Annual Street Homeless Count Shows 40 Percent Increase Over 2016 Posted on July 5, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in Gothamist Volunteers with the Department of Homeless Services counted 3,892 homeless individuals on New York City streets in one night this past February, a 39 percent increase over 2016’s Hope Count. In 2016, 2,794 people were counted. The results of the annual, ..Read More
Thousands of Rent-Stabilized Apartments at Risk as NYC Phases Out Controversial Homeless Shelter Program Posted on June 29, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in Gothamist As many as 3,000 rent-stabilized apartments could be deregulated as the city phases out the notoriously dysfunctional cluster site homeless shelter program. Created in 2000 as a stopgap measure, the cluster program places homeless families in private apartment ..Read More
Helping Homeless New Yorkers by the Books Posted on June 28, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in CityLab A little after 10 a.m. on a humid Thursday in June, a fan is already whirring in the Bedford Avenue branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The building has just opened, but already people are pushing through the doors and posting up at computer stations or tab ..Read More
House Republicans Want to Kill a Key Federal Housing Policy. City Hall Is Not Happy. Posted on June 23, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in The Real Deal City Hall and several nonprofits defended Housing First, a federal policy guideline designed to help homeless people find housing, after 23 Republican lawmakers wrote a letter urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to drop the policy. “We ful ..Read More
Advocates Hope for Last-Minute Homelessness Push Posted on June 20, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in City and State Advocates are pushing state legislators to pass bills and embrace partnerships and proposals that would chip away at the homelessness problem before the state legislative session ends Wednesday. As the number of New York City residents in homeless shelters has ..Read More
Strengthen Rent Regulation Rules Amid Homeless Crisis, Task Force Urges Posted on June 20, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in DNAinfo The state’s outdated rent stabilization rules aren’t enough to stamp out the city’s soaring homeless crisis — as skyrocketing rent prices let owners drop out of the program once a vacant unit’s price hits $2,700 per month, according to a ..Read More
City Tries to Head Off Summer Surge in Homeless Posted on June 16, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in The New York Times To get through the front gate at New Bridges Elementary School in Brooklyn on Friday, students and their parents had to squeeze past an unfamiliar man wearing a gray suit and rimless glasses who was handing out fliers. “Any housing challenges, we’re here t ..Read More
Here’s How Much You Would Need to Afford Rent in Your State Posted on June 8, 2017 by Jacquelyn Simone in The Washington Post There is nowhere in this country where someone working a full-time minimum wage job could afford to rent a two-bedroom apartment, according to an annual report released Thursday documenting the gap between wages and the cost of rental housing. Downsizing to a ..Read More
Kids Ask De Blasio to Help Homeless Families Posted on June 7, 2017 by Nicole Edine in Brooklyn Daily Eagle Politically savvy Brooklyn fourth-graders are joining forces with the nonprofit group Coalition for the Homeless to fight for better housing conditions for their peers. On June 2, members of Kids for a Better Future (KBF) and representatives of the Coalition f ..Read More
