Jobs vs. Homes Posted on May 17, 2010 by PATRICK MARKEE New DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond, an architect of harsh Giuliani-era welfare policies, wants more homeless families to work — but fails to recognize that housing affordability, not joblessness, is at the root of record NYC homelessness. In an article i ..Read More
Mayor Bloomberg Proposes Sharp Cutbacks to Homeless Services Posted on May 14, 2010 by PATRICK MARKEE The Mayor’s FY 2011 Executive Budget proposal includes dramatic reductions in funding for street homeless services, homelessness prevention, and shelter and services for vulnerable New Yorkers — and will lead to more homelessness. Coalition for the ..Read More
Florida officially categorizes attacks on the homeless as hate crimes Posted on May 13, 2010 by GISELLE ROUTHIER On Tuesday, the Governor of Florida signed into law a bill that would classify attacks against the homeless as hate crimes. Florida has ranked first in the nation on such attacks against the homeless for the past eleven years–with clearly marked trends ..Read More
FACT VS. SPIN: Bloomberg’s Homeless Housing Record Posted on May 12, 2010 by PATRICK MARKEE Today we inaugurate an occasional feature called “Fact vs. Spin,” an attempt to counter some of the false, inaccurate spin about homelessness and housing policy that is, sadly, all-too-often perpetrated by public officials and pundits and then tran ..Read More
Thousand March Across Brooklyn Bridge Posted on May 7, 2010 Outraged over the plight of the more than 20,000 homeless kids residing in emergency shelter each night, a group of concerned New York City schoolchildren collected over 10,000 signatures on a petition to outgoing Mayor Bloomberg. They delivered the petition ..Read More
Rent Hikes Looming from Bloomberg’s Board Posted on May 6, 2010 by PATRICK MARKEE Last night Mayor Bloomberg’s appointees to the Rent Guidelines Board signaled their support for further rent increases affecting half of all rental apartments in New York City — a recipe for more homelessness. As the New York Times and other news ..Read More
City is Held in Contempt of Court for Continuing to Enforce Unconstitutional Law Posted on April 27, 2010 by GISELLE ROUTHIER For years, New York has continually enforced laws prohibiting loitering as a basis for arresting the homeless and the poor for panhandling, sleeping on the streets, or otherwise being present in a public space, despite the fact that these laws were ruled unco ..Read More
Remembering a Homeless Hero Posted on April 26, 2010 by PATRICK MARKEE In both life and death, far to many people walked past Hugo Alfredo Tale-Yax. But he’ll be remembered for heroically giving his life in an attempt to protect a woman from an attack in the Jamaica section of Queens. The New York Times and other local ne ..Read More
Debunking the Myths about Charging Homeless Families Rent for Shelter Posted on April 23, 2010 by GISELLE ROUTHIER A misinformed blog in the Huffington Post by Covenant House executive director, Jerome Kilbane fails to address the reality of the City’s plan to charge homeless families rent for shelter. Kilbane praises charging rent as a way to save for independent ..Read More