasio! (NYP)* An ex-supporter calls out Mayor de Blasio’s failures (NYP Ed) * A “local Democratic insider” tells Business Insider that Public Advocate Letitia James is considering challenging New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the 2017 Democratic mayoral primary:* * The list of Democrats mulling a challenge against de Blasio in 2017 has grown in the wake of criticism, but the mayor in a rare move had a message for all of them during a press conference—bring it on, theObserver writes: Friday Peebles and de Blasio definitely aren’t friends anymore (NYP) “Interesting way to be a friend,” de Blasio said Thursday of the wealthy black business leader, during an unrelated press conference in Beach Channel, Queens . Asked how he would respond to Peebles’ claims that he is anti-business and anti-wealth, he replied tersely, ‘He’s wrong.”
Maimonides Medical Center Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
The Progressive Mayor's Plan for Homeless Many Mentally Ill Move Them Out of Sight
These are the worst areas in NYC for ‘quality of life’ offenses (NYP) NYPD bosses have pinpointed the two dozen worst spots across the city for a “quality of life” crackdown on offenses like public drinking and urination, according to an internal document obtained by The Post. Targeted areas include places exposed by The Post — Tompkins Square and Washington Square parks and East 125th Street between Park and Lexington avenues. Broadway between West 68th and 72nd streets and a corner near the Coney Island beach are also on the list. One spot, at East 96th Street and the FDR Drive — which is targeted for a “homeless” problem — is a well-known hangout for a particularly aggressive beggar who has proven difficult to dislodge, one source said. Monday Update NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said policing can’t solve homelessness, but said between 5,000 and 10,000 cops will be trained to deal with the emotionally disturbed homeless population, the Daily News reports: * * A New York City taskforce has moved more than 200 people out of unregulated homes where many struggle with addiction, often called three-quarter houses, but others were left behind, the Times reports:
Bums set up camp outside NYC college (NYP) The glass facade of Cooper Union’s $111 million academic building offers a remarkable view — of a back alley packed with vagrants.
An East Village mom welcomed a crackdown at Tompkins Square Park
The Homeless Plaza Hotel Fountain Spa
Exclusive: Photos Show Homeless Man Taking Bath Columbus Circle
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
More On the Homeless
NYPD, Bratton The Fight For Control
Blasting the Press, de Blasio, Sharpton Over Noerdlinger and Racial Divide; Clueless Press
Bubble Mayor No Town Hall de Blasio Spins and the NYC Press Defining Journalism Down
Bratton Attacks the NYP for Piss Man Coverage
After the Mayor Cop's Pushes Homeless Away from Gracie Mansion He Visits the Homeless He is Kicking Out of Tompkins Square Park
De Blasio mingles with bums in search of policy guidance (NYP) Mayor de Blasio made a surprise visit to Tompkins Square Park on Thursday to check out the vagrant-infested space — and asked homeless people there for advice on what to do about the crisis. The unscheduled East Village stop came a day after a cop shooed a “bum” — actually a Post reporter in disguise — from outside Gracie Mansion
NYP Keeps Up Its Bum Attacks So The City Tries to Hide Them
Saturday The Post is happy to be of assistance, Police Commissioner Bratton (NYP)
Wednesday De Blasio’s lazy, nonsensical handling of the homeless crisis (NYP Ed)
Sunday the Post Adds the Squeegee Man
Squeegee man is city’s latest blast from the past (NYP) Gentrification Formerly Homeless Tenants in Prospect-Lefferts Building Fight Order to Move (DNAINFO) The landlord at 60 Clarkson Ave. gave tenants 24 hours to move last month. Monday Update Bums are running amok in New York City and it needs to stop (NYP)
The Council May Make It Harder for the NYPD and Courts to Improve Qualty of Life
A return to zip-code policing will wreck New York (NYP) Last week, he assembled the top brass of the NYPD and directed them to vigorously enforce public-order laws. This comes after some streets have been virtually taken over by vagrants and the disorderly. At the same time, the City Council is preparing to bring to a vote laws curtailing public-order enforcement. Mayor de Blasio will have to decide whether to sign them or veto them. Public urination, for example, should be treated the same in Harlem as on the Upper East Side . Individuals who relieve themselves in a dark alley need not be bothered. However, those who do so in front of a sidewalk café should be hauled before a judge. One way to recognize this is for the City Council to shelve the pending measures curtailing police enforcement, and let the cops do their jobs — all over the city. Thomas A. Reppetto is the former president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and a retired Chicago
The killing in April of Ana Charle — the first shelter worker known to be slain in the NYC shelter system — has focused attention on these employees in recent months and prompted city officials to review security measures at the city’s 256 homeless shelters.
- The killing of a homeless shelter worker this spring has prompted New York City officials to review security measures at 265 such facilities, some of which are operated by nonprofits, the Times reports: http://goo.gl/vRgSSN
It Took 3 Days to Push The Homeless Out of the Tompkins Square Park Now Gracie Mansion Also
Mayor "Real Concerned" That the Homeless Have Reappeared - Cops Hide Them
Thursday Update NYPD cracking down on vagrants in city parks (NYP) The NYPD is stepping up patrols of city parks to clear out vagrants in the wake of a series of Post reports on the surge in homeless people on the streets. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has ordered cops to enforce the curfews at all public green spaces to keep derelicts from camping out there, law-enforcement sources said Wednesday. Bratton issued the directive during a Tuesday meeting with his chiefs that followed a surprise visit to Tompkins Square Park
Monday This East Village park has become a homeless haven (NYP) There’s a new homeless shelter in Alphabet City — Tompkins Square Park New York City and urges Mayor Bill de Blasio to take it seriously to avoid returning to the bad old days * De Blasio has ‘real concern’ about homeless on NYC streets(NYP) Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted Thursday he has “real concern” about the homeless people taking over the city’s streets. His comments come after The Post revealed how more vagrants are setting up shop in neighborhoods all over the city — including the Upper West Side . * A bipartisan group of 133 Assembly members signed a letter urging Cuomo to develop 35,000 units of supportive housing across the state to help combat homelessness, the Daily News reports: * A bipartisan group of 133 state Assembly members is urging Cuomo to develop 35,000 units of supportive housing across the state to combat homelessness. * Queens Councilman Ruben Wills paid $250 of his own money to hire a contractor to measure a homeless shelter’s distance from a school and finding it was some 100 feet closer to the children than the law allows. As a result, 52 registered sex offenders were relocated. * New York City settled a lawsuit and agreed to allow monthly visits by relatives and their guests to Hart Island, where the homeless and unclaimed bodies are buried by the Department of Correction, the Times reports: *Bums think de Blasio is the best mayor ever (NYP) Bums across the city hailed Mayor de Blasio on Monday for relaxing enforcement against homeless panhandlers, saying it hasn’t been this good for them in years. “I want to thank de Blasio for taking it easy on us. It’s easier for me to get by. Because of him, nobody bothers me,” said Phil Zasel, 63, who was hanging out near Bellevue Hospital
NYP Council Speaker Pisses On NYC
Apparently it’s now OK to pee on the streets of New York City (NYP) This urinating vagrant turned a busy stretch of Broadway into his own private bathroom yesterday – an offense that would result in a mere summons if Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her pals get their way. Mark-Viverito in April announced plans to decriminalize public urination along with five other low-level offenses: biking on the sidewalk, public consumption of alcohol, being in a park after dark, failure to obey a park sign and jumping subway turnstiles. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton — who in the early ’90s implemented a “broken windows” approach to policing to dramatically cut crime — is against the new plan, saying such offenses lead to more serious crimes. Monday Update Vagrant back to peeing in the streets, says he is ‘a good guy’ (NYP) * The Post writes that the de Blasio administration’s planfor treating mental health needs to prove effective now that homeless are beginning to congregate in an East Village
This Time It is the City's Lack of Mental Health Policies That is Pissing on New Yorkers
Sunday Update Peeing menace cuffed by cops, only to be back on the streets (NYP) New York ’s Revolving door of justice sprang a scary leak Saturday when a threatening, public-urinating, jagged-glass-waving homeless man was twice hauled away by cops — only to each time be quickly released to terrorize the same stretch of Broadway on the Upper West Side . The man was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Roosevelt Hospital Victoria ’s Secret store. A dozen cops soon swarmed to the scene, cuffed him and again hauled him away. That time he was carted off to to St. Lukes Hospital Iowa , Nebraska , California , Puerto Rico and other points, Mayor Putz already has spent more than a month on the road this year. He goes to Washington more often than Staten Island . It’s not just his body that’s missing in action — it’s his attitude, too. His withering broadside against Gov. Cuomo, where he accused his fellow Democrat of carrying out “a vendetta,” was a burn-the-bridges event. On his next visit to Albany , he’ll probably be greeted by a locked door. That won’t help the city.
Post Always Reports NYCHA Leadership Sucks The Post writes that it is time to evict the de Blasio administration from running NYCHA and break up the behemoth government monopoly after a city comptroller audit found long waiting lists for major repairs and thousands of vacant apartments: REAL ESTATE—“Stringer: NYCHA apartments left vacant for years “Low-income apartments run by the New York City Housing Authority are in high demand, with more than 270,000 applicants on the authority’s waiting list. But some 241 NYCHA units slated for repairs have remained vacant for an average of seven years, costing the agency millions in lost rents, according to an audit released on Wednesday by Comptroller Scott Stringer. Stringer, speaking during a news conference outside the Raymond V. Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn , criticized the housing authority for its oversight of the vacancies. … According to NYCHA, the agency has 2,342 vacant apartments that have been left empty for a combination of short- and long-term repairs. Stringer’s audit found that these numbers are ‘estimates at best,’ and that NYCHA lacks adequate records on apartment occupancy * Audit: NYC Housing Authority sitting on 2,000 vacant units (WSJ) * More than a day after ‘framework’ agreement, educationissues remain unresolved in Albany * Calls for NYCHA Head’s Ouster Spur Defense of De Blasio’sRecord (City Limits) *Tenants, churches want NYCHA boss to resign over lack of mold repairs(NYDN)
True News Wonders Why the NYT Did Not Point Out the Poor State of Public Housing Finances When the Candidates Were Making Promises of More Services During the 2013 Election
The Times writes that to save New York City’s public housing, de Blasioneeds to “find a ton of money, then put it where his mouth is,” and that after decades of neglect it will remain a perplexing challenge:
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."
How Berlin Rosen Tried To Blame Cuomo for NYC's Homeless Problem
What is the Cause of Homeless Increase? 421-a?
“Cutting off funds for shelters, as the governor has done, is only hurting the poorest New Yorkers,” Assemblyman Social Services Committee Chairman Andrew Hevesi said. * The head of a key Assembly committee criticized Cuomo for withholding state aid for 16 city homeless shelters after the de Blasio administration missed a deadline to address serious code violations, the Daily News writes: * * New York City will develop a plan to improve its homeless shelters by Tuesday, and officials said the state will continue providing funding to the city in the interim, Capital New York reports:
As Pols March for Tenants
NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, Assemblyman Keith Wright and Councilman Jumaane Williams blasted state Senate Republicans and Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a large pro-tenant rally in Manhattan ’s Foley Square last night. * Hundreds of tenants marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of force to demand stronger rent laws from Albany , as their advocates called on Mayor de Blasio to push for a rent freeze, the Post reports:
de Blasio: Solving Growing Homelessness by Press Releases
NYT Reports the Mayor Is Throwing $$$ at the Problem, But Does Not Talk About What is Causing the Increased Homeless New Yorkers . . . 421-a?
De Blasio proposes a landlord-friendly tax tweak (Capital) Mayor Bill de Blasio's “sweeping” plan to reform a controversial tax break for developers will allow some landlords whose benefits are about to expire to continue receiving them, under certain conditions. De Blasio’s proposal, which will require approval in Albany , would give landlords the opportunity to extend existing 421-a tax abatements awarded before 2008 that are about to run out. The deal would allow landlords who qualified for 421-a prior to 2008 (when the abatement was last amended) to continue receiving the tax break on half of their building's property tax for 15 more years, provided they make an additional 5 percent of the building’s apartments available at an “affordable” rent. * A report from the New York City Independent Budget office finds that despite adding funds to the proposed 2016 budget for homeless services, the de Blasio administration will still need to increase funding for the city’s shelter system: * For New York City’s Working Poor, New Help in Getting Out of Homeless Shelters * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his office would use $1.2 million in money from its myriad settlements with large financial institutions to stem the city’s ballooning homeless crisis, the Observer reports: * AG Eric Schneiderman announced his office would use $1.2 million in money from its myriad settlements with large financial institutions to stem the city’s ballooning homelessness crisis.`
Officials said New York City would commit $100 million in annual spending to combat homelessness, including funding for rental assistance, to more than 7,000 new households, anti-eviction efforts, The New York Timesreports: * Bronx citycouncilman accuses Cuomo of putting 'political favors' ahead of NYCHA repairs(NYDN) Bronx city councilman accuses Cuomo of putting 'political favors' ahead of NYCHA repairs “The notion of diverting state funds away from emergency roof replacement and into a political slush fund is morally sickening to me," Torres said.* New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye announced the authority would overhaul its oversight of warehouses in the wake of an audit, the Observer reports
The Daily News Makes It Look Like Homelessness Down
Homelessness Growing? Why? Whose to Blame?
De Blasio’s homeless shelter crisis (NYDN Ed)
Stringer: X-Men Ripping Off NYCHA Supplies Because Tracking System Disarray 
COMIC-AL NYCHA: $100M tracking system in such disarray, Housing Authority worker signed for supplies under the name 'X-Men' * De Blasio’s own Department of Investigation in March issued a withering report on vile conditions at 25 city-funded shelters, finding the worst at so-called cluster sites run by private landlords that bill the city an average of $2,541 a month, often for slum-grade apartments. Blocked fire exits, vermin infestations and skimpy security put thousands of families in harm’s way. • As a candidate, de Blasio vowed to stop using clusters. But DHS has since increased their number and has yet to move families out. • The shutdown plan includes paying some of the same shelter landlords to continue housing the same tenants in the same apartments — relabeling shelters as permanent housing and thus removing those families from the homeless tally. With equal desperation, the city has begun offering friends and relatives cash to take in homeless families. • A surge in violence in adult homeless facilities preceded last week’s murder of Bronx shelter director Ana Charle, with the rate of life-threatening incidents up 33% in the six months ending January 2015 over the same period the year prior.* DISPLACED, DISPERSED, DISAPPEARED: Families are being forced out of Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood as landlords seek to charge higher rents to incoming youths with deeper pockets, but where do they go when they move? Neil deMause reports: (City and State) * Tenants’ Voice Lacks Power as NYCHA Faces Crucial Chapter via@citylimitsorg * Housing Authority eyes ‘X-Men’ in supply thefts (NYP) * Housing Authority Fails to Protect Supplies, Audit Finds (WSJ) *Stringer: Housing Authority Grossly Mismanaged Inventory of Equipment, Supplies(NY1) *
..
Professional Ass Kisser Lehrer Ignore How Berlin Rosen Used the Homeless as A Political Prop and the Dozens of Other Conflict of Interests Like Gentrification Pushing Out Minorities by the Developers the None lobbying Firm Represents
Brian Lehrer WNYC Radio: “Still a question of what is the price to the public is to the public is there a price to the public anyone getting sweetheart contracts. I not sure we have meaningful conflict of interests here yet?” * A Noticing New York challenge to WNYC and its Gilmartin appointment (AYR) In a 12/8/14 Noticing New York column, With Big Bucks Out To Hijack Truth and Broadcasting Integrity- The Daily Show and Bill Moyers Set Models for WNYC Radio, Michael D.D. White describes a visit to a board meeting of WNYC, where he queried CEO Laura Walker about the appointment of Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin:
Berlin Rosen Black Box Blame Cuomo Homeless Operation as Ratner Creates More Homeless by Gentrification
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter
When NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, head of the Coalition for the Homeless he did no know that Berlin Rosen worked for them. Unregulated Berlin Rosen Will Lead to Foreign Control of New York's Government - A Silent Coup d'etat * The Atlantic Yards CBA promised a path to union apprenticeships. Instead, BUILD's coveted program provoked a bitter lawsuit.(AYR)
Ratner, de Blasio and Berlin Rosen Created Gentrification in Prospect Heights and Not They Blame Cuomo for the Homeless
On NY1, reporters sift through BerlinRosen suspicion; a look back at how firm massaged Ratner's bailout of ACORN(AYR)
Airbnb Should Be Forced to House the Homeless in Cold Weather
Code Blue” program aims to bring the homeless inside when temperatures fall helps, but the city’s outreach workers should require people to go to a shelter or hospital for their safety. New York ’s cold shoulder: When the weather isbrutally cold, we must save homeless people from themselves (NYDN Ed) Nobody should freeze on the streets* A building gets sold by $100.5 million. Gets 95% tax cut.Take action #SubsidizeMyPenthouse * 'We gotta move him because we gotta work': Homeless man forced to move from sidewalk spot by construction workers (NYDN) * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached a settlement with property owners who operated an illegal hotel on land that received $4.4 million in tax breaks meant to spur affordable housing, the Times reports: * State Closes an Illegal Hotel in Manhattan That Was Hiding in Plain Sight
The 36-story building was supposed to be a condominium and received millions of dollars in tax breaks meant to spur the construction of affordable housing. * NYS closes illegal hotel in Manhattan
Let Them Freeze: Homeless Almost Dies In Front of $100 Million Tax Subsidized Apt
Bitter divide:Homeless man miraculously survives brutal cold snap just 500 feet away from New York’s first $100Mapartment (NYDN) Many homeless New Yorkers opted to take their chances outside as temperatures dropped to single digits over the weekend. Some were only feet away from penthouses worth millions. The palatial palaces are a far cry from the makeshift campsites and city shelters where thousands of homeless New Yorkers braved the cold.1409 Sixth Ave. building apologetically delivered the bad news Tuesday to Deuce after a night of steady snow and temperatures in the teens.
The Queens Boss Crowley Uses the Special Election Law to Stay in Power, to Use the Surrogate Court As Their Personal Cash Cow
In Special Elections Tammany Hall Rules
In the passed True News point out that if the governor called a special election to fill the Weiner seat one man corrupt Queens boss Joe Crowley would pick the next congressman from the 9th district. Today the NYT & Daily News called the party rules which go back to boss Tweed that allow one man rule undemocratic. The NYT did not get into why Albany does not want to change the party rules.
Incumbents get help when challengers pop up from Board of Elections which is controlled by the county leaders. Most time those the BOE makes sure challengers cannot make it passed what the NYT called "not great" NY political parties ballot access rules. The NYT also did not talk about how the same party rules give the party leaders control who become a Supreme Court Judge in the state. Or about all the corrupt coming out of party leaders selling access to their ballot lines * New York . Citizens Union reported recently that a third of the Legislature was first anointed as candidates in these back-room, special-election deals. * Primaries Also Needed For Special Elections (1990)
Today's Queens Democratic machines still use the Surrogate Court (True News) Queens Politics)
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates." NY1 Online: Reporters Weigh In on BerlinRosen's Influence onCity Hall
Mayor's Unregistered Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Used the Media to Blame Cuomo for Increased Homelessness
NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, deputy executive director for advocacy at the Coalition for the Homeless on March 26th. In the interview Markee blamed Cuomo and Bloomberg for the increase in the city's Homeless. When Markee offered that de Blasio plan would decrease homeless in the coming year, Louis asked him why his report did not blame the mayor also for increasing homeless. In a period of 5 days starting on March 19th the media acted as a court stenographer for Berlin Rosen and their main client de Blasio on blaming Cuomo for the homeless increase. *Coalition for the Homeless Demands More from Cuomo ...(NYO, March 19th) * State Budget Expected to Provide Relief for Homeless, but Advocates Say It's Still Not Enough
Is the City's 421-a Housing Policy Causing an Increase in Gentrification Causing More Homelessness?
Senate Democrats Nudge Cuomo On Homeless Youth ...(YNN, March 19th) * Miley Cyrus asks Gov. Cuomo to boost funds for homeless ...)syracuse.com, March 19th) * De Blasio Slams Cuomo Homelessness Proposals (ObserverMarch 25th) *Cuomo and de Blasio Clash Again, This Time Over Homelessness (NYT, March 25th) Mr. de Blasio’s homeless services commissioner, Gilbert Taylor, told the Council that the administration was going to lobby officials in Albany 
When is A Reporter Going to Ask A Pol What is Causing the Increase in Homelessness?
Speaker Blames New Yorkers for Not Allowing Homeless in Their Neighborhoods
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for more supportive housing to tackle the “alarming” homelessness crisis, and slammed local resistance to shelters, the Daily News writes: * NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for more supportive housing to tackle the city’s “alarming and truly heartbreaking” homelessness crisis, and slammed “NIMBYism” from New Yorkers who have resisted sheltering the poor in their neighborhoods. * Board members at two Brooklyn charities — including a former makeup artist for Oprah Winfrey — kicked homeless and low-income families out of two brownstones so they could sell the buildings for a bundle, AG Eric Schneiderman’s office alleged.
Why Did NY1 Who Help Create the Lobbyists Shadow Government in NYC Only
Turn Against Berlin Rosen?
The City Blames Cuomo While It Builds Luxury HQ for Its Homeless Agency
Will de Blasio Fire Homeless Commission Gilbert Talyor?
Will Columbia Deans Coronel and Coll Investigate Berlin Rosen Control of the Media?
Homeless agency spends $600K on office upgrades as families live with vermin: report (NYP) 33 Beaver St . That’s on top of $171,000 to create additional offices at the Financial District building, and $150,000 on a paint job for the seven floors the department occupies.
Will the CUNY School of Journalism Show Some Social Responsibility and Investigate Berlin Rosen Control on the NYC's News Media?
Last month, the city Department of Investigation issued a scathing report that exposed what Commissioner Mark Peters called “perilous” conditions at 25 shelters housing thousands of destitute families.The report revealed 621 violations of building and fire-safety codes, as well as vermin infestations — including hordes of roaches and a smelly, decaying rat corpse— and garbage littering the hallways and stairs. At one of the worst shelters, the Brooklyn Acacia Cluster in Brownsville — where investigators found one elevator broken, and the other fouled with a large puddle of urine — residents were outraged at the DHS spending. “When we moved in, they gave us a broken bed, a broken dresser, one chest that has two of the drawers broken,” said Denise Annisa, 49, a mother of five whose previous apartment was destroyed by fire. “We’ve requested new stuff, but we haven’t gotten anything. It’s been over a year.” DHS said it was “ramping up its efforts to curb an unprecedented homelessness crisis.” “This includes adding 154 new staff members to keep families at the brink of homelessness in their homes, and help people in shelter transition back to permanent housing, and upgrading old facilities to accommodate this new staff and operation,” the DHS statement added.positioning
Will A 71 Year Old Gadfly Take Down the Democratic Machine, the State Election Law
Sunday Update
Brooklyn Democratic Machine Breaks Down inFlatbush District (NYO) Why is Mr. Philpotts, and not the county machine, in control of who runs as a Democrat in the May 5 special election? The answer lies in the fact that Mr. Philpotts, regarded as a harmless gadfly in local political circles, had the foresight to stock the county committee of Mr. Camara’s 43rd Assembly District with a handful of family members and allies. Typically, county committeemen take direction from the county leader when the time comes to nominate a candidate in a special election to fill a vacancy. (New York State
Errol Louis in the Daily News had reported earlier this week that Mr. Philpotts was planning to deliver his votes to Shirley Patterson, a Democratic district leader. Mr. Seddio and his inner circle were blindsided. A source close to Mr. Seddio told the Observer that the candidate who wins the support of the county committee would have the party’s support, implying that efforts by Mr. Adams, the borough president and Senate predecessor of Mr. Hamilton, had failed to keep Mr. Philpotts from seeking the Democratic nomination. (Mr. Adams and Mr. Seddio work closely together.) Though the Democratic nomination in heavily Democratic districts is often tantamount to winning the election, Mr. Philpotts will not have a clear path to victory. Ms. Patterson will petition to run on the Independence Party line, sources say. Geoffrey Davis, the brother of former Brooklyn Councilman James Davis, is planning to run on his own party line. Diane Richardson, a former candidate for Democratic district leader, is a front-runner to receive the Working Families Party nod and is also looking to create her own ballot line.
Its the Philpotts Machine Now
According to thebylaws of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the party’s choice will be made by a little-known committee of party members who live within the Assembly district. The committee, which in theory could have hundreds of members, currently has only 10 — all placed there by Guillermo Philpotts, a gadfly candidate who runs for office every few years, mounting failed bids for state Senate in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2014. (In some of his bids, Philpotts was bounced off the ballot; in others, he never showed up at candidate debates.) Sources tell me that Philpotts plans to hurriedly add new members to his handpicked committee, then deliver the Democratic nomination to Shirley Patterson, the area’s female district leader. Insiders say the deal has been blessed by state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn) and Borough President Eric Adams. Here again, voters might well have gone in a different direction. Democratic District leader Geoffrey Davis, longtime consultant Musa Moore and nonprofit manager Diana Richardson have all been gearing up for a primary election that will never happen.
The Cannolis Coup d'etat
Philpotts is the Reforms the So Called Reforms are Opportunist
Brooklyn Boss at the CBID Reform Club
New Brooklyn Boss Frank Seddio visited a reform club last week and told the members that there is no corruption in the Kings County courts, told them patronage is not a bad thing and promised more transparency, as he served them cannolis he brought for them. A couple of days before his visit the Daily News called his word worthless because he went back on his promised to release documents related to a state Commission on Judicial Conduct investigation of his conduct while running for Surrogate judge. * Brad Lander @bradlander I think Frank Seddio may be the first Brooklyn Democratic County Leader ever to attend #CBID annual dinner! True News: Seddio: Leave the Gun Take the Cannolis
Weaken Democratic Machine, New Lobbyists Machine Race to the Bottom of Our Democracy
The Privatization of the Tammany Hall Machine
The Old Tammany Hall Machine was corrupt as corrupt as the lobbyists who have run today's New York's political system. But the machine of the Boss Tweed era was far more responsive to voters and the communities that it served. Terry Golway recent book explained how Tammany Hall depended on voter turnout for power. To get votes the old machine offered services, provided jobs and protected the neighborhood where their votes came from. Tammany Hall governing style was responsible for creating New York's strong Neighborhoods of old. Tammany leader George Washington Plunkitt — the man who coined the phrase “honest graft” — met with constituents and lesser Tammany officials in his district several times a week to find out who was happy with Tammany’s services and who required some special attention. Today's lobbyist's controlled private machine gain power by getting electing candidates and feeding them with campaign contributions from their clients who are looking for city contracts or zoning changes, they never meet the voters.
Lobbyists Political Consultants Have At First Worked Side by Side With Party Bosses to Cut Themselves Into Election System . . . They Are Now in the Process of Cutting Out Those Party Machines Who Brought Them In
Today's Lobbyist Private Political Machine did not replace the old Tammany Hall. It replaced political parties machine running on fumes, using the election low and decreasing voter's turnout to stay in power. The dumbing down of the press and the voting public and the end of organized political competition after the Eleanor Roosevelt who pushed out Tammany's de Sapio and the anti-Viet Nam reform movement, have left party bosses in power unchallenged.
The New Private Lobbyists Tammany Hall is Even Less Transparent Than the Old Secret Party Boss System
There are very important campaign filing differences between de Sapio's Tammany Hall and today's lobbyists Tammany Hall. Old Tammany and today's political party leaders were required to file their all their expenses and how much money their received. The new lobbyists Private Tammany Hall uses money from their lobbyists clients in campaigns which are not required to be filed with the Board of Elections. They use the Data and Field model of charging their clients below costs, that the Working Families Party and others are under investigation for by the Staten Island DA's special prosecutor, and it is all legal for the new lobbyists political consultants. The political party machines are quired to file any money they spend with other clubs or political leaders that is used to elect their candidates. The new private lobbyists can hire other lobbyists or anyone else and is not required to file any financial report. In the 2013 elections there were over 200 incidents of 8 lobbyists either working with other or against each other
Homeless #'s Up 6% Under DeBlasio 52% Over Last 5 Years . . . Warehousing for Airbnb is A Cause
The Daily News Leaves Out the Most Reasons for the Increase In Homelessness and the Pushing Out of the Middle Class Out of the City, Tax Breaks to Luxury Developers and Airbnb
DE BLASIO'S HOMELESSNESS CRISIS: Number of homeless peoplespikes 52% in last five years — grows 6% under de Blasio(NYDN)The city has seen a 6% increase in homelessness since the mayor took office in January. In response, Mayor de Blasio added several new shelters to the city, sparking protests from affected neighborhoods.The city says it housed an average of 54,754 people a night in August, including 23,000 children — up from an average of 51,470 in January. The number is 10% higher than in August 2013. Overall, in the last five years, the city’s homeless population has soared by a stunning 52%.
Homelessness Is Caused by Gentrification and City and State Luxury Tax Breaks, Up 13%
The number of homeless people across the country fell this year, but in New York City the homeless population continued to swell, according to an annual federal survey. Homelessness up 13 percent since de Blasio took office * It IS noticeably quieter on the steps of City Hall since Bloomberg left & protestors pretty much left too:* IDC Leader Jeff Klein will introduce controversial legislation today to force NYC to alert communities before opening social service facilities in their neighborhoods. The senator said he was blindsided when the de Blasio administration opened a homeless shelter in his district without warning.
Under de Blasio Antipoverty Groups Have Lowered Their Voices As Homelessness Increases
Antipoverty groups that once stood as City Hall’s staunchest critics have lowered their voices since New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, giving him the benefit of the doubt even as problems such as homelessness have worsened, the Journalreports:
*Antipoverty Groups Give Mayor Wide Berth(WSJ) Many See Mayor as an Ally and Don’t Want to Jeopardize His Progress
Secret Shelters: de Blasio Putting Homeless Shelters In Communities Without Telling Anyone
Residents furious as more homeless shelters pop up throughout neighborhoods in the city — sometimes without warning(NYDN) Staten Island — are essential to address the surge in homeless families that has swelled the population in the shelter system to record highs. There are 57,390 people currently living in city homeless shelters, some 24,760 are children. Twenty of the 23 new facilities are for families with kids under 18. When shelters opened in recent months in Astoria and Elmhurst , Queens, and Sheepshead Bay , Brooklyn , elected officials and residents were taken by surprise. “I had heard rumors and I was told it wasn’t set in stone,” said City Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D-Brooklyn). “Next thing I know, they’re moving in furniture.” * Big City: In New York Public Housing, Policing Broken Lights (NYT)* Opening a Stand-Alone Homeless Shelter Involves ‘Endless List of Items’(WSJ) Securing hundreds of bunk beds checks only one box off the list of things to take care of when setting up a stand-alone shelter in New York City .
Former Deputy Mayor Barrious-Paoli de Blasio Took Eye Off the Ball HOMELESS
Former deputy mayor rips de Blasio's handle on homelessness in the city (NYDN) Ex-Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli blasted her old boss Mayor de Blasio for not having a long-term vision to deal with homelessness — and said she left the administration because she didn’t like the way it was handling the issue. The former nun, who was well-respected among advocates for the poor, said there is too much “immediatism” in the administration when it comes to homelessness. “They are not seeing the long term and they don't have a long-term plan,” she said in an interview on NY1 Noticias in Spanish. Barrios-Paoli, who had been the deputy mayor in charge of homelessness, stepped down last year citing “personal reasons.” “I thought that the best thing for me was to leave,” she said. Asked if she liked working with de Blasio, she added, “There were some difficulties.” She chuckled when asked to elaborate, then declined to say more. Meanwhile, city Controller Scott Stringer demanded that de Blasio immediately address what he termed “potentially dangerous conditions” at city homeless shelters. In a letter to the heads of the homeless, health and child welfare agencies, Stringer cites his finding that 82% of child care workers at shelters didn’
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
t have criminal history checks. * Woman Who Once Ran Mayor's Homeless Initiatives Criticizes Mayor's Response to Homeless Crisis (NY1) * Coney Island A “Dumping Ground For Homeless Shelters” LocalsComplain In Protest to Proposed Shelter (Bensonhurt Bean)
de Blasio Attacks Conservative Maspeth As Racist On Homeless Shelter Protests to Build A Progressive Coalition for His 2017 Re-Election
Daily News Blames Liberal Everyone Welcomed Homeless Policy Not Gentrification Push Out For Increase Homeless Numbers
Bill’s blame game on the homeless crisis (NYDN Ed) Deluded by righteousness and presuming the lowest motives among critics, Mayor de Blasio is unforgivably casting constituents as heartless racists in a drama of his own making. He needs to spend more time reckoning with his role in exacerbating record homelessness . The mayor’s Department of Homeless Services on Monday beat a retreat from a Maspeth, Queens, Holiday Inn it had intended to convert to shelter, after infuriated neighbors protested for weeks, including on the Brooklyn stoop of city homelessness czar Steve Banks. Still, says the city, it will continue to rent rooms in the hotel “for working adults.” The Maspeth revolt activated protests in Bellerose, where 40 homeless families lived in hotel rooms paid for by the city, with nowhere to squeeze into an overflowing shelter system now at population 59,928 and rising. Of those, as many as 6,000 live in hotels, a number rapidly rising. But dare to question the hotels, byproducts of well-intentioned policy gone amok, and heaven help your sinister soul. On Tuesday, the mayor called supplying shelter “a citywide moral and legal responsibility.” That followed a pair of manipulative internet videos — with the mayor’s name on them — shaming shelter opponents as harboring hate toward mostly black hotel residents. In one, a soundbite from the crowd rings “White lives matter.” Queens residents’ concerns about their new neighbors may be overwrought. But the worse offense is to impose on city neighborhoods ills that have metastasized because of a mayor’s own failed theories of social engineering.
True News Wags the NYP On de Blasio Turning Against Maspeth by A Video that Paints the Community as Racist
City Hall is oblivious and shows no interest in local input (NYP) So now when you fight City Hall, you can expect to be smeared by taxpayer-funded propaganda films casting you as heartless, children-hating villains. Two videos on City Hall’s Web site target a group of Queens residents and officials who demonstrated outside a homeless shelter to protest the way Team de Blasio is running roughshod over their neighborhood. One shows city officials ushering homeless children from the Bellerose shelter on a field trip as protesters rally outside. The other features a black mother and her infant — and scenes from the demonstration to a soundtrack of someone saying “white lives matter” over and over. The blatant message: Anyone upset about a shelter being jammed into their neighborhood with zero local input is just a racist. “I’ve never seen an administration go to that length to try and justify a failed policy. That was to me a sign of desperation,” says state Sen. Joe Addabbo (D-Queens). In fact, the city’s efforts to ram through shelter sitings have met with backlash in all kinds of neighborhoods. Time and again, the mayor’s people meet local officials’ initial inquiries with earnest denials. Hiding behind regulations meant to protect the privacy of its clients, the Department of Homeless Services misleads elected leaders about its plans until it’s too late to stop them. Queens electeds, fed up with being stonewalled by DHS, have taken to checking the Buildings Department Web site to learn if local motels are being used as shelters. City Hall shows no interest in treating local officials as partners. Multiple Queens leaders say Team de Blasio not only fails to solicit local input, it’s oblivious to what it does hear from the community. Instead, it plainly prefers to damn the dissenters as bigots. We suppose that’s easier than rethinking the policies that have homelessness surging. Yet smug ideological lectures from City Hall can only further polarize the citizenry. That might be an effective short-term political tactic, but it’s no way to govern successfully in the long run.
Pols Frighten By the Markey Loss Because She Ignored Homeless Shelter March and Protest
Queens pols blast Mayor de Blasio over controversialhomeless shelter plan for pushing poor New Yorkers into outer-borough hotels(NYDN) The de Blasio administration is completely mishandling the homeless crisis by sticking down-and-out people in outer-borough hotels — and ostracizing communities in the process, a trio of Queens pols charged Thursday. “Anyone is a paycheck away from becoming homeless, but the way this administration ... is handling this crisis is nothing but a mess,” State Sen. Jose Peralta said at a press conference outside City Hall protesting Mayor de Blasio’s homeless policies. “Warehousing homeless New Yorkers is not the solution.” Peralta, along with City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and State Sen. Joseph Addabbo, complained that the administration was pushing the homeless into hotels lacking services in far-flung areas of the city without informing the community. “Get this, if anyone complaints, here comes the administration saying we don’t care about poor people,” fumed Peralta. He insisted, “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Crowley said her office has been getting conflicting information from the city about plans to turn a hotel in Maspeth into a full-time shelter, which she says is evidence of incompetence. “This is a clear example the de Blasio administration does not know what they’re doing,” she said. Addabbo recommended the city consider using vacant lots to site shelters, a city-wide huddle with elected officials to find suitable spots, and reconsider using so-called “cluster sites,” which are apartments the city pays for to house the homeless in residential buildings. Activists typically don’t like clusters because they have no services for people in need.
de Blasio Using More Homeless Hotels Despite Pledge to Use Less
Number of homeless living in hotels doubles in two months (NYP) The number of homeless housed in hotels by the city has soared 50 percent in just two months – from 3,990 in July to 6,000 this month, The Post has learned. The surge comes despite a pledge by Mayor de Blasio in February to “utilize hotels less and less and, as quickly as possible, to stop using hotels,” following the murder of a homeless woman and her two kids in a Staten Island hotel. There were 2,656 homeless people in hotels at the time, with an average room cost of $161 per night.
As de Blasio Blames New Yorkers for Not Accepting Homeless Shelters Nobody is Demanding Answers Why Homeless are Increasing
New Yorkers fightcity’s efforts to house homeless in middle-class neighborhoods (NYDN) The record high nearly 60,000 people living in the city’s shelter system isn’t the only homeless crisis Mayor de Blasio is battling. The mayor is also grappling with a mutiny from New Yorkers who don’t want the exploding homeless population in their neighborhoods. And those New Yorkers are increasingly mobilizing to stop the tide of homeless in their residential, middle-class neighborhoods – with some success. In the past month, three different Queens hotels appear to have pulled out of deals to house the homeless because of community opposition. In all three cases, the city refused to budge, so the locals targeted the hotel owner Harshad Patel. It worked. After they sent flowers to his home with the ominous note, “We’ll go out there if you don’t want to meet us in Maspeth,” Patel told Maspeth resident he would nix plans for a 110-bed facility at the Holiday Inn there. He also owns two hotels in Bellerose that also take in homeless, along with regular guests, for emergency lodging when the shelters have no room. Robert Holden, a Maspeth community leader fighting the shelters, said their successes have led to other neighborhood groups calling and asking for advice to stop shelters, including Astoria and Rosedale in Queens, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn. But Queens City Councilman Barry Grodenchik, said the Bellerose protesters in his district had “legitimate gripes.” When the hotel in his district first began accepting homeless people, he heard few complaints, he said, but in recent weeks, as more and more people were placed there, the chorus has grown. “It’s quality of life issues,” he said, citing loud noise and panhandling. Meanwhile, the mayor is trying to appeal to people’s hearts. On the day of the Bellerose protest, Banks took children living in one of the protested shelters to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan — and released a heart-tugging video documenting the visit. The trip, Banks said, was to show, “a helping hand from adults, rather than the back of a hand.”
Pro Developer Blaming the Victim - NYP, Daily News: Lies About the Cause of Increase in Homeless: Its' Gentrification Displacement Nothing to do with "Rights of Homeless"
NY Post: "The roots of the city’s homeless woes go back decades, to the mad decision to recognize a legal “right to shelter.” Advocacy groups — like the one where Banks spent most of his career — followed with endless lawsuits and other pressure to add to the “rights” of the homeless, and limit the city’s ability to use any form of “tough love."
Daily News: "At a time when decent, affordable housing is scarce, de Blasio’s uncompromising defense of a legal right to shelter for all — the life’s work of his welfare commissioner, Steve Banks — makes for a self-fulfilling crisis."
Mayor's Broken Promise to Close A Homeless Hotel Also
Bronx officials fumeat de Blasio’s failure to remove homeless from motel (NYP) The city is reneging on a promise to remove the homeless from a motel in Riverdale where an accused bank robber had lived, angry Bronx officials charged Tuesday. Homeless individuals were indeed moved out — but they were replaced by homeless families. “This is the ultimate in hypocrisy and lies and just a sign that this administration has no clue on how to conduct a homeless policy,” fumed state Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx). The Post reported in May that 48-year-old motel/shelter resident Paul Taylor was arrested in front of the Van Cortlandt Motel and charged with two bank heists in February. Residents and local officials said it was only then that they learned the motel had been leased as a homeless facility. Weeks after the Post report, de Blasio administration officials attended a community-board meeting and publicly promised to remove the homeless by September. “The mayor has a plan to discontinue that practice,” according to minutes from the June 9 Community Board 8 meeting. Lauren Gray, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeless Services, said the city had hoped to empty the motel but needs to keep using it because of “increasing” demand. * The number of New Yorkers living in homeless shelters reached an all-time high over the weekend, a bleak milestone that officials blame on a lack of affordable housing and support services for the poor, the Daily News reports.
A Tale of Two CFBs: Albanese vs Campaign PAC NYCLASS,UFT's United for the Future
More about Lobbyists Mercury
de Blasio Using PAC Lobbyists Consultants To Get Around the Elections Law and Control Elections and the Press
More about Lobbyists Mercury
de Blasio Using PAC Lobbyists Consultants To Get Around the Elections Law and Control Elections and the Press
The NYP Blames the Homeless Not the Loss Of Hundreds of Thousands Affordable Housing to Gentrification and Airbnb
Stuck-in-the-past Bill de Blasio still thinks more housing will end homelessness (NYP) Like most left-wing Democrats, Mayor de Blasio remains hopelessly mired in the past, declaring — as he did again just last week — that “the solution to homelessness” is more housing. De Blasio touted new figures he says show the success of the city’s programs — including emergency rental assistance and curbing evictions — in moving the homeless to permanent housing. Except for one missing detail: There are now more homeless families living in city shelters than ever before. But the reasons for this are not always strictly economic. In some cases, the same kind of substance-abuse and mental illness that leads to street homelessness among single men are at play.Also, some families claim homelessness because they know by law they are guaranteed an automatic right to shelter and will be given preferred access to public housing.*
The New York City Planning Commission declined to impose a zoning plank requiring affordable housing on a boutique condo proposed in Manhattan, and the borough president filed a letter objecting, which will send the matter to the Council, the Times reports.
Developer Wants to Test Mayor's Inclusionary Zoning in Inwood, Councilman Opposes Project (NY1) * City Council Votes Against Sherman Plaza Development in Inwood, Which Would Have Been the First to Use New Affordable Housing Regulations (NY1) *
The New York City Council voted against an apartment project in Inwood, which would have been the first private development proposed under de Blasio’s new zoning rules that require affordable units in any project that needs city approval, the Daily News reports.
The Times Union writes that most state lawmakers running for re-election would say they oppose a massive pay hike for themselves, and if they get one, there’s nothing they could do about it, but that’s not being entirely honest.
The Daily News writes that the council’s vote against an Inwood project shows a key component of de Blasio’s drive to spur affordable housing is in deep trouble, and that the speaker should disabuse lawmakers of the idea that they have veto power over new construction.
Where Do the People Go After They are Push Out of Their Homes by Gentrification?
Luxury hotel now doubles as city homeless shelter(NYP) Cops: De Blasio to blame for homeless encampment(NYP)A homeless couple has been living for months outside a vacant, city-owned building in Upper Manhattan — with one cop “explicitly” blaming the problem on Mayor de Blasio, neighbors told The Post on Tuesday.A finance worker who lives around the corner said he’s called 311 and the NYPD at least 20 times during the past year, and had three “lengthy conversations” with desk officers at the 28th Precinct who said there was nothing they could do. “One of them explicitly blamed Mayor de Blasio, saying something along the lines of, ‘Look who our boss is and the directives we’re getting from the top,’” said the 41-year-old married father of two.
Where Do the People Go After They are Push Out of Their Homes by Gentrification?
When Will the Media and Pols Blame Airbnb and Gentrification for Loss of Affordable Housing and Increase In Homelessness?
Bill’s losing battle: Accounting for record numbers of homeless families (NYDN) On Sunday, a record 12,750 families, including 23,207 children, spent the night in a city-sponsored hotel or shelter. So did an additional 2,378 couples, also an all-time-high number. “The usual summer increase,” a Department of Homeless Services spokesperson shrugged, alluding to an annual rush of parents to seek shelter in between school years to minimize further disrupting their children’s lives. Mayor de Blasio is spending an astounding $1.7 billion this year to house and aid the homeless, filling what he describes as an economic gulf between how much money poor New Yorkers make and rent they must pay to stay housed. Some of that money pays for legal services designed to forestall evictions; by the city’s reckoning this has prevented a still worse surge into shelter.
How de Blasio Dances Homeless: Cover-Up, FIA Uncover, Press Release Fix
FIRST: City Cover-Up Serious Crime At the Homeless Shelters
NY1
has obtained documents that for the first time detail the horrific
crimes that occur at city homeless shelters. These reports show domestic
violence, assaults and drugs are saturating the system. NY1's Courtney
Gross will examine these horrific stories all week long in her series
Unsafe Haven. Here is her first report. Thousands of homeless New Yorkers choose to live out on the city's streets instead of inside its shelters.* 'I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE IN A BODY BAG': Homeless in New York would rather risk the street than being in hellish shelter system (NYDN) * De Blasio’s anwers on crime: deny, ignore and delay (NYP)
SECOND: NY1's Freedom of Information Discloses Horrific Crime At the Homeless Shelters
For
months, we heard stories about danger and crime, drug overdoses and
assaults. They are tales that are only now becoming much clearer, with
some hard numbers to back up the anecdotal evidence. NY1 has obtained
through a Freedom of Information Law request never-before-seen crime
reports, which, for the first time, detail violent and what are
called critical incidents that were reported in all of the city's
homeless shelters in 2015. The data and reports show that domestic
violence has overrun the system, overdoses occur in bathrooms, and
bedrooms and sexual assaults happen behind closed doors. The numbers
show that there were 416 reports of domestic violence last year, more
than one per day, and clearly a common occurrence at the city's family
homeless shelters. They show tat there were 153 assaults that led to
arrests, violence plaguing the city's shelters for single adults. There
were 90 reported sexual assaults, rapes or attempted rape. Forty adults
died inside shelters, at least five from what appears to be drug
overdoses. "
THIRD: The Mayor Announces A Quick Fix in A Press Release
Max Vidal, homeless: No, not at all. That's why a lot of people right now are in the trains and places out other than a shelter, because they would rather not be in a shelter. They would rather be on a train because it's safer.For many years, the Department of Homeless Services has become a de facto mental health system because a substantial number of people have had nowhere else to turn for help but the shelter system," said Steven Banks, commissioner of the city's Human Resources Administration. All of these instances are merely examples of what we have found: a system that has clearly become saturated with violence and crime.* Report paints scary picture of homeless shelter violence (NYP) * Shelter the shelters: De Blasio must secure homeless havens (NYDN Ed) * De Blasio receives recommendations today from a review of the city’s homeless system that he announced back in December. Among the things, he’ll consider is whether to eliminate the Department of Homeless Services as a standalone agency. DHA was created by former nYC Mayor David Dinkins and initially chaired by now-Gov. Cuomo.
The Failed Homeless Commissioner and Other Given A Job to Shut Them Up?
Failed Homeless Services chief made aFamily Court judge (NYP) Continuing a trend of cushy landings for high-level appointees who leave or are pushed out of their posts, Mayor de Blasio has nominated former Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor to be a Family Court judge. Taylor resigned suddenly from his $219,773 position on Dec. 15 as the mayor announced a 90-day review to overhaul the struggling agency. Taylor has since been largely out of sight after being retained in a consulting role at full salary to help shape the new homeless policy. Critics say his nomination to a judgeship raises questions. “Whatever Gilbert Taylor’s qualifications may be, the appearance of using a Family Court judgeship as a soft landing for someone who botched the city’s response to the homeless crisis is concerning,” said City Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens), chair of the Committee on Courts & Legal Services. Other top administration officials have also kept collecting paychecks after losing their posts. Stacey Cumberbatch, once the commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, became an assistant VP at the municipal hospital system in January, retaining her $205,868 salary. In October, Rose Pierre-Louis left the mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence, but also kept her $205,868 salary as a “senior adviser” to the mayor on gender issues. Consultant George Arzt added that keeping appointees in government is “a reward for loyalty — and that’s a huge commodity when you’re in government.”*
NYP Helps the Mayor Distract From the Growing Homeless Crisis With Sonia's Train
Saturday - NY Post HomelessWoman Watch Day 4: SheStill Has 3 Carts, Thanks De Blasio (Gothamist)
Homeless hoarder’s junk train ‘just wasn’t fair’: De Blasio (NYP) Mayor de Blasio said on Thursday he gave the order to throw out a Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore. “Look, unfortunately someone who is a hoarder often collects a lot of trash, and that is what we found yesterday, and it just wasn’t appropriate for all those carts to create public problems,” Hizzoner said when asked about Sonia Gonzalez, after The Post reported that she’s been blocking traffic with her line of carts and dollies for years. * The Post writes that de Blasio realizes the power of thetabloid’s front page, as evidenced by him having city workers stop a homeless woman depicted on the cover from continuing to haul around more than 20 grocery carts of her belongings:* NYC Mayor de Blasio said he gave the order to throw out a homeless Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore.* Homeless hoarder’s junk train ‘just wasn’t fair’: de Blasio (NYP) de Blasio said Thursday he gave the order to throw out a Hell’s Kitchen hoarder’s block-long train of trash because “it just wasn’t fair” that residents were being forced to put up with the eyesore. “Look, unfortunately someone who is a hoarder often collects a lot of trash, and that is what we found yesterday, and it just wasn’t appropriate for all those carts to create public problems,” Hizzoner said when asked about Sonia Gonzalez, after The Post reported that she’s been blocking traffic with her line of carts and dollies for years. * The 2017 New York City budget has cut spending for homeless shelters, despite high levels of homelessness and calls for more funding to solve the crisis, according to a new report from The Independent Budget Office.
Memo to the NYO: Creating Gonzalez's Train Has Nothing to Do With Creating More Homeless, the City and State's Housing Policy and Pay to Play Devloper Corruption Has Done That
Cart lady’s trash train is gone — but the guy who built it is still running city’s homeless policy (NYP) Human Resources chief Steve Banks — de Blasio’s point-man on homeless policy — called Gonzalez’s plight “a very troubling situation.” No kidding.But then there’s his solution: “It is incumbent upon all of us to let the outreach workers continue to do their work today.” Sorry: “Outreach” is nowhere near enough. Of course, Banks was part of the problem long before the mayor hired him. For decades, he was the top guy at Legal Aid, a key “advocate” in expanding those “rights.” Don’t blame de Blasio for the whole homeless problem — blame him for expecting solutions from a guy who helped create Sonia Gonzalez’s crazy train.
NYT Are the Homeless Dasani's Better Off Today After Two Plus Years of de Blasio?
A Neighborhood’s Profound Divide (2013, NYT) Dasani, one of New York ’s 22,000 homeless children, lives on the margins of a gentrified city. A 5 point series by the NY Times * Invisible Child: Dasani's Homeless Life - The New York Times There are more than 22000 homeless children in New York , the highest number since the Great Depression. This is one of their stories.
Cuomo's NYP vs de Blasio NYT Fight Over the Homeless
Cuomo Knocks deBlasio Yet Again on Homelessness (NYP) “Why do editors fight with reporters? Because they have different roles,” Mr. Cuomo said when asked about the repeated public feuding between the two Democrats. But reporters and editors—known to shout in the newsroom now and then—typically don’t put their disagreements in print, something Mr. Cuomo’s administration did in giving the New York Post a letter in which they alleged a gang-rape had happened at a city shelter, and which Mr. de Blasio’s administration did when it handed the New York Times an angry response to the state denying the rape had happened.* Activist-labor group calls on Cuomo to work with City Hall on homelessness (PoliticoNY)
The Mayor and Council has Not A Clue How to Solve the City's Affordable Housing Crisis As They Spin Failed Plans
The Mayor's Plan Will Cost Billions and Will Not Build Enough Affordable Housing
de Blasio Clueless On How to Manage the Homeless Problem Keeps Throwing Money At the Growing Crisis
Bill’s costlyhellholes: As the homelessness crisis grows, the administration seems to bethrowing good money after bad (NYDN) Ponder Mayor de Blasio’s priorities — and the goods he is buying with spiraling outlays on serving the homeless. The rapidly rising figures are astonishing. All together, the mayor will spend $1.7 billion on homelessness this year, a whopping 46% more than just two years ago. For context, $1.7 billion is more than the city spends annually to pick up and dispose garbage, run the fire department or keep the city’s drinking water clean. That amount includes $1.3 billion to run shelters, an outlay larger than the city spends on parks, senior centers, libraries and cultural institutions combined. Thousands of homeless families live in decrepit, roach-infested temporary apartments and hotels that have numerous housing code violations — with landlords reaping thousands of dollars a month for each apartment. Families frequently complain they receive little guidance securing an apartment so they can leave these abysmal accommodations — even though facility operators are paid to help them. Conditions are often so frightening in congregate shelters for single individuals that many live on streets or subways — and the city’s census of street denizens is questionable.
If the Council Pass the Mayor's New Housing Bill They Will Take Direct Responsibility for the Gentrification Throwing People Out of Their Homes
DiNapoli Protects de Blasio On Homeless By Auditing Cuomo on His Homeless Mess
Audit slams Cuomo administration for bad oversightleading to lousy living conditions at homeless shelters (NYDN)The bombshell audit by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli found the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance's failures resulted in a “range of substandard living conditions, the most egregious of which pose obvious and dangerous risks to shelter residents' health and safety.” DiNapoli's auditors found rodent and vermin infestation at 16 shelters statewide, fire safety issues at 18 facilities, mold growing in resident rooms at eight, and worn and soiled mattresses.* New York City , the Daily News reports: * New York City has made progress toward “functional zero” homelessness among veterans, which means that the number of homeless veterans entering shelters over 90 days equals the number leaving, The Wall StreetJournal writes * In response to an audit by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office, Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted the state previously had not been aggressive enough in tackling poor conditions at NYC homeless shelters, but nonetheless still laid a large share of the blame on the city.
"Mayor"Cuomo=failures“substandard ...conditions...pose obvious and dangerous risks to...health and safety.”
de Blasio Brought Back the Homeless Hotels to Avoid Community Opposition NIMBY Politics
De Blasio banned the opening of more homeless shelters (NYP) Mayor de Blasio personally banned the opening of new shelters in 2014 because of community backlash — and instead told officials to put homeless families in less secure hotels like the one where a mom and two kids were slaughtered Wednesday on Staten Island, The Post has learned. De Blasio issued the edict during a meeting with Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli and Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor — both of whom later resigned amid the growing homeless crisis, a DHS official said. “They started pushing us to put clients in commercial hotels because they didn’t want to notify the people in the communities,” the DHS source said. “When you open up a shelter, you have to notify the community, City Council members, officials, and people get upset. [De Blasio] had opened a lot of shelters that fall and was afraid of opening more. So he started opening up these hotels.” De Blasio sent senior policy adviser Lincoln Restler to work with DHS on the hotel program, but Restler ignored senior staffers’ fears that the hotels could endanger homeless residents, the DHS source said. * Unarmed homeless-services cops face violence in shelters, dozens of serious incidents categorized as 'priority one' (NYDN)
“These commercial hotels don’t have adequate security, and [city officials] know that,” the source explained. “Regular shelters do. [Many] have full-body metal detectors. A boyfriend can’t just walk in and go to his girlfriend’s room if he doesn’t live there.” In the Staten Island bloodbath, it’s unclear if tighter security would have prevented the atrocity. Surveillance video showed that victim Rebecca Cutler, 26, let Michael “Skyes” Sykes, her boyfriend who was also the father of one of the children he allegedly stabbed to death, into the hotel through a side door, a staffer there said. The city was not using any commercial hotels for the homeless in January 2014, City Hall officials said. But since then, Gotham ’s homeless population has soared — and so has the number of homeless staying in the commercial hotels. As of this week, roughly 2,656 people were housed in 41 hotels throughout the Big Apple, the City Hall source said, adding that only 16 had full-time security. The Ramada Inn in Willowbrook, where Wednesday’s killings took place at about 8:50 a.m., only had security at night.Cops were still searching for Sykes, 23, after tracing his whereabouts to Brooklyn , where his mother currently resides.* De Blasio and Cuomo Fire Tense Letters Over Security in Homeless Shelters (NY1)The latest public feud between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo is over security in homeless shelters, after a multiple fatal stabbing in a Staten Island hotel on Wednesday.*
Stringer: de Blasio's Poor Management Making Homeless Problem Worse
Why $1.7B isn’t enough to fix the homeless crisis(NYP) The city’s spending on homeless services has skyrocketed by 46 percent over just two years — and there’s no sign New York taxpayers are getting their money’s worth, Comptroller Scott Stringer charged Wednesday. The three biggest agencies that deal with the homeless are pumping $1.7 billion into solving the crisis — up from $1.2 billion in fiscal 2014. “If you spend $1.7 billion, New Yorkers expect us to be doing a lot better than we are,” Stringer said in an analysis of the city’s preliminary fiscal-year 2017 budget.“Money’s not the issue. It’s more coordination, management and having the ability to get things done.” tringer, whose office recently uncovered deplorable conditions in the city’s shelter system, said he’s planning to dig deeper into where all the funding goes “because it’s a lot of money.” His analysis showed just over $1 billion allocated to operating adult and family shelters this year, up from $831 million two years ago. Funding for preventive services has more than tripled during that period — from $82 million to $259 million * Police said a man fatally stabbed a woman and two of her daughters in a Staten Island motel used to house homeless people, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said families would be moved out of the motel, The New York Times reports: * * A state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance official wrote a letter directing New York City to toughen security at emergency homeless shelters following the fatal stabbings and other incidents, The Wall StreetJournal reports:
What An Administration Even the Homeless Numbers Are Fixed
Banks in Charge of Mayor's Homeless Police Attacks Cuomo for Playing Politics
The New York City official in charge of homeless policy, Steve Banks, all but accused Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office of playing politics over homeless shelter safety after the murders of a woman and her two young children on Staten Island, Politico New York reports: * Lowballing the homeless count: another sign the mayor’s not serious (NYP) It’s been a month since Mayor de Blasio belatedly vowed to “own” the city’s homeless crisis “110 percent.” Huh. It’s hard to do that if the city has no idea how many are living on the streets — and its rules are designed to lowball the number. As The Post’s Frank Rosario and Bruce Golding reported Wednesday, volunteers taking part in Monday night’s annual street census were ordered not to count many of the homeless they encountered. HUD, which requires the census, says anyone whose “primary nighttime residence” is a place “not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation” is homeless. Last year’s census also took place on a sub-freezing night — and allowed de Blasio to claim a drop in street homeless. He stuck to those figures even as The Post demonstrated the opposite was true, accusing us of “fear-mongering” — before finally backtracking.* The Post writes that de Blasio will have a difficult timemeeting his commitment to “own” the homeless crisis “110 percent” because the city doesn’t know how many people are living on the street and is lowballing the number: * A state agency directed New York City to toughen security at its emergency homeless shelters following the fatal stabbings yesterday of a mother and her young children at a Staten Island hotel used to house the homeless. * NYC’s spending on homeless services has skyrocketed by 46 percent over just two years — and there’s no sign New York taxpayers are getting their money’s worth, ComptrollerScott Stringer charged.
City Homeless Count Only Includes People Living in Public Areas
Why New York City says only one of these men is homeless (NYP) Bums who seek warmth in ATM vestibules or McDonald’s on a frigid night have something in common with New Yorkers sipping champagne in the penthouses above them — they are not considered homeless. Thousands of volunteers who counted the city’s vagrants early Tuesday morning — with temperatures below freezing — were ordered to ignore private businesses, even though they are a common refuge. “Only survey public spaces, not private establishments such as restaurants or ATM booths,” said printed instructions from the Department of Homeless Services for the “Homeless Outreach Population Estimate [HOPE].” A list of “General Do’s and Don’ts” also told volunteers not to “go into private establishments (e.g., McDonald’s).” * New York City , the Post finds. * NYC food pantries low on money, and they need your help: (NYDN) * Mayor Joins Volunteers for Annual Homeless Count (NY1)* City to Provide Security for Hotels HousingHomeless After Triple Murder (NYO)
It Does Not Take A Rocket Scientist or Dumb Council Member to Understand Why the Homeless Live in the Cold On the Streets
Instead of Blaming the Mayor for Bad Management NYT's Pattern, Protect the Mayor and Publish His Flacks Press Release to Solve the Latest Problem
Delayed Homeless Shelter Safety Report Released Whooping 21,401 Code Violations
Cuomo Ends the Christmas Truce Quickly the 2016 War Has Begun
De Blasio to defy Cuomo’s order to shelter homeless via nypost * Homeless reject Cuomo's plan to force them into hellholeshelters (NYDN) * Cuomo’s helping hand (NYDN Ed)* City to End Use of‘Cluster’ Homeless Shelter Units (NYO) “We are taking this initiative in order to end the use of this program, which resulted in substantial sums being paid for apartments—many that were in substandard conditions,” Mr. Banks said today at a City Hall press conference. *Homeless Advocates Question Executive Order(YNN) In a statement from Coalition for the Homeless President & CEO Mary Brosnahan, the group said it has “major concerns” with the effort to force homeless people into shelters and decried “aggressive measures” pursued by Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s administration.* Bratton says Cuomo’s executive order doesn’t change anything for #NYPD officers, re: homeless * Local governments and police agencies don’t have much time to comply with Cuomo’s new homelessness mandate, which was issued Sunday and takes effect tomorrow.* De Blasio and Bratton: Cuomo’s order has little impact on NYC (PoliticoNY) Mayor: ‘We appreciate the intent’ * NYPD stats show overall crime down, serious offenses up in ’15 (NYP) * Cuomo Orders Homeless People to Be Taken to Shelters in Freezing Weather (NYT) The executive order, which requires local authorities to remove homeless people from the streets when temperatures fall to 32 degrees, is likely to raise legal concerns and practical questions. * As an arctic front headed toward
'HELL NO! I WON'T GO TO A SHELTER': Homeless New Yorkers reject Cuomo's order to vacate streets in freezing temps (NYDN) * COLD WAR: Gov. Cuomo freezes out Mayor de Blasio, issuing order to get homeless off street when temperatures hit 32 degrees (NYDN) New York City — to take the homeless who live outside to shelters when the mercury hits the freezing mark, the Daily News has learned. If they refuse to go, the order, which goes into effect on Tuesday, calls for the involuntary taking of the homeless to shelters when the temperatures hit 32 degrees or below. A Quinnipiac poll from October found 68% of voters disapproved of how de Blasio was handling homelessness and poverty. A Cuomo aide recently said the de Blasio administration “can’t manage the homeless crisis.” The mayor has said the city’s homeless crisis got worse after Cuomo cut a $68 million rental assistance program in 2011. After talks for a joint effort failed, the mayor recently announced a $2.6 billion, 15-year city plan to create 15,000 apartments that would cater mainly to people with mental illness and substance abuse problems. The city currently has a “Code Blue” procedure in place that goes into effect when the temperature hits 32 degrees or below. The procedure calls for double the amount of vans in the field for street outreach efforts to check on homeless individuals more frequently. It also allows the homeless to access shelters without going through the usual intake process. But unlike Cuomo’s order, it does not require the automatic taking of the homeless to shelters when the weather turns frigid. Cuomo’s executive order will not just have an impact on those living on the streets. It could also affect those sleeping in cars or in structures with inadequate heat during the cold weather. The order will not necessarily affect those who take shelter in subway stations that are heated. The state order, he says, will supersede any conflicting local laws on the issue * Gov. Cuomo signs order requiring towns & cities to takehomeless people to shelters when temperature drops to 32 * BdB spox: forcing homeless off sts requires state law & order "adds no legal or financial resources to NYC programs to assist the homeless" * Cuomo to order homeless indoors when temperatures drop(NYP) * A cool response from @BilldeBlasio on @NYGovCuomo's order to keep thehomeless off the streets in cold weather: (NY1)
The Media Reports on the Homeless, the Mayor 180 Admits Its A Problems, But Nobody Explains the Reason for the Increase
de Blasio Plan to Fix Homeless Shelters: Make A Historic Promise and When That Fails Make Another Promise 2.0
The mayor says it is unacceptable that his administrationfailed to create report cards for city homeless shelters: (NY1) * De Blasio Administration Months Late in Creating Scorecards for Hundreds of Homeless Shelters (NY1) Almost eight months ago, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would be sending out squads of city workers to make rapid repairs on homeless shelters and promised to disclose all of that work publicly, giving every city shelter a scorecard. But NY1's Courtney Gross found out that's not yet happening. The administration's initial response was last May. It was here that the mayor promised to send repair teams into city shelters and give every single city shelter a scorecard so the public could keep tabs on all the work that was getting done. "There will be an accountability system," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time. "It will be a public system maintained by the Department of Homeless Services. There will be a public tracking system so you and members of the public can identify where we stand with each of the facilities. There will be a scorecard made available publicly. That will be up later this month." Eight months later, almost none of those scorecards are in. Only 23 shelters are rated when the promise encompasses nearly 700. A previous version of the Department of Homeless Services website promised reports "by September," but that never happened. Now, the website says "by November." Still, the scorecards aren't there. The tardiness comes even as criticism of shelter conditions has increased, particularly from de Blasio's chief political rival, Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The administration's initial response was last May. It was here that the mayor promised to send repair teams into city shelters and give every single city shelter a scorecard so the public could keep tabs on all the work that was getting done. "There will be an accountability system," Mayor Bill de Blasio said at the time. "It will be a public system maintained by the Department of Homeless Services. There will be a public tracking system so you and members of the public can identify where we stand with each of the facilities. There will be a scorecard made available publicly. That will be up later this month." Eight months later, almost none of those scorecards are in. Only 23 shelters are rated when the promise encompasses nearly 700. A previous version of the Department of Homeless Services website promised reports "by September," but that never happened. Now, the website says "by November." Still, the scorecards aren't there. The tardiness comes even as criticism of shelter conditions has increased, particularly from de Blasio's chief political rival, Governor Andrew Cuomo.* De Blasio visits Manhattan homeless shelter, takes resume (NYDN)
OK Its Deep Freeze Time Code Blue On the Homeless . . . What is Code Blue?
Lost on the street:Trying to get a straight answer from the city's top homelessness official onthe standard for removing someone from the street (NYDN) There was nothing ambiguous in Gov. Cuomo’s executive order commanding local authorities to transport to shelter anyone sleeping exposed to the elements who seems to be mentally ill, when the temperature falls below freezing. De Blasio and his point person on homelessness, Steven Banks, responded that they fully apply the law, dispatching Code Blue teams during frigid temperatures to locate street people and get them to shelters if possible. City Hall reported that, during one recent week, the operation brought 323 individuals to shelters, all but a few of them voluntarily. Standing alone, the number is meaningless. How does it compare with transports during winter weeks in past years? How many people refused help? How many people appeared to be mentally ill? How many people cycle into and out of shelter quickly? The administration does not release those numbers. Visiting the Daily News Editorial Board last week, Banks said annual comparative figures were not available. The limited data he could provide, pending launch of a promised tracking system, suggested only that the majority of street homeless contacted by his outreach workers stayed right where they were. During the board meeting he contorted every which way to avoid explaining what standards Code Blue workers apply in determining whether a street person appears to be mentally ill.
Friday
An NYPD sergeant has been served with internal disciplinary charges for her role in the confrontation that led to the death in 2014 of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died after an officer placed him in a chokehold during an arrest on Staten Island . * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, locked in a feud with Cuomo, said he will go to Albany next week to hear the governor’s State of the State/budget speech and had not yet been briefed on its contents.* * New York City began its new rapid response program to more quickly address problems and repairs in homeless shelters, amid another round of one-upmanship between the mayor and the governor, the Daily News reports: * De Blasio’s plan to lift the minimum wage for 50,000 NYC workers to $15 an hour “establishes troubling patterns” of giving away taxpayer money with no offsetting savings or productivity gains and could require re-opening established contracts, the Citizens Budget Commission warned.* As City Hall increases spending by billions of dollars and hires thousands of new employees, some lawmakers and financial experts are pushing de Blasio to cut back and warning of possible budget troubles ahead.
Mayor de Blasio will raise wages for 50,000 city employees to $15 an hour by 2018 (NYDN) *
Cuomo Fires Back That He Will Save 50,000 Apts and the Homeless
Cuomo order would restore 50,000 rent-protection apartments (NYP) Cuomo is expected to announce Wednesday that he’s ordering landlords who received special tax breaks to restore 50,000 apartments in the city to the rent-protection rolls. Administration and housing officials are enforcing recent court rulings that found the apartments were illegally deregulated by landlords who received benefits under the J-51 housing program. The state’s Division of Homes and Community Renewal is sending out notices to landlords who own 4,149 buildings throughout the city that received J-51 tax abatements between 1994 and 2015 who also registered their apartments as being exempt from rent-stabilization upon vacancy. The affected buildings include 1,986 in Manhattan , 859 in Brooklyn, 741 in Queens, 547 in The Bronx, and 16 in Staten Island . * Cuomo announces revised plan to add third rail to LIRR (NYP)* Cuomo is expected to announce a plan for a major revamp of Penn Station that would jump-start a long-stalled project to relocate Amtrak’s waiting area to the Farley post office building, The Wall Street Journalreports: * * Cuomo’s Long Island Sound tunnel plans could be written off as harmless political grandstanding, if not for that proposal for a $5 million study—further indication that a few million dollars isn’t real money in Albany , the Empire Centerwrites: * New York’s Penn Station, long ridiculed as outdated, crowded and miserable for travelers, would undergo a major overhaul under a plan expected to be announced as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter. (Maybe even today, as Cuomo has an afternoon event scheduled at 4 Penn. Plaza in NYC).* Cuomo vowed to transform the “dark,” “bleak” and “ugly” Penn Station into a bright and beautiful hub at the center of a revitalized transportation system in the region. * Cuomo’s push to remake New York Penn Station could cost more than $3 billion and leverage air rights and retail space to attract developers that would largely pay for an overhaul, The Wall Street Journal reports: * Cuomo’s 2017 state budget is likely to call for billions of dollars for highways and bridges, but taxpayers won’t get their money’s worth if the state continues to rig bids for public-works projects that all but guarantee the jobs go to unions, the Empire Center’s Kenneth Girardin writes inthe Post:
Main Event in the Cuomo de Blasio War it the Battle Over the Homeless
Cuomo is seeking to return up to 50,000 illegally deregulated apartments into the rent stabilization system, alleging some building owners claim exemption from rent regulations while receiving lucrative tax breaks
A Real Plan Will Be to Find Out What is Causing the Homeless Increase And Fix That
Shocking De Blasio to launch plan to fix homeless shelters after damning report finds whopping 18,704 violations citywide (NYDN)
Wednesday New York Today: Empire State of Conflict (NYT) Tuesday: A look at city politics in 2016, freezing weather, and mulching your Christmas tree.* As Temperatures Plunge, Call to Keep New York’s Homeless Off Streets Has Little Impact (NYT) Advocates said the number of people taken off the streets on a cold Monday night seemed in line with what had happened during previous cold spells.* De Blasio Names Herminia Palacio as Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services (NYT) The appointment of Dr. Palacio, 54 and a native of the Bronx , fills a key role in the city’s efforts to confront a rise in homelessness.* 'IT'S JUST LIKE RIKERS ISLAND:' These horror stories reveal why city's homeless people would rather stay outdoors in the freezing cold than go to a shelter (NYDN) * Homeless ignore Cuomo, stay outside in below freezing temps (NYP) * Out-of-towners flock to NYC’s homeless shelters (NYP) * de Blasio filled a crucial post in a depleted team at City Hall, appointing Herminia Palacio, a Bronx-born public health official, as deputy mayor for health and human services, The New York Times reports: * New York City-run lodging for homeless families is plagued by serious code violations, according to a report by Comptroller Scott Stringer, leading de Blasio to increase efforts to quickly upgrade conditions, the Daily News writes: * Pregnant, homeless woman refuses to go to NYC shelter on frigid day — 'Shelters are worse than the street' (NYDN)
More Designer News From the NYT to Protect Their Guy de Blasio on Homeless FU
Cuomo’s executive order on homeless people was confusing and seems like a move to exploit de Blasio’s weaknesses, but to really end the problem the pair needs to cooperate to build supportive housing and improve shelters, the Times writes:
So far, neither de Blasio nor Cuomo has real answers on the homeless (NYP) Sometimes Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio truly deserve each other — as when it comes to dealing with the homeless. Because so far neither man seems serious about getting these folks off the streets — even in the cold. Recall that when The Post spotlighted the surge of aggressive panhandlers and vagrants using streets as bathrooms, de Blasio denied it. Half a year later, he still has no plan to fix the problem. Even now, he claims “temperature alone doesn’t necessarily constitute” a reason to take a person to a shelter. “If someone’s not in danger, the law says that they still have rights to make that decision themselves.” Huh? Who wouldn’t be “in danger” living on the streets in below-freezing temps? Yet Cuomo isn’t moving to change the law — let alone to take folks off the streets in warm weather, which is only slightly less cruel.* Cuomo’s order to remove homeless people during frigid weather angered some living in the streets who fear it would lead to harassment, complained about shelter conditions or called for more affordable housing, the Times reports: * Cuomo took another swipe de Blasio’s handling of the homeless, charging that people live in the streets because they’re afraid of the city’s unsafe and dirty shelters, the Post reports: * As part of the de Blasio administration’s effort to overhaul homelessness services, the city will end its use of private apartments, known as “clusters,” to house the homeless, and convert them into low-rent housing, the Observer writes: * Daily News says that Cuomo’s executive order ongetting homeless people off the streets in freezing temperatures would “change lots,” writing that New York City’s response will show how in sync de Blasio and Bratton are with the governor* The city’s homeless shelters are a last resort for many New Yorkers, but they’re attractingan increasing number of people from out of town. Roughly 1 in 6 adult couples and 1 in 10 families with kids who enter the shelters gave a previous address from outside the five boroughs.* City-run lodging for homeless families has become a wretched refuge, plagued by thousands of serious code violations, a comprehensive new report by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer has found. In response, de Blasio will announce a “substantially increased” effort to identify problems and quickly upgrade shelter conditions. * Cuomo’s executive order on homelessness is drawing a mixed, muted response from municipalities across the state: Some are taking incremental actions and others aren’t doing much of anything.
Why Does the Media Cover-Up the Cause of the Homeless Increase?
Neither de Blasio nor Cuomo are serious about gettinghomeless people off the streets, the Post writes, as those living on the streets in below-freezing temperatures are in danger so the governor should move quickly to do more: * Cuomo’s executive order must be clarified, especially about who can be forced off the streets and how, amNewYork writes, as individual’s rights need to be upheld and their possessions treated properly:* What will @NYGovCuomo's executive order to move homeless people to shelters accomplish? * Cuomo’s executive order mandating shelters bring homeless people in from the cold when temperatures sink below freezing takes effect today. It has been greeted by social service providers with praise, questions and a reality check.* As temperatures plunge, Cuomo’s and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s political talk of taking New York’s homeless off the streets has had little impact, with numbers in line with past cold spells, The New York Times reports:
Bloomberg Data Driven on the Homeless de Blasio + Cuomo Playing Politics
de Blasio Flack Team Uses the Media to Get Out of their Homeless and Affordable Housing Crisis
Cuomo Thinking of Putting Homeless in Empty Building At Creedmoor Psychiatric Center
The ‘shock’ psych ward Cuomo may convert to homeless shelter (NYP) Under a plan being considered by Gov. Cuomo, hordes of city homeless people could soon find themselves housed in a facility that was once reserved for shock-treating the mentally insane, The Post has learned. The sprawling Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in eastern Queens has entire buildings that are empty — and could easily be converted into suitable lodgings for some of the Big Apple’s skyrocketing vagrant population. Cuomo and a group of homelessness advocates are giving it serious consideration and are also looking at other state psychiatric centers, sources said. Cuomo’s office confirmed that Creedmoor has been discussed — and that his Empire State Development Corp. is working on an overall plan for the site. “The governor’s staff has been holding meetings with dozens of homeless experts and providers to better understand the homeless problem in the city,” said Cuomo spokeswoman Dani Lever.* Cuomo is considering converting the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center campus in Queens into lodgings for some of New York City ’s homeless population, as well as using other state psychiatric facilities, thePost reports: * The de Blasio administration said it is open to converting the nearly empty Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens into a facility for the homeless, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo is reportedly proposing, the Daily News reports:
de Blasio Cuomo Political Posturing On Homeless
De Blasio Accuses Cuomo of ‘Political Posturing’ onHomelessness (NYO)
City To Start New Counting Methods for the Homeless
Councilman Blames Homeless Increaes on Presidential Candidates
City Council: How many homeless people are in New York ? (NYDN) The head of the City Council’s committee on homelessness pressed officials Wednesday for an accurate count of people living on the streets — and an explanation for why so many people think Mayor de Blasio has made the problem worse. Levin asked repeatedly how many people are actually living on the streets — and Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor couldn’t give an answer. Levin said he believes many of the attacks on de Blasio are unfair but the administration hasn’t effectively dispelled them. “Why do you believe that this is the narrative that is out there being espoused by Chris Christie and Donald Trump and whoever?” he said, referencing the two GOP presidential hopefuls. “If it is corresponding to the reality on the ground, then we need to know what that reality is. If it’s not corresponding to reality on the ground, then I’m afraid that it’s not being effectively debunked.” The city is working on coming up with a way to track the numbers in real time, Taylor said. Levin said he believes many of the attacks on de Blasio are unfair but the administration hasn’t effectively dispelled them. “Why do you believe that this is the narrative that is out there being espoused by Chris Christie and Donald Trump and whoever?” he said, referencing the two GOP presidential hopefuls. “If it is corresponding to the reality on the ground, then we need to know what that reality is. If it’s not corresponding to reality on the ground, then I’m afraid that it’s not being effectively debunked.” The city is working on coming up with a way to track the numbers in real time, Taylor said.*
Yes the Media Now Agrees Homeless Crisis, But Will Not Analysis What Caused It . . . To Protect the Real Estate Barons And Their Soldiers the Lobbyists
Bums force Bronx to cancel annual Christmas tree lighting (NYP) Vagrants are urinating in the street, hassling passers-by for cash — and now they’ve ruined Christmas in The Bronx. The annual outdoor Christmas tree lighting in the borough’s famed Little Italy section was canceled because the soaring panhandler population forced the sponsors to spend so much on security that there was no cash left for the celebration. “It’s unfortunate,” Frank Franz, treasurer of the Belmont Business Improvement District, told The Post. “It was a very expensive event, so we canceled it.”
One business owner, Rosa Paciullo, who for 20 years has owned Tino’s Delicatessen with her husband, Giancarlo, said bums even used the Vincent Ciccarone Playground where the lighting was held as a public toilet. “My daughter took her daughter to the [Ciccarone] park and a homeless guy peed in front of them. Some of them would come in and ask for money or food. It scared some of the customers away,” she added.* Vagrants who ruined holiday event still rule neighborhood (NYP)
After the Homeless Army Took Over the Streets the NYT Did Connect the Dots to the Progressive Mayor For Months
Only True News Has Connected the Dots to Show How the 421-a Tax Breaks and Airbnb is Fueling Gentrification and Pushing Blacks and the Poor Out of Brooklyn
Daily News: The Truth About Homelessness in NY is that Cuomo, de Blasio and Advocates Failing, Leaving cop to Respond
Since the Mayor Has Not Fixed the Homeless Problem? NYPD's Bratton Also Has A Modest Proposal
Bratton's advice on how to treat New York's homeless factually flawed and morally bankrupt (NYDN) * Bronx woman shares her story about homelessness, says NYPD boss Bratton is wrong if he thinks the homeless will go away if they aren't given money (NYDN) * Bratton could’ve hit home: The truth about homelessness in New York is that C uomo, de Blasio and advocates are all failing, leaving cops to respond (NYDN Ed) In suggesting that New Yorkers help get the homeless off the streets by spurning panhandling, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton gave voice to the frustrations of a cop who has been asked to solve social ills via arrest.
Mayor 15 Year Plan to House the Homeless As the NYT Stand By Their Man de Blasio
Bill puts up the money (NYDN Ed) No one can now say that Mayor de Blasio stands by idly as the mentally ill homeless sleep on subway grates. On Wednesday, he announced a $3 billion commitment to house and serve 15,000 suffering souls over the coming 15 years.*City creating 15K units of supportive housing (NYP) * City Moves Forward Without the State to Build Housing for the Homeless(NYO)* New York’s Rise in Homelessness Went Against National Trend, U.S. Report Finds (NYT) An annual homelessness report by the federal government found that New York’s homeless people accounted for 14 percent of the national total * Tackling the Homeless Crisis, Without Mr. Cuomo NYT EDITORIAL BOARD The ill will between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the governor makes it harder to find a solution to homelessness in New York City .* The NYT says that in a “better world” de Blasio and Cuomo would work together to address homelessness in the city, but they “are stuck in a malfunctioning relationship that has turned once-routine city-state partnerships and problem-solving exercises into an unusually fraught psychodrama.”* Asked in a radio interview to describe his greatest failure in office, de Blasio said he “didn’t explain to people well enough what we were doing to address homelessness,” though he was proud of the efforts, theDaily News writes * De Blasio said failing to get ahead of the city’s homelessness problem and explain it to New Yorkers is the biggest mistake he has made so far in office.
More on Cuomo
de Blasio Has His 531 Plan to Fix the Homeless
But is Never is Ask If 421-a, Airbnb and His Zoning Plan Will Make More Homeless and Less Affordable Housing
New York City , ordering teams to do a daily canvass of every block of an 8-mile stretch in Manhattan to reach out to those living on the street. * De Blasio vowed during a speech at the ABNY breakfast that he’ll never allow the city to return to the “bad old days.”
In a Daily News OpEd, Queens Sen. Tony Avella (a onetime NYC mayoral candidate) callsde Blasio’s new HomeStat plan “nothing but a press-release gimmick; a pointless publicity stunt to flip public opinion that has found him unable to admit, much less reverse, the increasing homelessness problem.”* The New York City Council had to add more than $130 million on to the budget for homeless shelters, a 17 percent increase for this year, after the city assumed in the original budget that the homeless population would drop, Crain’s reports: * State Sen. Tony Avella writes in the Daily News that deBlasio’s new HomeStat plan is nothing but a press-release gimmick and a stunt to flip public opinion that has found him unable to admit or reverse the increasing homelessness problem: * Even de Blasio is now admitting his team can’t manage thehomeless crisis, the Post writes, so the exit of homeless services commissioner Gilbert Taylor and the beginning of a review of the management structure is progress: * New York City HRA Commissioner Steven Banks, leading a review of the city’s homeless services, blamed previous mayors for the rising numbers of homeless people and said it would take a long time to reverse the trend, the Wall Street Journal reports * De Blasio shrugs off Staten Island'shomeless concerns (SI Advance)* Cuomo has dropped an unpopular proposal to convert vacant buildings at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens into shelters for the homeless. The move came amid complaints from community leaders, including Queens Sen. Tony Avella, one of the legislators who represents neighborhoods around the Creedmoor campus.
de Blasio's Homeless Commission Gone But Mayor's Statement About "Economic Realities" Remains A Mystery
Head of city’sflailing Homeless Services steps down (NYP) The head of Homeless Services stepped down Tuesday amid a restructuring of the department that under Mayor Bill de Blasio has seen a spike in the shelter and street population. Commissioner Gilbert Taylor will leave his post at the flailing city agency, which he has helmed since de Blasio was elected, to pursue another job that City Hall is helping him find. Two city officials — Administration Commissioner Steven Banks and Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris — will be in charge of the department’s restructuring. The Post has reported on the city’s staggering increase in homelessness, which is now at an all-time high of nearly 60,000 people in shelters. Taylor ’s departure is the second loss for the department, as Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios Paoli quit in August.New York City ’s Homeless Services, has stepped down amid a restructuring of the department that under de Blasio has seen a spike in the shelter and street population of homeless people, the Postwrites: * Another official working on homelessness in NYC is steppingdown: * Gilbert Taylor, New York City Homelessness Chief, Quits Post (NYT)The departure of the commissioner is the latest development in the homelessness crisis, which has become a major political liability for Mayor Bill de Blasio.* The city’s homeless crisis can’t be fixed with ‘streamlining’ (NYP) * SALARY ARRANGEMENT CRITICIZED -- "Critics ask whydeparting NYC homelessness commissioner is keeping $219,773 salary" A good-government group, two elected officials and a shelter resident questioned Wednesday why the embattled chief of the de Blasio administration's homelessness agency will keep his nearly $220,000 salary after leaving his post. Gilbert Taylor, who on Tuesday abruptly announced his resignation amid criticism of his agency's performance and record-high homelessness, is being kept on the payroll to advise a shake-up ordered by Mayor Bill de Blasio of how the city deals with people in shelters and on the streets.* * Outgoing New York City Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor lost influence as criticism mounted of the mayor’s handling of homelessness, but a program he started called HomeStat will live on in name, The New York Times reports: * Mayor Says New Program to Reduce Homelessness Will Include Daily Canvas (NY1) * Mayor, Police Commissioner Promote Homeless Strategies (NY1)
de Blasio's Took Office Pledging to Save$$$ and Provide the Homeless With Better Housing is Doing the Opposite
Mayor Bill de Blasio said it “will take years” for New Yorkers to see the benefits of the new policies he unveiled last week to combat homelessness, which has been soaring since the elimination of a rent subsidy program in 2011 and peaked last year,the Daily News reports: * As City Hall shows off new homeless outreach teams today, aclose look at the program - and how it fared elsewhere (AP)
On homelessness, DeBlasio made his bed (NYDN Ed) Behold the self-portrait of a man of action, a leader who has left behind his previous dismissiveness that an obvious crisis was anything other than under full control. But some things aren’t changing as de Blasio grapples with homelessness that has persistently escaped his grasp. He has repeatedly blamed a convergence of fates for why more New Yorkers are seeking help: relentlessly rising rents, lagging wages and a hasty withdrawal of city and state funds that once moved the homeless into housing. Both then and now, de Blasio also asks New Yorkers to trust that vast infusions of money — into rent grants and into new affordable housing — will stem the human tide. De Blasio entered office convinced he could pivot funds used for shelter, currently about $3,200 a month for each family, into lower-cost subsidies to move those same households into permanent housing. The mayor started by vowing to stop renting overpriced and unsafe private apartments as shelter and put a freeze on bringing new shelters online. He committed to using $60 million that was projected to save to help chronically homeless families secure their own apartments. By the end of 2014, the city rushed to open two dozen ad hoc hotels just to keep pace, infuriating unprepared neighbors. The shabby apartments remained in use even after the city Department of Investigation found that they were crammed with fire and health hazards. Last week, the City Council approved a 17% hike in budgeted shelter spending for this year, piling on $137.5 million more, $88 million of it from city taxpayers. The mayor budgeted $84 million for rent aid this year, but then had to up the total to $110 million.New York City councilman, Mayor Bill de Blasio passed legislation barring landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants relying on subsidies, but his administration has done little to enforce the measure, the Daily News reports: * The Daily News’ Alyssa Katz writes that de Blasio has consistently made choices that coumpound the homelessness crisis when it comes to leadership, deploying resources and deciding how to pay for commitments:*De Blasio admits it could ‘take years’ to see 'Home-Stat' benefits (NYDN)
Even the Mayor's Officials Cheerleader the NYT Told Their Real Estate Progressive Puppet There is A Homeless Problem
De Blasio removing head of Homeless Services (NYDN)* De Blasio finally admits it’s time to fix the homeless crisis (NYP) Mayor de Blasio finally admitted Tuesday that “we need to catch up with the reality” of the city’s escalating homeless crisis — as he announced the abrupt exit of the commissioner responsible for helping New York’s needy. De Blasio said the Big Apple was struggling with “a different kind of homelessness” that’s “more and more about economic reality” — a major reversal from previous claims the problem was on the decline. The move follows a series of Post exposés about surging numbers of vagrants living on the streets — along with recent polling that showed 62 percent of New Yorkers disapproved of de Blasio’s handling of the homeless epidemic.
At a City Council hearing last week, Taylor was unable to say how many homeless people were currently living on the streets — which de Blasio pegged at 3,000 to 4,000 — or had entered city shelters since he was appointed. Sources also said Taylor was recently sidelined by the de Blasio administration when DHS was stripped of its power to award contracts, which was transferred to the Human Resources Administration.* Advocates are questioning the accuracy of New York City ’s street counts of homeless people – and government funding for homeless services often hinges on the data, New York Nonprofit Media reports: * Homeless Crackdown on 125th Street Only Relocated theProblem, Critics Say via @Dnainfo
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
Bums getting a little too comfortable in Washington Square Park (NYP) * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio finally admitted that “we need to catch up with the reality” of the city’s escalating homeless crisis — as he announced the abrupt exit of the commissioner responsible for helping New York’s needy.* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’d be working on the city’s approach to homelessness daily during a 90-day review announced after the resignation of Taylor, the Department of Homeless Services commissioner, The Wall Street Journal reports: * The Daily News writes that de Blasio is not close to a solution for the swelling homelessness crisis, but two years into his term, he has seen the “huge gap” between his dreams and his execution:* The departure of the commissioner, Gilbert Taylor, is the latest fallout from the homelessness crisis, which has become a consuming political problem for de Blasio as he tries to address deepening inequality in New York City .
Ignoring the 421-a and Airbnb Market Forces That Fuels Gentrification
De Blasio said the city would conduct a 90-day review of the its homelessness approach and he would be working daily on the problem, which has proved to be a challenge for his administration for much of 2015. * Taylor 's resignation comes after two weeks in which the Homeless Services Commissioner appeared to have a less-than-full command of data about the city's homeless shelter system during testimony he gave to the City Council, and during a sit-down television interview. In a City Council Hearing last week, Taylor could not give an accurate number for the amount of people living on city streets, or for the number of admissions to city homeless shelters since de Blasio took office. During an interview at the end of November with PIX11, Taylor gave himself and his agency an "A for effort" in addressing homelessness. De Blasio would not directly answer when asked Tuesday during a press conference whether Taylor was asked or encouraged to resign from his position by the mayor or any of his staff. http://politi.co/1ZaXjt1 * PALACE INTRIGUE: "The city is lookingparticularly for a Latino to fill the deputy mayor role, according to peoplefamiliar with the matter. Several prominent Latino city officials have leftCity Hall in the past year." WSJ's * The budget modification, released by Mayor Bill de Blasio in November, allocates $59 million in city funds to shelters for homeless adults for the remainder of fiscal year 2016, which ends on June 30. Another $78.6 million will go toward family shelters.
de Blasio's Evolving Homeless Crisis Blames Everyone But 421-a and Airbnb Forcing New Yorkers Out of Their Home
De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated andComprised Journalism (March 16th 2015) * Mayor Blames NYC Homelessness on the Economy NBC (WNBC) * De Blasio proposes a landlord-friendly tax tweak (Capital) May 15 2015 * Apparently it’s now OK to pee on the streets of New York City (NYP) July 10, 2015 * De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) July 14, 2015 Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * The Agnew de Blame the Press "Fear-Mongering" Edition * De Blasio mingles with bums in search of policy guidance (NYP) July 16, 2015 * BEGS TO DIFFER: De Blasio administration blames former Mayor Bloomberg for growing number of homeless New Yorkers (NYDN) Aug 25, 2015 * De Blasio, Cuomo clash (again) over who does more for homeless (NYP) Sept 3, 2015
De Blasio blasts Giuliani as 'delusional' over homeless Increase ...(NYP) Sept 7, 2015 * Mayor de Blasio Says Homeless Problem Is ‘Decades Old’ (Sept 8, 2015 * OPERATION 'BUM-STAT': NYPD zeroes in on homeless crisis by using data-driven tactics that brought down crime in the 90s (NYDN) Sept 14, 2015 * De Blasio HeldWeekly Meetings on Homeless While Publicly Denying Problem (DNAINFO) Oct 15, 2015 * The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) Sept 19 2015 The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era * Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless (NYP) Sept 21, 2015 * Homeless city workers are a national embarrassment (NYP) Sept 27th 2015 * Gilbert Taylor last month: "I woulddefinitely give us an 'A' for effort." WPIX's Jay Dow:
de Blasio ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis
Head of homeless services ‘shocked’ over shady shelter (NYP) Oct 8th 2015 * De Blasio knew about homeless crisis even as he was denying it (NYP Ed) Oct 16, 2015 * De Blasio is underestimating the homeless population: advocate (NYP) Oct 19, 2015 * Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) Oct 26, 2015 * Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) Oct 26, 2015* Bronx woman shares her story about homelessness, says NYPD boss Bratton is wrong if he thinks the homeless will go away if they aren't given money (NYDN) Nov. 11, 2015 * Bill Bratton’s Solution to Homeless Panhandling: Don’t GiveThem Money (NYO * Bill Bratton’s Solution to Homeless Panhandling: Don’t GiveThem Money (NYO) Nov 19, 2015 * Fed-up deputy mayor quits after being ‘ignored’ by de Blasio (NYP) Nov, 1, 2015 The city’s top official on health and homelessness quit because she was tired of being ignored by a mayor more interested in boosting his national profile than attending to the city’s day-to-day concerns, sources said. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli worked for five mayors and oversaw seven city agencies under Mayor de Blasio — but she couldn’t get meetings with him, sources said.
de Blasio Has His 531 Plan to Fix the Homeless
But is Never is Ask If 421-a, Airbnb and His Zoning Plan Will Make More Homeless and Less Affordable Housing
de Blasio's Homeless Commission Gone But Mayor's Statement About "Economic Realities" Remains A Mystery
de Blasio's Took Office Pledging to Save$$$ and Provide the Homeless With Better Housing is Doing the Opposite
Mayor Bill de Blasio said it “will take years” for New Yorkers to see the benefits of the new policies he unveiled last week to combat homelessness, which has been soaring since the elimination of a rent subsidy program in 2011 and peaked last year,the Daily News reports: * As City Hall shows off new homeless outreach teams today, aclose look at the program - and how it fared elsewhere (AP)
Even the Mayor's Officials Cheerleader the NYT Told Their Real Estate Progressive Puppet There is A Homeless Problem
Ignoring the 421-a and Airbnb Market Forces That Fuels Gentrification
de Blasio's Evolving Homeless Crisis Blames Everyone But 421-a and Airbnb Forcing New Yorkers Out of Their Home
de Blasio Fighting Homelessness by Press Spin, Blaming the Press, Bloomberg and Management Incompetence
Last month, de Blasio admitted he had failed to properly communicate to New Yorkers what specifically his administration has been doing to deal with the rising numbers
de Blasio ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis
NYT Break From Flacking for de Blasio - Learns to Count Homeless
NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said homelessness in New York City had “exploded” over the past two years but praised City Hall’s efforts to create housing and curb substance abuse, the Wall Street Journal reports: * The federal government’s annual homelessness count showed an increase in New Yorkers living on the streets or in shelters, even as the number of homeless people nationwide dipped slightly compared with the previous year.
But Still No Cause Given
.The Homeless Have Become the Victims of the Shadow Govt Lobbyists Pushing 421-a and Airbnb
Despite Vow, Mayor de Blasio Struggles to Stop Surge in Homelessness (NYT) By one key measure after another, homelessness in New York City has worsened over the last two years. The number of people entering city shelters has increased under Mayor Bill de Blasio, and when they enter the system, people are staying longer, striking markers of a crisis that has forced its way to the top of the mayor’s agenda. Many people across New York believe the city is experiencing an epidemic of street homelessness. Mayor Bill de Blasio, the embattled liberal steward of a city in which people have a legal right to shelter, has disputed this. And in another troubling sign, the number of families re-entering shelters within a year of leaving is increasing as well. “An ever-growing homeless population is unacceptable to the future of New York City ,” he said. “It will not happen under our watch.” But it has happened.
More on the Homeless
Broker: Homeless Hurting Real Estate . . . Not Doing to Well for the Homeless Either
Homeless Deputy Mayor Ignored Quits Because Of A National Agenda Pursued That Also Failed
Deputy Mayor Barrios-Paoli quit the de Blasio administration because she was tired of being ignored by the mayor about the growing homelessness problem
Fed-up deputy mayor quits after being ‘ignored’ by de Blasio (NYP) The city’s top official on health and homelessness quit because she was tired of being ignored by a mayor more interested in boosting his national profile than attending to the city’s day-to-day concerns, sources said. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli worked for five mayors and oversaw seven city agencies under Mayor de Blasio — but she couldn’t get meetings with him, sources said. As the exploding homeless problem began capturing headlines over the summer, Barrios-Paoli said, “I told you so. If you’re not going to listen to anything I say, I’m out,” according to the source. The source added, “The mayor is so focused on national issues, he has not taken time to focus on local issues.” Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo lambasted Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña for being disrespectful and unresponsive. “I cannot work with you,” the lawmaker fumed during an
After True New Wags the NYP On How de Blasio Accused the Paper of Fear-Mongering the Tabloid is Still Half Asleep
NYP Today: “The media has put a lot of attention on this issue”
True News Friday: "On July 14th de Blasio Charges Homeless Crisis is A Case of Media Fear-Mongering
De Blasio knew about homeless crisis even as he was denying it (NYP Ed) If you faulted Mayor de Blasio last summer for being ignorant of the spike in homelessness in the city, you gave him too much credit. Turns out Hizzoner was well aware of the crisis — even as he denied it. In fact, he’d been holding weekly emergency meetings on the issue all along, news reports this week said. Even while pooh-poohing the problem and denouncing “hype” from The Post, which ran stories and photos that documented the growing chaos. “The media has put a lot of attention on this issue,” he said back then. He asked if the focus was “proportionate to what’s happening,” insisting that “reality is a little different” than the news reports. It wasn’t — as he later admitted: In 2014, city homelessness set a record, at nearly 60,000. In August, 311 homeless complaints reportedly had spiked 60 percent under de Blasio. And The Post published hard evidence, including a front-page photo of one vagrant urinating right in the middle of the street.
On July 14th A Month After Secret Meetings on the Homeless Crisis de Blasio Said The Post Is Making Up the Increase Homeless Stories
Friday Update
ON THE RISE: Study predicts that spending on NYC's homeless, including 271 shelters, to reach close to $1B in 2015 (NYDN)
Former NYC Council Speaker Chris Quinn, Christine Quinn, who unsuccessfully battled Bill de Blasio in the 2013 mayor’s race, is about two weeks away from taking over as head of a homeless service provider – a job that will put her in the trenches on an issue that has frustrated the de Blasio administration.* Report: City's Spending on Homelessness Has Risen Dramatically (NY1)
De Blasio thinks homeless crisis is a case of ‘fear-mongering’ (NYP) Mayor de Blasio on Monday ripped The Post’s coverage of the homelessness crisis — and touted an estimated drop in the vagrant population based on a single-day census conducted in sub-freezing temperatures. * The Agnew de Blame the Press "Fear-Mongering" Edition
Secret Meetings on Homeless
De Blasio HeldWeekly Meetings on Homeless While Publicly Denying Problem (DNAINFO) Mayor Bill de Blasio held a "Weekly Homeless Meeting" for months this summer with top city officials even as he publicly denied the city was experiencing a problem with homelessness, DNAinfo New York has learned. The mayor brushed that off saying he had inherited the homeless surge from his predecessor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and blamed media coverage for overplaying the issue. "I think the media has put a lot of attention on this issue lately, more than previously," de Blasio said then. But de Blasio had been meeting with city officials about the homeless issue as far back as June 5, according to Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter's schedule, a copy which DNAinfo obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. The FOIL request covered the period through the end of July.
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter When NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, head of the Coalition for the Homeless he did no know that Berlin Rosen worked for them. Unregulated Berlin Rosen Will Lead to Foreign Control of New York's Government - A Silent Coup d'eta On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."
de Blasio Underestimating the Homeless Population Advocate
According to two people familiar with the matter, New York City and New York state are in talks to create a new program that would provide more housing and support services for homeless individuals in the city, The Wall Street Journal reports:
De Blasio is underestimating the homeless population: advocate (NYP) The de Blasio administration is grossly underestimating the number of people living on the street, a top advocate for the city’s homeless said Sunday. “We do know that the city came up with a number between 3,000 and 4,000. Their methodology is so flawed, we believe the number to be easily two to three times that,” said Mary Brosnahan, president of the Coalition for the Homeless, the nation’s oldest advocacy group for people in need of shelter. By Brosnahan’s calculations, there are anywhere between 6,000 and 12,000 homeless people living outside of shelters now. With the winter approaching, those numbers could mean more deaths or grave injuries for many who either refuse shelter or can’t access it. Brosnahan said that numbers in city-regulated shelters are “hovering at 58,000 lately.” — “24,000 of those are kids,” she added. City Hall defended it’s estimates. “Not everybody on the street is homeless,” said spokeswoman Ishanee Parikh. “The HOPE [Homeless Outreach Population Estimate] count is specifically aimed at counting those . . . who are chronically homeless.” * New York City should confront homelessness through more housing with on-site services, expanded federal support and improvements in city-run shelters -- and prevention, City Councilman Mark Levine and the Coalition for the Homeless’ Mary Brosnahan write in the Times: * THEIR BIG DAY: Homeless shelter residents enjoy lavish meal from $35G wedding after groom gets cold feet, calls off nuptials (NYDN)
Previous Homeless Critic Now Responsible for Increase Mess
Is the NYT Flacking to Clear the Way to Make HRA's Banks Take Over Former Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli
Steven Banks,
NYP's Goodwin Makes Fun de Blasio For Claiming Bad Landlords Are the Cause of Homeless Then Claims Mental Illness Cause
Goodwin Says Nothing About Gentrification Causes Rising Rents, AirBNB Sucking Up Affordable Housing As A Cause of Homelessness
Tuesday Update
As dozens of homeless shelter contracts remain in limbo, some legal experts say New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has overstepped his authority in rejecting some of the contracts, and nonprofit leaders say it’s hurting their ability to help the homeless:
De Blasio proves he’s clueless about the homeless crisis (Goodwin, NYP) City Hall’s press release included praise for the mayor from a score of elected Democrats and legal-aid types, most of whom painted landlords as greedy and evil and tenants as their innocent victims. “The affordable-housing crisis and rise in homelessness are inextricably linked, and at the core of both lies the insidious harassment of tenants by bad-acting landlords,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez echoed the sentiment, saying her office often gets complaints from “working families” who face “harassment from unscrupulous landlords seeking to force them from their homes.” In the 1980's You Can Get An Apartment in Park Slope for $200 A Month Goodwin: "In that context, it’s worth noting that the mayor, who lives rent free in Gracie Mansion , owns two houses in Brooklyn that he leases for at least $5,000 a month each. If he’s so keen on forcing landlords to house poor families who might otherwise be homeless, why doesn’t he lead by example? That would be new."* De Blasio favors expanding publicly paid legal services (NYDN) * New York City Council members will introduce a dozen bills aimed at preventing landlords from pressuring tenants to move out by doing noisy, dusty or otherwise disruptive construction, The New York Times reports: * As de Blasio prepares for a Washington, D.C., event, the Post asks if he is progressive at all and contends his education policy only “pretends to try to educate the poor:” * Writing in The New York Post, Michael Goodwin says de Blasio’s recent and contradictory comments show he is a “clueless” about the city’s homeless problem.* Bronx lawmaker will introduce bill to determine how NYCHA developments impact homeless crisis (NYDN) * Bronx lawmaker will introduce bill to determine how NYCHA developments impact homeless crisis (NYDN) * New York City Council members will introduce a dozen bills aimed at preventing landlords from pressuring tenants to move out by doing noisy, dusty or otherwise disruptive construction, The New York Times reports: * Manhattan real estate prices increase by 18% over 2014, 'highest in 26 years' (NYDN) * Home prices in Williamsburgup 269% psf since 2004 (Real Deal) * REBNY sues de Blasio administration over hotel conversion bill (PoliticoNY) * Affordable Housing Program Gets No Interest From Developers in Queens (DNAINFO) NYC's Inclusionary Housing Program got no applications from developers wanting to build in the borough. * The mayor's balancing act between affordable housing &construction wages: (WNYC)* The de Blasio administration's rezoning of East New York in Brooklyn will be the litmus test in the mayor's fight against income inequality, but residents won’t be able to afford their rent, no matter how affordable, if they don’t have quality employment, write Audrey Sasson and Rachel Laforest: http://goo.gl/uDoLPa
Hotels who give$$ 2pols get protection from Airbnb Voters who get push out of their homes trickle down benefits
Hotels who give$$ 2pols get protection from Airbnb Voters who get push out of their homes trickle down benefits
"Here in New York , the government is spending millions to try and stop Airbnb from threatening hotel chain"--Marco Rubio, here in New York
Homeless Transparency Not
Head of homeless services ‘shocked’ over shady shelter (NYP) The head of the city’s Department of Homeless Services was caught off guard Wednesday when he had to learn secondhand that one of the government-funded homeless shelters he oversees in Queens is refusing to give building inspectors access.
.
City Hides the Homeless for Papal Visit And Russian TV Hits City's Homeless Policy
Cops part the sea of bums in Harlem ahead of papal visit (NYP) The NYPD on Tuesday rousted the drug-abusing denizens of a homeless encampment under the Metro-North tracks on East 125th Street at Park Avenue — just blocks from where Pope Francis will visit a Catholic school. “They just kicked us out. They said, ‘Important people is coming by,’ ” said one man who calls the Harlem sidewalk home. Cops have been playing cat and mouse with the hobos for weeks — but this time, warned them to stay away or face arrest.* * Officials from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration broke ground on a first-of-its-kind combination homeless shelter/affordable housing development in the Bronx , part of an effort to maximize resources to combat the parallel problems, the Daily News reports: * Before Pop Francis’ visit, de Blasio and Cardinal Timothy Dolan said a partnership between the Roman Catholic Church and New York City would provide 150 beds this winter for homeless people, The New York Times writes: * After a crackdown on synthetic marijuana in a Harlem neighborhood many of the homeless people who live in the area are saying they feel harassed by police, who are going heavy on quality of life issues, theTimes writes: * Homeless cleared off 125th St set up shop elsewhere (NYT)* The unfortunate rise in homelessness – a result of decades of policies by the mayors who preceded Mayor Bill de Blasio – is a social problem that can’t be fixed with short-term stop gaps aimed at keeping up this mayor’s public approval numbers, activist Josmar Trujillo writes in the DailyNews: * New York Citywill deploy more lawyers to help tenants stay in their apartments(WSJ)
de Blasio Who Attacks the Press Reacts to the Press Promising to Put A Roof of the Head of City Workers
The Gentrification Housing Shark Created By NY Pols is Creating Homeless and Killing Affordable Housing
Tuesday Update: Roof for City Workers
Homeless City Workers
De Blasio vows to put a roof over homeless city workers’ heads (NYP)
Homeless City Workers
Hundreds of full-time city workers are homeless (NYP) Angelo Torres punches in to work at 5 a.m. each weekday and spends the next eight hours cleaning up debris on Staten Island’s Midland Beach
If Rip Van Wilhelm @BilldeBlasio gets up early,he can show the Pope the new homeless god's children he created
de Blasio Homeless Not My Fault . . Past Mayors Had Same Problem New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there is a homelessness problem, but his administration’s policies should not be blamed for it and public pressure has not led him to change approaches, The New YorkTimes reports: * Mayor de Blasio Says Homeless Problem Is ‘Decades Old’ In an interview with Joe Scarborough, New York’s mayor added, “What I think I have to do better is explain the origins of this problem and show people what we’re doing about it.” Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani criticized de Blasio again today, calling the freshman Democratic mayor “ignorant” and accusing him of misrepresenting facts about the number of homeless people in the city.
Homeless Population Which Has Soared Under de Blasio Will Grow Even Bigger in the Cold
The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era, according to data released Thursday. There were 57,206 people housed in the facilities this week, compared with about 53,000 during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s final month in office in December 2013, the Mayor’s Management Report shows. * De Blasio’s latest Mayor’s Management Report showed positive results in many categories reflecting New York City’s well being, including drops in crime and complaints against police officers, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/Wrinter * Stop cutting corners, Mr. Mayor (NYP Ed) Team de Blasio complains the city comptroller’s office is dragging its feet on signing off on contracts for new homeless-shelter operators — but Scott Stringer is just doing his job. Perhaps the mayor and his minions could start doing theirs? With the homeless count up sharply since Mike Bloomberg left City Hall, Mayor de Blasio needs to start focusing on getting these unfortunates off the streets. Since January 2014, Stringer’s office has rejected 33 contracts submitted by the city Department of Homeless Services, impacting nonprofits that would provide 1,923 beds for single adults and 875 units for families. Without approved contracts, the city can’t pay the vendors.
.The Homeless Have Become the Victims of the Shadow Govt Lobbyists Pushing 421-a and Airbnb
What is Causing Homeless the Increase?
de Basio NYT Meet 421-a Gentrification
As police officers, mental health workers, lawyers and others visit homeless encampments in New York as part of a City Hall initiative, a prime mission will be determining how people wound up on the streets, The New YorkTimes reports: * De Blasio, Cuomo clash (again) over who does more for homeless (NYP) Cops finally crack down on vagrants as the homeless blast de Blasio (NYP) * New York City , saying the state has invested heavily in housing for homeless in the past five years, Politico New York reports: *Since 1990, only 347,000 dwelling units were completed.
The City Affordable Housing Police he Giveth and Taketh More Away
New laws stop NYC landlords from forcing tenants to move (NYDN) Saying there’s no room in the city for “ruthless tactics,” Mayor de Blasio on Thursday signed into law a series of bills that will stop unscrupulous landlords from pressuring tenants to move out. Saying there’s no room in the city for “ruthless tactics,” Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a series of bills to stop landlords from pressuring tenants to move out and to protect the city’s rent regulated apartments
Is Homeless A Housing Problem, Mental Health Problem or an NYPD Target?
de Blasio Has the NYPD Targeting the Homeless
The homeless population has soared since de Blasio took office (NYP) The homeless population under Mayor de Blasio is soaring — with 4,000 more people in shelters than there were at the end of the Bloomberg era, according to data released Thursday. There were 57,206 people housed in the facilities this week, compared with about 53,000 during former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s final month in office in December 2013, the Mayor’s Management Report shows.
OPERATION 'BUM-STAT': NYPD zeroes in on homeless crisis by using data-driven tactics that brought down crime in the 90s (NYDN) Operation “Bum-Stat” is in full effect. The NYPD is mining some of the data-driven tactics it used to bring down crime in the late 1990s and applying them to the homeless crisis, multiple sources tell the Daily News. All precinct commanders are now required to inform higher-ups about homeless problems on their watch, including encampments, aggressive panhandling and crimes in homeless shelters, NYPD sources said. They are also expected to tabulate 311 calls about homelessness in their command. The information is then sent to 1 Police Plaza, the NYPD’s lower Manhattan headquarters, to be analyzed. It mirrors the type of information gathering used in the NYPD’s 20 year-old CompStat program, which tracks and maps crime trends. That system is widely credited with helping bring down crime to its current historic lows. In another sign of how seriously the NYPD is taking the crisis, nearly all of the department’s weekly CompStat meetings — typically devoted to crime trends — focused on the homeless problem two weeks ago, said one attendee.* The NYPD's recently revealed data-driven approach to tracking homelessness — or “Bum-Stat” — is part of an “extraordinary coordination” among city agencies, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, the Daily Newsreports: Wednesday Mayor de Blasio praises 'Bum-Stat' homelessness tracking (NYDN) * The NYPD’s data-driven approach to tracking homelessness — which cops call “Bum-Stat” — is part of an “extraordinary coordination” among city agencies, de Blasio said.
Operation Out of Sight Homeless
Everytime the NYP Prints A Homeless Hangout the Cops Move In to Clean It Out
Cops refuse to disrupt dreadlocked hobo’s encampment (NYP) Cops and social workers on Friday swarmed the pavement pad of a homeless hobo in Greenwich Village — the day The Post published his photo — but all they did was make him throw out his stash of trash. Seven cops, two Department of Homeless Services workers and a sanitation crew all approached Delfine Vizcarra — who sports a Rapunzel-like, ankle-length dreadlock — about 9 a.m. at his hovel in front of 505 LaGuardia Place. They spent nearly two hours talking to the pipe-smoking vagrant, but then left and let him stay without explanation — even though Mayor de Blasio said homeless encampments won’t be tolerated. “I don’t know,” one DHS worker said, declining to give his name, when asked what would happen to Vizcarra, 63, who neighborhood residents say has been living in the shanty — where he cooks on a small gas stove — for years. * RAT-INFESTED FIRE HAZARDS: City Controller Scott Stringer blasts Mayor de Blasio over homeless shelters (NYDN) * Since January 2014, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has rejected 33 contracts and held up millions of dollars in payments to nonprofits that shelter homeless people for fear they offer unsafe services, the Times reports:
Rudy Giuliani says people living in shelters aren’t homeless (NYDN) Monday A look at homelessness in NYC: "I'd rather be out herethan in shelters" (NYT) Wednesday Statistics provided by the New York City comptroller show rising numbers of homeless individuals and new contracting rules for shelters led to a 15 percent increase in the number of contracts submitted by City Hall for homeless services, Politico New York reports:
Rudy Giuliani says people living in shelters aren’t homeless (NYDN) Monday A look at homelessness in NYC: "I'd rather be out herethan in shelters" (NYT) Wednesday Statistics provided by the New York City comptroller show rising numbers of homeless individuals and new contracting rules for shelters led to a 15 percent increase in the number of contracts submitted by City Hall for homeless services, Politico New York reports:
Team de Blasio Blames Bloomberg for Homeless Increase
Homeless man back to ranting and peeing on Giuliani’s (NYT) * Editorial: Let the sunlight in on NYCHA's roof repairs (NYDN Ed) The vagrant whose public urination and late-night ranting prompted Mayor Rudy Giuliani to file a complaint with police was back on the former mayor’s block this week — and not in a good mood over his recent notoriety.
Back to the Welfare Hotels
de Blasio Back to the Slumlords to Get the Homeless Off the Streets
BEGS TO DIFFER: De Blasio administration blames former Mayor Bloomberg for growing number of homeless New Yorkers (NYDN) The de Blasio administration, which has been under fire for the growing number of homeless New Yorkers, is pushing back and blaming former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. One of Mayor de Blasio’s top aides took to Twitter Tuesday to point out the city’s shelter population exploded under Bloomberg. “Who was mayor during time when NYC homeless numbered 25,000 in 2002 and jumped to 53,000 by 2013. Not @BilldeBlasio,” press secretary Karen Hinton tweeted. Her comment came hours after MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ripped de Blasio on air for 10 minutes, saying his “misguided liberalism” is contributing to the homelessness crisis. “There are a lot of liberal New Yorkers that are sick and tired of this happening with de Blasio,” Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida who lives in New Canaan , Conn. Philadelphia if he wants to run it.”* Scarborough slams Bill deBlasio for NYC's homelessness problem. * New York City continues to use a program that pays private landlords to house the spillover from homeless shelters, even though city officials have condemned it as expensive, wasteful and ineffective, The New York Times writes:
Homeless Complaints Up 60% and Mayor Blames Media Coverage
Students “raised up their test scores,” the mayor noted, a development with “profound ramifications.” And it’s all because “plans” he’s put in place “are really bearing fruit.” Truth is, the tests show kids — third- through eighth-graders — failing miserably. And almost no improvement whatsoever. It’s cause for alarm, not celebration.* Data released by the mayor’s office shows 20,242 calls to 311 about the homeless so far this year in New York City , a 35 percent increase compared with 14,958 calls at the same time last year, the Daily News reports: * De Blasio Blames Media Coverage of Homeless For Surge in 311 Complaints (DNAINF) The mayor said media coverage has increased concern about the homeless, prompting more 311 calls.
BDB doesn't think polls or media coverage reflect the feelings of city residents. He doesn't do town halls. So how is he taking the pulse?
How Many Homeless Plans Has de Blasio Had So Far 19 Months in Office
Groundhog Day: New Homeless Plan New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expected to unveil a plan today to address homelessness and move mentally ill people from the streets into housing and supportive facilities, The Wall Street Journalreports: Groundhog Day NYCHA Plan New York City officials directed nearly $80 million toward upgrading lights at 15 public housing developments flagged for high crime rates, but some developments that need it most are in the dark, the Daily News reports: Homeless and Crime Bratton Says Homelessness Is Fueling Perception of aCrime Spike (NYO) After announcement of a plan for handling New York City ’s homeless and mentally ill was pushed back to Thursday, Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said an increase in homelessness is fueling perception of a crime spike Bratton Bill Bratton thinksmore New Yorkers should be in jail (Gawker) * NYPD head Bill Bratton opposes letting more people out ofjail: (NYDN) * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton speaks out against cuttingjail population: Thousands of criminals ‘have no values, no respect for humanlife’ (NYDN) * A report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shows that city officials are prioritizing treatment of less-severe mental-health cases at the expense of more severe, potentially violent cases, City Journal writes:
Homelessness Grows the Homeless Boss Goes
Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, was reportedly “miserable” in her job and felt the mayor politicized too many decisions.
Deputy Mayor Barrios-Paoli leaving the de Blasioadministration (NYDN) Amid controversy over Mayor de Blasio's handling of homelessness, a deputy mayor will soon be leaving the place she's called home for 20 months. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, de Blasio's top official for homelessness, social services and health, is leaving City Hall, the administration announced Monday. She will depart at the end of September and take an unpaid post chairing the Health and Hospitals Corp. board. *
. Homeless Back Thursday Hours After Being Pushed Out Pushed Out on Friday Again
.
.
Saturday Update Cops Move to Push Out the Homeless Again
The Out of Sight Out of Mind Homeless Plan
De Blasio seems to have abandoned the notion that homeless is not a problem in New York City, with his team now seizing on the issue in public and in private, discussing a series of changes intended to stem the crisis, the Times reports: * De Blasio seems to have abandoned the notion that homeless is not a problem in New York City, with his team now seizing on the issue in public and in private, discussing a series of changes intended to stem the crisis, the Times reports: * The Post’s Michael Goodwin writes that the shocking resignation of Lilliam Barrios-Paoli in the middle of a raging homeless crisis suggests things are going to get worse before they get better: * Mayor de Blasio takes tour of filthy, needle-ridden Bronx drug den — vows to clean up homeless encampments (NYDN) * Police Officers and Other New York City Agencies Visit Homeless Encampments (NYT) Police Commissioner William J. Bratton discusses the measures the city has taken to address a rise in homelessness.
Rudy Reconnects to the Homeless
Rudy Giuliani reports homeless man near Manhattan home (NYDN) * Upper East Side block as a bathroom that he personally filed a complaint with cops.
Shameless Pols Who Are Responsible for Increased Homeless Slam Cops Union Photo Campain
NYC pols blast cop union's photo campaign for 'shaming'homeless people (NYDN) “That’s just wrong. It’s tacky,” said Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), who joined other pols and activists on the City Hall steps Tuesday. “Being poor is not a crime. Being homeless in New York City is not a crime,” said Councilman Steve Levin (D-Brooklyn), chair of the general welfare committee. “The public shaming of people that are homeless in New York City, that have fallen on hard times, that are sleeping on our streets, sleeping in our shelter system, trying to get their feet on the ground — that has to stop.” SBA president Ed Mullins defended the campaign — saying it’s supposed to shame politicians into action on the homelessness problem, not shame the homeless themselves. 2017 Bill de Blasio’s Message to His PotentialPrimary Foes: Bring It On (NYO)
Daily News' Gonzalez: Elites Trying to Dump Mayor
Elites could be crying out 'chaos' in NYC to get de Blasioout of office: @juangon68 http://nydn.us/1US9J71 Is this city descending into chaos, or are Mayor de Blasio’s critics using small spikes in crime to whip up the public against him? If you believe the blaring headlines, shootings are climbing, the homeless are taking over, drug use has suddenly escalated, and Times Square is hurtling back to its X-rated past. Even Curtis Sliwa has returned with his Guardian Angels show.This is all part of a storyline concocted by powerful people in this town who are bent on turning de Blasio into a one-term mayor.
Former Backer Turns On Mayor
Wall Street Turns Against de Blasio
“He’s anti-business, he’s anti-wealth, he’s anti-accomplishment. His performance has not been up to par. He’s failed.”
Top de Blasio backer considers 2017 run against ‘anti-business, anti-cop socialist’ (NYP) One of the nation’s wealthiest black business leaders is considering mounting a self-financed campaign to topple Mayor de Blasio in 2017 — saying he has lost faith in the candidate he once supported. “I’m giving serious thought to running for mayor of New York City . . . I was a political supporter of Bill de Blasio,” real estate mogul Don Peebles told The Post on Tuesday. Peebles and wife Katrina contributed $9,675 to de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and inaugural committees, records show. But during an extensive interview, the lifelong Democrat — who is reportedly worth $700 million — delivered a withering attack on the mayor’s handling of taxes, charter schools, stewardship of the NYPD and chilly relations with Gov. Cuomo. He slammed de Blasio on numerous fronts, from his management skills to his chat with his son, Dante, about how to act if approached by cops. While he resides in Boca Raton, Fla., Peebles owns homes in downtown Manhattan and is buying a place on the Upper West Side. He also has company offices in Midtown and owns a home in Bridgehampton, LI.Peebles is well-known in New York’s political and business circles. He served on President Obama’s national finance committee and has raised money for Bill Clinton and other politicians. * The narrative that the New York City media is portraying of violence and vagrancy returning to the high levels of the 1980s and 1990s ignores inconvenient facts and basic history, the Daily News’ Juan Gonzalez writes: * Gonzalez: Elites may be crying 'chaos' to get de Blasio out (NYDN) Thursday People beg Peebles: Please run against de Blasio! (NYP)* An ex-supporter calls out Mayor de Blasio’s failures (NYP Ed) * A “local Democratic insider” tells Business Insider that Public Advocate Letitia James is considering challenging New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the 2017 Democratic mayoral primary:* * The list of Democrats mulling a challenge against de Blasio in 2017 has grown in the wake of criticism, but the mayor in a rare move had a message for all of them during a press conference—bring it on, theObserver writes: Friday Peebles and de Blasio definitely aren’t friends anymore (NYP) “Interesting way to be a friend,” de Blasio said Thursday of the wealthy black business leader, during an unrelated press conference in Beach Channel, Queens . Asked how he would respond to Peebles’ claims that he is anti-business and anti-wealth, he replied tersely, ‘He’s wrong.”
Maimonides Medical Center Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
The Progressive Mayor's Plan for Homeless Many Mentally Ill Move Them Out of Sight
These are the worst areas in NYC for ‘quality of life’ offenses (NYP) NYPD bosses have pinpointed the two dozen worst spots across the city for a “quality of life” crackdown on offenses like public drinking and urination, according to an internal document obtained by The Post. Targeted areas include places exposed by The Post — Tompkins Square and Washington Square parks and East 125th Street between Park and Lexington avenues. Broadway between West 68th and 72nd streets and a corner near the Coney Island beach are also on the list. One spot, at East 96th Street and the FDR Drive — which is targeted for a “homeless” problem — is a well-known hangout for a particularly aggressive beggar who has proven difficult to dislodge, one source said. Monday Update NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said policing can’t solve homelessness, but said between 5,000 and 10,000 cops will be trained to deal with the emotionally disturbed homeless population, the Daily News reports: * * A New York City taskforce has moved more than 200 people out of unregulated homes where many struggle with addiction, often called three-quarter houses, but others were left behind, the Times reports:
Bums set up camp outside NYC college (NYP) The glass facade of Cooper Union’s $111 million academic building offers a remarkable view — of a back alley packed with vagrants.
An East Village mom welcomed a crackdown at Tompkins Square Park
The Homeless Plaza Hotel Fountain Spa
Exclusive: Photos Show Homeless Man Taking Bath Columbus Circle
First de Blasio Tried to Blame the Homeless On Cuomo Now He is Hiding Them
How Team de Blasio (Berlin Rosen) Tried to Blame Homelessness and the NYCHA Mess On Cuomo
More On the Homeless
NYPD, Bratton The Fight For Control
Blasting the Press, de Blasio, Sharpton Over Noerdlinger and Racial Divide; Clueless Press
Bubble Mayor No Town Hall de Blasio Spins and the NYC Press Defining Journalism Down
More On the Homeless
NYPD, Bratton The Fight For Control
Blasting the Press, de Blasio, Sharpton Over Noerdlinger and Racial Divide; Clueless Press
Bubble Mayor No Town Hall de Blasio Spins and the NYC Press Defining Journalism Down
Bratton Attacks the NYP for Piss Man Coverage
After the Mayor Cop's Pushes Homeless Away from Gracie Mansion He Visits the Homeless He is Kicking Out of Tompkins Square Park
De Blasio mingles with bums in search of policy guidance (NYP) Mayor de Blasio made a surprise visit to Tompkins Square Park on Thursday to check out the vagrant-infested space — and asked homeless people there for advice on what to do about the crisis. The unscheduled East Village stop came a day after a cop shooed a “bum” — actually a Post reporter in disguise — from outside Gracie Mansion
NYP Keeps Up Its Bum Attacks So The City Tries to Hide Them
Saturday The Post is happy to be of assistance, Police Commissioner Bratton (NYP)
Wednesday De Blasio’s lazy, nonsensical handling of the homeless crisis (NYP Ed)
Sunday the Post Adds the Squeegee Man
Wednesday De Blasio’s lazy, nonsensical handling of the homeless crisis (NYP Ed)
Sunday the Post Adds the Squeegee Man
Squeegee man is city’s latest blast from the past (NYP) Gentrification Formerly Homeless Tenants in Prospect-Lefferts Building Fight Order to Move (DNAINFO) The landlord at 60 Clarkson Ave. gave tenants 24 hours to move last month. Monday Update Bums are running amok in New York City and it needs to stop (NYP)
The Council May Make It Harder for the NYPD and Courts to Improve Qualty of Life
A return to zip-code policing will wreck New York (NYP) Last week, he assembled the top brass of the NYPD and directed them to vigorously enforce public-order laws. This comes after some streets have been virtually taken over by vagrants and the disorderly. At the same time, the City Council is preparing to bring to a vote laws curtailing public-order enforcement. Mayor de Blasio will have to decide whether to sign them or veto them. Public urination, for example, should be treated the same in Harlem as on the Upper East Side . Individuals who relieve themselves in a dark alley need not be bothered. However, those who do so in front of a sidewalk café should be hauled before a judge. One way to recognize this is for the City Council to shelve the pending measures curtailing police enforcement, and let the cops do their jobs — all over the city. Thomas A. Reppetto is the former president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City and a retired Chicago
The killing in April of Ana Charle — the first shelter worker known to be slain in the NYC shelter system — has focused attention on these employees in recent months and prompted city officials to review security measures at the city’s 256 homeless shelters.
- The killing of a homeless shelter worker this spring has prompted New York City officials to review security measures at 265 such facilities, some of which are operated by nonprofits, the Times reports: http://goo.gl/vRgSSN
It Took 3 Days to Push The Homeless Out of the Tompkins Square Park Now Gracie Mansion Also
Mayor "Real Concerned" That the Homeless Have Reappeared - Cops Hide Them
Monday This East Village park has become a homeless haven (NYP) There’s a new homeless shelter in Alphabet City — Tompkins Square Park New York City and urges Mayor Bill de Blasio to take it seriously to avoid returning to the bad old days * De Blasio has ‘real concern’ about homeless on NYC streets(NYP) Mayor Bill de Blasio admitted Thursday he has “real concern” about the homeless people taking over the city’s streets. His comments come after The Post revealed how more vagrants are setting up shop in neighborhoods all over the city — including the Upper West Side . * A bipartisan group of 133 Assembly members signed a letter urging Cuomo to develop 35,000 units of supportive housing across the state to help combat homelessness, the Daily News reports: * A bipartisan group of 133 state Assembly members is urging Cuomo to develop 35,000 units of supportive housing across the state to combat homelessness. * Queens Councilman Ruben Wills paid $250 of his own money to hire a contractor to measure a homeless shelter’s distance from a school and finding it was some 100 feet closer to the children than the law allows. As a result, 52 registered sex offenders were relocated. * New York City settled a lawsuit and agreed to allow monthly visits by relatives and their guests to Hart Island, where the homeless and unclaimed bodies are buried by the Department of Correction, the Times reports: *Bums think de Blasio is the best mayor ever (NYP) Bums across the city hailed Mayor de Blasio on Monday for relaxing enforcement against homeless panhandlers, saying it hasn’t been this good for them in years. “I want to thank de Blasio for taking it easy on us. It’s easier for me to get by. Because of him, nobody bothers me,” said Phil Zasel, 63, who was hanging out near Bellevue Hospital
NYP Council Speaker Pisses On NYC
Apparently it’s now OK to pee on the streets of New York City (NYP) This urinating vagrant turned a busy stretch of Broadway into his own private bathroom yesterday – an offense that would result in a mere summons if Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and her pals get their way. Mark-Viverito in April announced plans to decriminalize public urination along with five other low-level offenses: biking on the sidewalk, public consumption of alcohol, being in a park after dark, failure to obey a park sign and jumping subway turnstiles. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton — who in the early ’90s implemented a “broken windows” approach to policing to dramatically cut crime — is against the new plan, saying such offenses lead to more serious crimes. Monday Update Vagrant back to peeing in the streets, says he is ‘a good guy’ (NYP) * The Post writes that the de Blasio administration’s planfor treating mental health needs to prove effective now that homeless are beginning to congregate in an East Village
This Time It is the City's Lack of Mental Health Policies That is Pissing on New Yorkers
Sunday Update Peeing menace cuffed by cops, only to be back on the streets (NYP) New York ’s Revolving door of justice sprang a scary leak Saturday when a threatening, public-urinating, jagged-glass-waving homeless man was twice hauled away by cops — only to each time be quickly released to terrorize the same stretch of Broadway on the Upper West Side . The man was loaded into an ambulance and taken to Roosevelt Hospital Victoria ’s Secret store. A dozen cops soon swarmed to the scene, cuffed him and again hauled him away. That time he was carted off to to St. Lukes Hospital
De Blasio is missing in action as city goes downhill (NYP Ed) With murder rising, the homeless population mushrooming and the quality of life taking a beating, New Yorkers wanting help will need plenty of luck getting Bill de Blasio’s attention. They might also need a plane ticket to track down out-of-town Bill. With trips to Iowa , Nebraska , California , Puerto Rico and other points, Mayor Putz already has spent more than a month on the road this year. He goes to Washington more often than Staten Island . It’s not just his body that’s missing in action — it’s his attitude, too. His withering broadside against Gov. Cuomo, where he accused his fellow Democrat of carrying out “a vendetta,” was a burn-the-bridges event. On his next visit to Albany , he’ll probably be greeted by a locked door. That won’t help the city.
Post Always Reports NYCHA Leadership Sucks The Post writes that it is time to evict the de Blasio administration from running NYCHA and break up the behemoth government monopoly after a city comptroller audit found long waiting lists for major repairs and thousands of vacant apartments: REAL ESTATE—“Stringer: NYCHA apartments left vacant for years “Low-income apartments run by the New York City Housing Authority are in high demand, with more than 270,000 applicants on the authority’s waiting list. But some 241 NYCHA units slated for repairs have remained vacant for an average of seven years, costing the agency millions in lost rents, according to an audit released on Wednesday by Comptroller Scott Stringer. Stringer, speaking during a news conference outside the Raymond V. Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn , criticized the housing authority for its oversight of the vacancies. … According to NYCHA, the agency has 2,342 vacant apartments that have been left empty for a combination of short- and long-term repairs. Stringer’s audit found that these numbers are ‘estimates at best,’ and that NYCHA lacks adequate records on apartment occupancy * Audit: NYC Housing Authority sitting on 2,000 vacant units (WSJ) * More than a day after ‘framework’ agreement, educationissues remain unresolved in Albany * Calls for NYCHA Head’s Ouster Spur Defense of De Blasio’sRecord (City Limits) *Tenants, churches want NYCHA boss to resign over lack of mold repairs(NYDN)
True News Wonders Why the NYT Did Not Point Out the Poor State of Public Housing Finances When the Candidates Were Making Promises of More Services During the 2013 Election
The Times writes that to save New York City’s public housing, de Blasioneeds to “find a ton of money, then put it where his mouth is,” and that after decades of neglect it will remain a perplexing challenge:
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates."
How Berlin Rosen Tried To Blame Cuomo for NYC's Homeless Problem
What is the Cause of Homeless Increase? 421-a?
“Cutting off funds for shelters, as the governor has done, is only hurting the poorest New Yorkers,” Assemblyman Social Services Committee Chairman Andrew Hevesi said. * The head of a key Assembly committee criticized Cuomo for withholding state aid for 16 city homeless shelters after the de Blasio administration missed a deadline to address serious code violations, the Daily News writes: * * New York City will develop a plan to improve its homeless shelters by Tuesday, and officials said the state will continue providing funding to the city in the interim, Capital New York reports:
As Pols March for Tenants
NYC Public Advocate Letitia James, Assemblyman Keith Wright and Councilman Jumaane Williams blasted state Senate Republicans and Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a large pro-tenant rally in Manhattan ’s Foley Square last night. * Hundreds of tenants marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in a show of force to demand stronger rent laws from Albany , as their advocates called on Mayor de Blasio to push for a rent freeze, the Post reports:
de Blasio: Solving Growing Homelessness by Press Releases
NYT Reports the Mayor Is Throwing $$$ at the Problem, But Does Not Talk About What is Causing the Increased Homeless New Yorkers . . . 421-a?
De Blasio proposes a landlord-friendly tax tweak (Capital) Mayor Bill de Blasio's “sweeping” plan to reform a controversial tax break for developers will allow some landlords whose benefits are about to expire to continue receiving them, under certain conditions. De Blasio’s proposal, which will require approval in Albany , would give landlords the opportunity to extend existing 421-a tax abatements awarded before 2008 that are about to run out. The deal would allow landlords who qualified for 421-a prior to 2008 (when the abatement was last amended) to continue receiving the tax break on half of their building's property tax for 15 more years, provided they make an additional 5 percent of the building’s apartments available at an “affordable” rent. * A report from the New York City Independent Budget office finds that despite adding funds to the proposed 2016 budget for homeless services, the de Blasio administration will still need to increase funding for the city’s shelter system: * For New York City’s Working Poor, New Help in Getting Out of Homeless Shelters * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced his office would use $1.2 million in money from its myriad settlements with large financial institutions to stem the city’s ballooning homeless crisis, the Observer reports: * AG Eric Schneiderman announced his office would use $1.2 million in money from its myriad settlements with large financial institutions to stem the city’s ballooning homelessness crisis.`
Officials said New York City would commit $100 million in annual spending to combat homelessness, including funding for rental assistance, to more than 7,000 new households, anti-eviction efforts, The New York Timesreports: * Bronx citycouncilman accuses Cuomo of putting 'political favors' ahead of NYCHA repairs(NYDN) Bronx city councilman accuses Cuomo of putting 'political favors' ahead of NYCHA repairs “The notion of diverting state funds away from emergency roof replacement and into a political slush fund is morally sickening to me," Torres said.* New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and New York City Housing Authority Chairwoman Shola Olatoye announced the authority would overhaul its oversight of warehouses in the wake of an audit, the Observer reports
The Daily News Makes It Look Like Homelessness Down
Homelessness Growing? Why? Whose to Blame?
De Blasio’s homeless shelter crisis (NYDN Ed)
Stringer: X-Men Ripping Off NYCHA Supplies Because Tracking System Disarray
COMIC-AL NYCHA: $100M tracking system in such disarray, Housing Authority worker signed for supplies under the name 'X-Men' * De Blasio’s own Department of Investigation in March issued a withering report on vile conditions at 25 city-funded shelters, finding the worst at so-called cluster sites run by private landlords that bill the city an average of $2,541 a month, often for slum-grade apartments. Blocked fire exits, vermin infestations and skimpy security put thousands of families in harm’s way. • As a candidate, de Blasio vowed to stop using clusters. But DHS has since increased their number and has yet to move families out. • The shutdown plan includes paying some of the same shelter landlords to continue housing the same tenants in the same apartments — relabeling shelters as permanent housing and thus removing those families from the homeless tally. With equal desperation, the city has begun offering friends and relatives cash to take in homeless families. • A surge in violence in adult homeless facilities preceded last week’s murder of Bronx shelter director Ana Charle, with the rate of life-threatening incidents up 33% in the six months ending January 2015 over the same period the year prior.* DISPLACED, DISPERSED, DISAPPEARED: Families are being forced out of Brooklyn's Bushwick neighborhood as landlords seek to charge higher rents to incoming youths with deeper pockets, but where do they go when they move? Neil deMause reports: (City and State) * Tenants’ Voice Lacks Power as NYCHA Faces Crucial Chapter via@citylimitsorg * Housing Authority eyes ‘X-Men’ in supply thefts (NYP) * Housing Authority Fails to Protect Supplies, Audit Finds (WSJ) *Stringer: Housing Authority Grossly Mismanaged Inventory of Equipment, Supplies(NY1) *
..
Professional Ass Kisser Lehrer Ignore How Berlin Rosen Used the Homeless as A Political Prop and the Dozens of Other Conflict of Interests Like Gentrification Pushing Out Minorities by the Developers the None lobbying Firm Represents
Brian Lehrer WNYC Radio: “Still a question of what is the price to the public is to the public is there a price to the public anyone getting sweetheart contracts. I not sure we have meaningful conflict of interests here yet?” * A Noticing New York challenge to WNYC and its Gilmartin appointment (AYR) In a 12/8/14 Noticing New York column, With Big Bucks Out To Hijack Truth and Broadcasting Integrity- The Daily Show and Bill Moyers Set Models for WNYC Radio, Michael D.D. White describes a visit to a board meeting of WNYC, where he queried CEO Laura Walker about the appointment of Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin:
Berlin Rosen Black Box Blame Cuomo Homeless Operation as Ratner Creates More Homeless by Gentrification
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless Who Hired Berlin Rosen, Who Bashed Cuomo Praised de Blasio is Married to Ratner's Daughter
When NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, head of the Coalition for the Homeless he did no know that Berlin Rosen worked for them. Unregulated Berlin Rosen Will Lead to Foreign Control of New York's Government - A Silent Coup d'etat * The Atlantic Yards CBA promised a path to union apprenticeships. Instead, BUILD's coveted program provoked a bitter lawsuit.(AYR)
Ratner, de Blasio and Berlin Rosen Created Gentrification in Prospect Heights and Not They Blame Cuomo for the Homeless
On NY1, reporters sift through BerlinRosen suspicion; a look back at how firm massaged Ratner's bailout of ACORN(AYR)
Airbnb Should Be Forced to House the Homeless in Cold Weather
Code Blue” program aims to bring the homeless inside when temperatures fall helps, but the city’s outreach workers should require people to go to a shelter or hospital for their safety. New York ’s cold shoulder: When the weather isbrutally cold, we must save homeless people from themselves (NYDN Ed) Nobody should freeze on the streets* A building gets sold by $100.5 million. Gets 95% tax cut.Take action #SubsidizeMyPenthouse * 'We gotta move him because we gotta work': Homeless man forced to move from sidewalk spot by construction workers (NYDN) * State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reached a settlement with property owners who operated an illegal hotel on land that received $4.4 million in tax breaks meant to spur affordable housing, the Times reports: * State Closes an Illegal Hotel in Manhattan That Was Hiding in Plain Sight
The 36-story building was supposed to be a condominium and received millions of dollars in tax breaks meant to spur the construction of affordable housing. * NYS closes illegal hotel in Manhattan
Let Them Freeze: Homeless Almost Dies In Front of $100 Million Tax Subsidized Apt
Bitter divide:Homeless man miraculously survives brutal cold snap just 500 feet away from New York’s first $100Mapartment (NYDN) Many homeless New Yorkers opted to take their chances outside as temperatures dropped to single digits over the weekend. Some were only feet away from penthouses worth millions. The palatial palaces are a far cry from the makeshift campsites and city shelters where thousands of homeless New Yorkers braved the cold.
Update Hours After the Daily News Hit New Stands Homeless Man On Their Front Page Kicked Out of His 18 Month Spot At Construction Site Deuce the homelessman being booted from makeshift Manhattanconstruction site shelter (NYDN) The 50-year-old man known as Deuce was told to be gone by 7 a.m. Wednesday after 18 months at the site with his five blankets, two jackets, gloves and a makeshift cloth face mask. A construction worker at the 1409 Sixth Ave. building apologetically delivered the bad news Tuesday to Deuce after a night of steady snow and temperatures in the teens.
The Queens Boss Crowley Uses the Special Election Law to Stay in Power, to Use the Surrogate Court As Their Personal Cash Cow
Queens Democratic machines still use the Surrogate Court (True News)
In Special Elections Tammany Hall Rules
In the passed True News point out that if the governor called a special election to fill the Weiner seat one man corrupt Queens boss Joe Crowley would pick the next congressman from the 9th district. Today the NYT & Daily News called the party rules which go back to boss Tweed that allow one man rule undemocratic. The NYT did not get into why Albany does not want to change the party rules.
Incumbents get help when challengers pop up from Board of Elections which is controlled by the county leaders. Most time those the BOE makes sure challengers cannot make it passed what the NYT called "not great" NY political parties ballot access rules. The NYT also did not talk about how the same party rules give the party leaders control who become a Supreme Court Judge in the state. Or about all the corrupt coming out of party leaders selling access to their ballot lines * New York . Citizens Union reported recently that a third of the Legislature was first anointed as candidates in these back-room, special-election deals. * Primaries Also Needed For Special Elections (1990)
Today's
Surrogate's Court And Why It Should Go(True News)
Crowley The Cash Cow(Queens Politics)
The City Blames Cuomo While It Builds Luxury HQ for Its Homeless Agency
NY1's Louis Concerned That Lobbyist Have Manipulated and Comprised Journalism
On Inside City Hall host Errol Louis in a discussion of the stations report on Berlin Rosen admitted that he was surprised at the reach of Berlin Rosen. He expressed concern that advocates that use the media might not be independent. He said he was shocked to lean that the Coalition for the Homeless which was blaming Cuomo for the increase the city's homeless hired Berlin Rosen as its consultant. Louis on NY1: "Last week when I interviewed the coalition for the homeless, I did not know they were a Berlin Rosen client. The report (the coalitions issued) goes out of their way to blame everyone but the mayor for the record high homelessness in the city. They talked (blamed) the governor and (blamed) at length the last past mayor. When I realized they were a client, I realized this is a problem not just for transparency and private sector clients not being registered lobbyist . . . this works both ways. Maybe we got advocates who are not independent advocates." NY1 Online: Reporters Weigh In on BerlinRosen's Influence onCity Hall
Mayor's Unregistered Lobbyists Berlin Rosen Used the Media to Blame Cuomo for Increased Homelessness
NY1's Louis interviewed Patrick Markee, deputy executive director for advocacy at the Coalition for the Homeless on March 26th. In the interview Markee blamed Cuomo and Bloomberg for the increase in the city's Homeless. When Markee offered that de Blasio plan would decrease homeless in the coming year, Louis asked him why his report did not blame the mayor also for increasing homeless. In a period of 5 days starting on March 19th the media acted as a court stenographer for Berlin Rosen and their main client de Blasio on blaming Cuomo for the homeless increase. *Coalition for the Homeless Demands More from Cuomo ...(NYO, March 19th) * State Budget Expected to Provide Relief for Homeless, but Advocates Say It's Still Not Enough
When is A Reporter Going to Ask A Pol What is Causing the Increase in Homelessness?
Is the City's 421-a Housing Policy Causing an Increase in Gentrification Causing More Homelessness?
Senate Democrats Nudge Cuomo On Homeless Youth ...(YNN, March 19th) * Miley Cyrus asks Gov. Cuomo to boost funds for homeless ...)syracuse.com, March 19th) * De Blasio Slams Cuomo Homelessness Proposals (ObserverMarch 25th) *Cuomo and de Blasio Clash Again, This Time Over Homelessness (NYT, March 25th) Mr. de Blasio’s homeless services commissioner, Gilbert Taylor, told the Council that the administration was going to lobby officials in Albany
When is A Reporter Going to Ask A Pol What is Causing the Increase in Homelessness?
Speaker Blames New Yorkers for Not Allowing Homeless in Their Neighborhoods
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for more supportive housing to tackle the “alarming” homelessness crisis, and slammed local resistance to shelters, the Daily News writes: * NYC Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito called for more supportive housing to tackle the city’s “alarming and truly heartbreaking” homelessness crisis, and slammed “NIMBYism” from New Yorkers who have resisted sheltering the poor in their neighborhoods. * Board members at two Brooklyn charities — including a former makeup artist for Oprah Winfrey — kicked homeless and low-income families out of two brownstones so they could sell the buildings for a bundle, AG Eric Schneiderman’s office alleged.
Why Did NY1 Who Help Create the Lobbyists Shadow Government in NYC Only
Turn Against Berlin Rosen?
The City Blames Cuomo While It Builds Luxury HQ for Its Homeless Agency
Will de Blasio Fire Homeless Commission Gilbert Talyor?
Will Columbia Deans Coronel and Coll Investigate Berlin Rosen Control of the Media?
Will Columbia Deans Coronel and Coll Investigate Berlin Rosen Control of the Media?
Homeless agency spends $600K on office upgrades as families live with vermin: report (NYP) 33 Beaver St . That’s on top of $171,000 to create additional offices at the Financial District building, and $150,000 on a paint job for the seven floors the department occupies.
Will the CUNY School of Journalism Show Some Social Responsibility and Investigate Berlin Rosen Control on the NYC's News Media?
Last month, the city Department of Investigation issued a scathing report that exposed what Commissioner Mark Peters called “perilous” conditions at 25 shelters housing thousands of destitute families.The report revealed 621 violations of building and fire-safety codes, as well as vermin infestations — including hordes of roaches and a smelly, decaying rat corpse— and garbage littering the hallways and stairs. At one of the worst shelters, the Brooklyn Acacia Cluster in Brownsville — where investigators found one elevator broken, and the other fouled with a large puddle of urine — residents were outraged at the DHS spending. “When we moved in, they gave us a broken bed, a broken dresser, one chest that has two of the drawers broken,” said Denise Annisa, 49, a mother of five whose previous apartment was destroyed by fire. “We’ve requested new stuff, but we haven’t gotten anything. It’s been over a year.” DHS said it was “ramping up its efforts to curb an unprecedented homelessness crisis.” “This includes adding 154 new staff members to keep families at the brink of homelessness in their homes, and help people in shelter transition back to permanent housing, and upgrading old facilities to accommodate this new staff and operation,” the DHS statement added.positioning
Will A 71 Year Old Gadfly Take Down the Democratic Machine, the State Election Law
Sunday Update
Brooklyn Democratic Machine Breaks Down inFlatbush District (NYO) Why is Mr. Philpotts, and not the county machine, in control of who runs as a Democrat in the May 5 special election? The answer lies in the fact that Mr. Philpotts, regarded as a harmless gadfly in local political circles, had the foresight to stock the county committee of Mr. Camara’s 43rd Assembly District with a handful of family members and allies. Typically, county committeemen take direction from the county leader when the time comes to nominate a candidate in a special election to fill a vacancy. (
Its the Philpotts Machine Now
According to thebylaws of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, the party’s choice will be made by a little-known committee of party members who live within the Assembly district. The committee, which in theory could have hundreds of members, currently has only 10 — all placed there by Guillermo Philpotts, a gadfly candidate who runs for office every few years, mounting failed bids for state Senate in 2006, 2008, 2010 and 2014. (In some of his bids, Philpotts was bounced off the ballot; in others, he never showed up at candidate debates.) Sources tell me that Philpotts plans to hurriedly add new members to his handpicked committee, then deliver the Democratic nomination to Shirley Patterson, the area’s female district leader. Insiders say the deal has been blessed by state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D-Brooklyn) and Borough President Eric Adams. Here again, voters might well have gone in a different direction. Democratic District leader Geoffrey Davis, longtime consultant Musa Moore and nonprofit manager Diana Richardson have all been gearing up for a primary election that will never happen.
Will A 71 yE
The Cannolis Coup d'etat
Philpotts is the Reforms the So Called Reforms are Opportunist
|
| Brooklyn Boss at the CBID Reform Club |
New Brooklyn Boss Frank Seddio visited a reform club last week and told the members that there is no corruption in the Kings County courts, told them patronage is not a bad thing and promised more transparency, as he served them cannolis he brought for them. A couple of days before his visit the Daily News called his word worthless because he went back on his promised to release documents related to a state Commission on Judicial Conduct investigation of his conduct while running for Surrogate judge. * Brad Lander @bradlander I think Frank Seddio may be the first Brooklyn Democratic County Leader ever to attend #CBID annual dinner! True News: Seddio: Leave the Gun Take the Cannolis
Weaken Democratic Machine, New Lobbyists Machine Race to the Bottom of Our Democracy
The Privatization of the Tammany Hall Machine
The Old Tammany Hall Machine was corrupt as corrupt as the lobbyists who have run today's New York's political system. But the machine of the Boss Tweed era was far more responsive to voters and the communities that it served. Terry Golway recent book explained how Tammany Hall depended on voter turnout for power. To get votes the old machine offered services, provided jobs and protected the neighborhood where their votes came from. Tammany Hall governing style was responsible for creating New York's strong Neighborhoods of old. Tammany leader George Washington Plunkitt — the man who coined the phrase “honest graft” — met with constituents and lesser Tammany officials in his district several times a week to find out who was happy with Tammany’s services and who required some special attention. Today's lobbyist's controlled private machine gain power by getting electing candidates and feeding them with campaign contributions from their clients who are looking for city contracts or zoning changes, they never meet the voters.
Lobbyists Political Consultants Have At First Worked Side by Side With Party Bosses to Cut Themselves Into Election System . . . They Are Now in the Process of Cutting Out Those Party Machines Who Brought Them In
Today's Lobbyist Private Political Machine did not replace the old Tammany Hall. It replaced political parties machine running on fumes, using the election low and decreasing voter's turnout to stay in power. The dumbing down of the press and the voting public and the end of organized political competition after the Eleanor Roosevelt who pushed out Tammany's de Sapio and the anti-Viet Nam reform movement, have left party bosses in power unchallenged.
The New Private Lobbyists Tammany Hall is Even Less Transparent Than the Old Secret Party Boss System
There are very important campaign filing differences between de Sapio's Tammany Hall and today's lobbyists Tammany Hall. Old Tammany and today's political party leaders were required to file their all their expenses and how much money their received. The new lobbyists Private Tammany Hall uses money from their lobbyists clients in campaigns which are not required to be filed with the Board of Elections. They use the Data and Field model of charging their clients below costs, that the Working Families Party and others are under investigation for by the Staten Island DA's special prosecutor, and it is all legal for the new lobbyists political consultants. The political party machines are quired to file any money they spend with other clubs or political leaders that is used to elect their candidates. The new private lobbyists can hire other lobbyists or anyone else and is not required to file any financial report. In the 2013 elections there were over 200 incidents of 8 lobbyists either working with other or against each other
Homeless #'s Up 6% Under DeBlasio 52% Over Last 5 Years . . . Warehousing for Airbnb is A Cause
The Daily News Leaves Out the Most Reasons for the Increase In Homelessness and the Pushing Out of the Middle Class Out of the City, Tax Breaks to Luxury Developers and Airbnb
DE BLASIO'S HOMELESSNESS CRISIS: Number of homeless peoplespikes 52% in last five years — grows 6% under de Blasio(NYDN)The city has seen a 6% increase in homelessness since the mayor took office in January. In response, Mayor de Blasio added several new shelters to the city, sparking protests from affected neighborhoods.The city says it housed an average of 54,754 people a night in August, including 23,000 children — up from an average of 51,470 in January. The number is 10% higher than in August 2013. Overall, in the last five years, the city’s homeless population has soared by a stunning 52%.
Homelessness Is Caused by Gentrification and City and State Luxury Tax Breaks, Up 13%
The number of homeless people across the country fell this year, but in New York City the homeless population continued to swell, according to an annual federal survey. Homelessness up 13 percent since de Blasio took office * It IS noticeably quieter on the steps of City Hall since Bloomberg left & protestors pretty much left too:* IDC Leader Jeff Klein will introduce controversial legislation today to force NYC to alert communities before opening social service facilities in their neighborhoods. The senator said he was blindsided when the de Blasio administration opened a homeless shelter in his district without warning.
Under de Blasio Antipoverty Groups Have Lowered Their Voices As Homelessness Increases
Secret Shelters: de Blasio Putting Homeless Shelters In Communities Without Telling Anyone
Antipoverty groups that once stood as City Hall’s staunchest critics have lowered their voices since New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took office, giving him the benefit of the doubt even as problems such as homelessness have worsened, the Journalreports:
*Antipoverty Groups Give Mayor Wide Berth(WSJ) Many See Mayor as an Ally and Don’t Want to Jeopardize His Progress
*Antipoverty Groups Give Mayor Wide Berth(WSJ) Many See Mayor as an Ally and Don’t Want to Jeopardize His Progress
Secret Shelters: de Blasio Putting Homeless Shelters In Communities Without Telling Anyone
Since Mayor de Blasio took office, 23 homeless shelters have opened
Residents furious as more homeless shelters pop up throughout neighborhoods in the city — sometimes without warning(NYDN) Staten Island — are essential to address the surge in homeless families that has swelled the population in the shelter system to record highs. There are 57,390 people currently living in city homeless shelters, some 24,760 are children. Twenty of the 23 new facilities are for families with kids under 18. When shelters opened in recent months in Astoria and Elmhurst , Queens, and Sheepshead Bay , Brooklyn , elected officials and residents were taken by surprise. “I had heard rumors and I was told it wasn’t set in stone,” said City Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D-Brooklyn). “Next thing I know, they’re moving in furniture.” * Big City: In New York Public Housing, Policing Broken Lights (NYT)* Opening a Stand-Alone Homeless Shelter Involves ‘Endless List of Items’(WSJ) Securing hundreds of bunk beds checks only one box off the list of things to take care of when setting up a stand-alone shelter in New York City .
.
Homeless
Domestic Violence Drives Up New York Shelter Population as Housing Options Are Scarce(NYT) Domestic violence has emerged as part of the housing agenda of de Blasio, who began a rent subsidy program to move abuse victims out of shelters and is stepping up counseling efforts in public housing * Homeless people sleeping in park near 72nd Street subway station to be sweptout:(DNAINFO)
Increasing Homelessness
Every New York City public-housing apartment set aside for homeless families this year was quickly filled, officials said, but the homeless-shelter population keeps growing despite the city’s renewed efforts to tackle the problem.* De Blasio is facing criticism from homeless advocates and Democratic elected officials who say the administration’s policy of giving the homeless preferential status in public housing is insufficient.* The Food Bank for New York City says the need for emergency food remains “staggeringly” high in the wake of cuts to the nation’s food stamp program.
Question That the Daily News Does Not Ask About Homelessness
Has Tax Payer Funded Breaks to Developers Caused the City's Increase In Homelessness
De Blasio was surely right when he described an ever-escalating homeless population as unacceptable, but now he faces the tough realities of stemming the tide while providing decent service at a remotely economical cost, the Daily News writes:
More Children Sleeping in Homeless Shelters Increased Under de Blasio
 |
Add caption
|
Editorial: Bill homes in (NYDN Ed) The number of children sleeping in the city’s homeless shelters has risen by 2,600 since Mayor-elect de Blasio declared that “an ever-growing homeless population is unacceptable to the future of New York City . ”All told, a record 41,633 kids and parents now live in the shelters — up 13% since de Blasio took office. His struggle to find them housing was dire enough this month that five families slept in a city intake center for want of a place to go. Overnight stays in city offices have long be * The beating death of 3-year-old Jeida Torres allegedly by her stepfather in a homeless shelter has shed light onto the growing numbers of homeless families in city shelters, prompting New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to vow an investigation into the conditions, the Wall Street Journalwrites:
New Boss de Blasio Homeless Policy Same As the Old Boss
Mayor de Blasio has sent 1,412 homeless people packing since taking office in January — keeping pace with Mayor Bloomberg’s bum-banishment program despite lambasting his Republican predecessor’s homeless pol
The Homeless Real Estate Establishment Strickes Back
Rent Cuts for Housing Homeless Hit a Snag(NYT)
The de Blasio administration is working to reduce the high rates it pays to private landlords to house homeless people, but at least one such landlord is threatening to sue the city and evict families if his rent payment is cut..- Two dozen homeless families were quietly moved to the former Pan American Hotel in Elmhurst, said outraged neighbors who were not alerted in advance. City officials faxed Councilman Daniel Dromm and Community Board 4, telling them that Department of Homeless Services workers had begun shifting hundreds of homeless families to the hotel, which shuttered in January after 50 years in business.
It will take 70 years to fully provide shelter to homeless New Yorkers at the rate that Mayor Bill de Blasio is proposing
Council Members and Advocates, Though, Say the Number is Too Low to Address Unprecedented Levels of Homelessness* * The New York City Housing Authority
has identified roughly 3,200 units to be set aside for homeless families
over the next four years, part of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to
address the city’s surging homeless crisis, the Observer reports:
DE BLASIO'S HOMELESSNESS CRISIS: Number of homeless peoplespikes 52% in last five years — grows 6% under de Blasio(NYDN)The city has seen a 6% increase in homelessness since the mayor took office in January. In response, Mayor de Blasio added several new shelters to the city, sparking protests from affected neighborhoods.The city says it housed an average of 54,754 people a night in August, including 23,000 children — up from an average of 51,470 in January. The number is 10% higher than in August 2013. Overall, in the last five years, the city’s homeless population has soared by a stunning 52%.
How Blacks the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Push Out of Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers
10% Increase in Homeless Spending
The New York City Department of Homeless Services is planning to spend more than $1 billion this fiscal year, which is $140 million more than anticipated in the city’s budget, The Journal writes:
Homeless de Blasioville in Park Slope
You Want to Bet They Will Be Gone By this Morning
In Gentrification’s Shadow, a Campground for the Homeless in Brooklyn(NYT) The cheerful blue tent looks perfectly bucolic pitched on a grassy hilltop. Except this green patch happens to be alongside the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn . The tent stands by a tricky turn where southbound drivers bearing left off the Gowanus to head onto the Prospect Expressway must pay close attention. Those who catch a glimpse might wonder: a hipster expedition or maybe a performance prank? The reality is more sobering.For the past year it has been a flimsy shelter for two homeless men, Anthony Pastore, 57, and his close friend, Frank Grillo, 51.* Homelessness increases under de Blasio administration,residents protest new shelters in their neighborhoods (NYDN)* #NYC has 6of US's 10 most expensive nabes says @Forbes via @nypost
Homeless #'s Up 6% Under DeBlasio 52% Over Last 5 Years
The Daily News Leaves Out the Most Reasons for the Increase In Homelessness and the Pushing Out of the Middle Class Out of the City, Tax Breaks to Luxury Developers and Airbnb
How Blacks the Poor and the Middle Class are Being Push Out of Brooklyn Because of Albany's Tax Breaks for Luxury Developers
Homeless Growing Crisis and the Poor Bronx Home Owners
City wants emergency landlords for homeless families to cut rent(NYP)
Almost a fifth of Bronx homeowners owe on their mortgages(NYP) Nearly one in five homeowners in the Bronx are underwater on their
mortgages. The Bronx leads the city in homes that are worth less than
their mortgages, meaning owners who sell would lose money. Brooklyn
fared the best, with only 9% of homeowners in a similar situation. [Crain's New York Business] * New New York City Human Resources
Administration Commissioner Steven Banks announced a set of changes that
would remove some work requirements and other barriers to receiving
public assistance, the New York Times writes: * Will de Blasio’s Plan to End Homelessness Go Far Enough?(NYO) *De Blasio administration proposes rental assistance programs for homeless families(NYDN)
More on the City's Homeless
* Advocates for reforming New York
City’s homeless services are praising a plan to cap payments to cluster
sites at $1,500 and spend the savings to reinvest into rent subsidies,
City & State reports: http://goo.gl/AOXMo6 Steven Banks says when HRA reduces benefits or closes a case due to noncompliance, it leads to homelessness in 10% of cases.
* The de Blasio administration is looking for $40 million in state funding—half of what would be required over four years—to start a rental subsidy program for the city’s homeless, The Wall Street Journal writes: http://goo.gl/IdYjrq
Denis Hamill at homeless shelter where 4-yr-old died.“I have a rat that’s 18 inches long..I throw shoes at it." http://nydn.us/1iF5P1e
Evicted From the Bridge Now Lives At McDonald's
Homeless bridge vagrant now at a 24-hour McDonald’s(NYO) Man who was evicted from Manhattan Bridge has moved into a McDonald's because he doesn't like city shelters
The Manhattan Bridge Apartments
A View Without A Room
News and In Depth
Tom Robbins
Great Activists Journalist of Past Generations and A More Open Media Turn Coal Pols Into Diamond Distributors . . . And Went After Government Corruption
Kirk's Generation:
Did we do it?
Did we make a difference?
Thursday - Every year there is little or no discussion about lucrative budget items, but this year Albany lawmakers are dancing around a voucher program for working homeless families championed in New York City, The New York Times’ Michael Powell writes: * Cuomo: I will help de Blasio fix homeless problem(NYP) * Cuomo Seeking Resolution to City Homelessness Funding Impasse (WSJ)* Cuomo, de Blasio seek accord to aid homeless(NYDN)
Cuomo Compromise
Wednesday Update.
Cuomo de Blasio Clash Again Over Homeless
Cuomo and de Blasio Clash Again, This Time Over Homelessness(NYT)Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told Mayor Bill de Blasio it is “too late” to
restore a rent subsidy to the state budget to help homeless families
stay out of shelters. * Cuomo refuses city’s homeless rental subsidy request(NYP) * De Blasio: 'Miscommunication' on Homelessness With Cuomo(WSJ)New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said there has been a
"miscommunication" with Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration regarding a
proposal to launch a new program to combat homelessness, vowing Tuesday
to fix the matter quickly since the deadline for a state budget looms. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
plan to combat homelessness has run into problems at the state level,
with Cuomo administration officials suggesting that the city ran out of
time to get state money for a new program* Governor, Mayor Clash on Homeless(WSJ) * Homeless man found dead on NYC subway tracks * Cuomo admin on de Blasio homeless request: ‘Too late’(Capital) De Blasio's administration is requesting a change in the budgetary
language that prevents New York City from using state funds to subsidize
rents for homeless families leaving city-run shelters. "As everyone knows, the budget is due in less than a week so we can
assume the city's proposal will be for next year, because at this point
it's too late to take up anything significant this year," said Melissa
DeRosa, a spokeswoman for Cuomo.* .
Michael Powell
Homeless Shelter Capacity Cut
City slashes capacity at Upper West Side homeless shelter(NYP)
Families denied emergency shelter get extra time(NYDN)
Cops evict man after raid on Manhattan Bridge hobo hovel(NYP)
-
New Rule Gives Homeless Added Time in Shelters(WSJ)
Homeless families deemed ineligible for shelter in New York City will
now have more time to leave city shelters, Mayor Bill de Blasio's
administration said on Tuesday.
The Advantage rental assistance program for New York City’s homeless met its demise because of a lack of funding, and now that the de Blasio administration is targeting a possible similar program, it will need to find a way to make such a program last, the Gotham Gazette writes: http://goo.gl/DHEddh
For de Blasio’s homelessness plan, there are lessons to be learned from Advantage http://goo.gl/DHEddh
NYT Run By Dummies Corruption Enablers
NYT Discovers the Poor are Being Push Out by Gentrification But What About the Middle Class?
Dasani, one of New York’s 22,000 homeless children, lives on the margins of a gentrified city.
The post-script for Dasani and her family, featured in the @nytimes Invisible Child series
In a WSJ OpEd, Bloomberg administration deputy mayors Howard Wolfson and Linda Gibbs call the NYT’s Dasani opus “a misleading commentary on the tenure” of the mayor, and a “serious distortion of reality.” * Coalition for the Homeless president and chief executive officer Mary Brosnahan argued that Bloomberg should not be proud, and that homelessness has increased dramatically during his 12 years in office.* Government isn’t always to blame(NYP Ed)The Post writes that in the case of Dasani, the homeless girl profiled by The New York Times, her parents, not government, are the greatest obstacle in her life and there are limits to what government can do
In a WSJ OpEd, Bloomberg administration deputy mayors Howard Wolfson and Linda Gibbs call the NYT’s Dasani opus “a misleading commentary on the tenure” of the mayor, and a “serious distortion of reality.” * Coalition for the Homeless president and chief executive officer Mary Brosnahan argued that Bloomberg should not be proud, and that homelessness has increased dramatically during his 12 years in office.* Government isn’t always to blame(NYP Ed)The Post writes that in the case of Dasani, the homeless girl profiled by The New York Times, her parents, not government, are the greatest obstacle in her life and there are limits to what government can do
-
-
The NYT couldn't find room in their 5 part homelessness series for an Administration response. So we responded here: http://on.wsj.com/JyzlpN
-
howard wolfson
Squalor is A Way of Life At A Welfare Hotel (NYT January 28, 1971)
New
York in general in a bad way by the end of the 1960s. And the nearly
century-old Broadway Central Hotel followed the city on its downward
trajectory. Sometime around 1970, the hotel was sold to new property
managers who elected to transform the once-elegant inn into a “welfare
hotel,” taking in the city’s most desperate and depressed residents
whose $5 nightly rent would be paid by the government (a secure source
of income for the owners). The refined parlor rooms once rented by New
York’s elite society members were now filled with more than 300
impoverished and destitute families, often times packed seven or more
to a room. Children by the dozens ran virtually untended through the
stairwells and hallways, wreaking havoc wherever they went.
In the 1970 80's the NYT Wrote About Welfare Hotels in the 1990's They Began to Write About Efforts to Clare Out the Poor
A group of homeless youths are suing New York City, charging the city turns away hundreds of applicants from shelters each night despite its legal obligation to provide beds for homeless 16- to 20-year-olds, the Post reports:
Homeless youths sue city for not providing enough shelter(NYP)
Homeless shelters are filling up with people who used to get rent subsidies.(WSJ)
_____________________________________
Homeless Up NYC
City Erred in Putting Shelter Rules Into Effect, Court Rules(NYT)
Top court quashes Bloomberg’s homeless policy(NYP)
New York City’s homeless population increased by 13 percent, with 64,060 people in shelters or on the street at the beginning of this year, bucking a national trend as the number of homeless people in the U.S. dropped by 4 percent from 2012, the Times writes: * QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The opinion is an important victory, not only for New York City’s homeless adults, but also for the principles of openness and accountability. The mayor cannot unilaterally impose policies that would have such significant impact without even notifying the public or receiving comments.” – New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn on a ruling striking down the Bloomberg administration’s homeless shelter policy, via The Wall Street Journal.* * The state Court of Appeals struck down on procedural grounds the Bloomberg administration’s policy that homeless people prove they have nowhere else to go before being admitted into a shelter, The Wall Street Journal reports: ee
For this price, the city could put the homeless in doorman buildings. The Department of Homeless Services pays a nonprofit run by a former commissioner of the agency an astounding $3,700 a month for..
___________________________________
Making $$$ Off the Homeless
The Podolskys house about 11 percent of the city’s homeless families
How 2 brothers, convicted felons, have made a fortune sheltering homeless
Why Run a Slum If You Can Make More Money Housing the Homeless? (NY Mag) A really, really great article by
Look Who’s Donating Twice to Bill de Blasio(NY Mag)
One big donor is Alan Lapes, a landlord who has invested heavily in buildings he rents out as private homeless shelters, one of which the Daily News once described as a "hell hotel." More recently, Lapes sparked a controversy in Carol Gardens when he wanted to open a shelter in one of his buildings there. As Capital New York's Andrew Rice wrote in a less-than-flattering profile of Lapes
last October, advocates for the poor see him as "part of a wave of
profiteers who rousted long-term, low-paying tenants from the kind of
SRO buildings that dotted city during the Ed Koch era," though Lapes
sees himself as a businessman who helps the needy.
Lapes' business relies heavily on the city, so he's exactly the
kind of guy you'd expect to be donating as much as he can to campaigns.
But the Campaign Legal Center's
Meredith McGehee described the fund-raising method as "double dipping."
She said, "clearly people are being solicited and are giving to these
politicians in the hope that it will be noticed and they will get
something — access and influence — in exchange for that donation. The
point is that it's awkward for De Blasio to be taking in so much money
through a method so many see as shady.
Subway Homeless Increase As Cops Turn Their Heads
This is a nice and very helpful post about Health.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed it from your blog and looking forward to see more from you.
Thanks....!
brooklyn urgent care center