Today’s Listen: Home Stability Support Posted on September 30, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone New York’s severe housing affordability crisis continues to be the primary cause of record homelessness. Incomes have failed to keep up with skyrocketing rents, and the State’s shelter allowance for public assistance recipients is nowhere near sufficient t ..Read More
Leaders Rally Against Proposal That Could Hike Rents for Low-Income Residents Posted on September 28, 2016 in NY1 Local leaders are rallying against a proposal that could hike rents for low-income residents. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is considering a new method to calculate how much households will get for rent. The Section 8 program helps low-i ..Read More
Four Things the City and State Can Do Right Now to Address Record Homelessness Posted on September 29, 2016 by Giselle Routhier Today, the City announced a grim milestone: More than 60,000 men, women, and children are now sleeping in Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters each night.[1] New York City has a legal right to shelter that means the shelter census will rise and fall ..Read More
Homeless Shelter Opponents Pick the Wrong Target Posted on September 27, 2016 by Giselle Routhier in City Limits Every New Yorker is aware of how the city’s homeless crisis has worsened in the last decade. We all see it, and everyone wants the problem solved – no one more so than homeless people themselves. This is a city-wide problem that derives from the severe lac ..Read More
Coalition Testifies on Right to Counsel in Housing Court Posted on September 28, 2016 by Jacquelyn Simone On Monday, the Coalition for the Homeless joined dozens of other advocates and tenants in presenting testimony in support of City Council Intro 214-a, which would guarantee legal representation for low-income New Yorkers in housing court. Eviction is a leading ..Read More
For Tenants Facing Eviction, New York May Guarantee a Lawyer Posted on September 26, 2016 by Jessica Silver-Greenberg in The New York Times Outside Housing Court in the Bronx, the line invariably winds down the block, snaking past the vendors at tables hawking cellphone plans and by a man selling moving boxes. Inside, tenants clutching folders of documents, or lugging toddlers on their hips, stagg ..Read More
A Right to a Lawyer to Save Your Home Posted on September 23, 2016 by The Editorial Board in The New York Times There are few legal fights more lopsided than landlords suing to evict their lower-income tenants. In New York City’s housing court, it’s usually a team of lawyers representing the landlord going against a tenant, unrepresented and alone. The claims for ev ..Read More
Homeless Population Nears 60,000 People Despite City Efforts on Crisis Posted on September 22, 2016 by Jeff Mays in DNAinfo The city has pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into dealing with the homelessness crisis, but despite some successes is still struggling with the volume of people entering the system, according to figures released in the Mayor’s Management Report. T ..Read More
Ignoring the Facts: Some Bad Arguments Just Won’t Go Away Posted on September 23, 2016 by Giselle Routhier Recent editorials by the Daily News and New York Post highlight the ongoing homelessness crisis facing the City: According to the Coalition for the Homeless, more than 60,000 men, women, and children are sleeping in NYC shelters each night. The crisis is indee ..Read More