Tuesday, May 12, 2009

City tries getting blood from stones

From AM-NY/AP:

Even the homeless can't escape the high price of a night in New York City.

City officials this month began charging rent to some families staying in homeless shelters.

The policy applies only to shelter residents who have income from jobs.

They could be expected to pay up to half their earnings.


Bloomberg claims he's required to do it.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Claim that you are illegal and don't speak english..........they will put you up in a nice moteland give you a food card.

Anonymous said...

Once again Turdberg displays a complete lack of empathy: "Everybody else is doing it, and we're told we have to do it, so we're going to do it," Bloomberg said of the new policy, which requires the working homeless to pay up."

Remember when your mother said something similar...If Johnny is going to jump off the Brookly Bridge, are you going to jump also? Our sympathetic mayor obviously has no desire to think outside the box in order to circumvent such nonsense. I thought the goal of offering the homeless individuals a job was for a chance to earn enough money to get off the streets and create less of a burden on our city's economy. This is the attitude of our incumbent mayor during an election year? Such impunity!!!

Anonymous said...

What joy! Will the tax collector be standing behind them when they redeem the soda pop bottles too?

Maybe if the city was not so viciously hostile to the working poor and blue collar we would have fewer homeless and more fully employed workers to support the tax burden in the correct way instead of chiseling pennies from the destitute.

Anonymous said...

Why not let these people save up to get something better.

Homeless shelters are a last resort for out of luck people because of the smells, violences, and sexual assaults. Alot of those people are mentally ill.

Mr. Angry said...

That's ok, the can move back into the subway for free.

Spotted 2 on the N this morning taking up entire benches, smelling so bad that people were leaving the car.

This was at 7:30am, middle of rush hour.

Why isn't the huge homeless problem that is only growing getting any press at all?

Anonymous said...

This city needs a good enema to purge it of its crooks.

Get the fat tipped nozzle and the 5 gallon bag and begin with Bloomberg!

mortimer said...

and just what is so offensive about having to pay something for one's room and board? i'm sure at least some of us did as kids for christ's sake...builds a little character, pride, maybe learn how to budget, and most importantly the MOTIVATION to get moving and nothing does that like the feeling your getting poop for your money and can "do better than this"...how much?..i don't know...that's for a different thread i guess, but something!

Anonymous said...

They are not children, but grown men and women. The reason that this is so offensive is that we are bailing out the richest of the rich while kicking the crutches out from the feet of the poor and the crippled. If we want the money so much, we can get it from their taxes when they are on their feet.

mortimer said...

They are adults, that is the point.

before i sound icy:
- i spent almost 30 years working for the city, spending a fair amount of time in some of these joints..and their SRO predecessors.

- ain't nobody there by choice..life in general sucks being in that position..what exists is NOT satisfactory.

- had i been aware of such rules when they were enacted, i would NOT have supported them..if this truly is the case and it's over turned-i'd be quite fine with that.

- i do not support "out of the blue" enforcement of such things.

- rules like this feel good, but would do little else in nyc's case.. the state and city administrating anything only means misery for those involved and more costs than it will bring in.

- watch for our new champion of the homeless..our very own mb with mr. magoo as his foil...remember mr. magoo was nobody's fool and was always on top by the end of the cartoon...

- yet, i do not find the concept of one kicking in for one's room and board, offensive, nor find it degrading to adults..the way it is currently run is infantilizing and degrading.

- please disregard the "building character" stuff in the OP, that was a bit knee jerk, mea culpa.