From the Daily News:The number of homeless people recorded in city shelters each night has topped 50,000 for the first time, a new report has found.
An average of 50,135 people — including 21,034 children — slept in shelters each night in January, the Coalition for the Homeless said.
The report released Monday said there are now more homeless people in the city than at any time since the Great Depression.
From AM-NY:
A report released Tuesday found there were more than 50,000 New Yorkers living in shelters a night in January but the city's Department of Homeless Services say there's more to the numbers than meets the eye.
The Coalition for the Homeless' annual report found that the population residing in city shelters increased 61% since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office in 2002 and blamed the increase on his policies.
DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond remarked that the findings in the coalition's State of the Homeless report don't tell the whole story because there are fewer families entering shelters this year and finding homes for them doesn't happen overnight.
9 comments:
Many media outlets don't think the public needs to learn about the nitty gritty behind this homelessness "epidemic."
Here's the story behind the story:
The city received funding from the state to administer "Advantage," a very popular transitional subsidy that partially paid homeless families' rents for an average of 1-2 years. It was so popular that even some low-income people decided to become "homeless" in order to get the financial assistance (especially after Section 8 and other programs stopped accepting applications). Then the state decided to cut the funding and the city tried to end the program.
Of course, litigation began to keep the program, and while the case was being argued in court (for many months), families and individuals continued to receive their funding. Until finally, the court decided that ending the program was legal.
Some people will say that the demise of Advantage led to the rise in homelessness. They are wrong.
Recipients of Advantage had time to get their shit together and make alternate plans before the program completely ceased. Contrary to some politicians' and advocates' wishful thinking, the Advantage program was not supposed to function as a crutch. The program was founded on the assumption that after 1 or 2 years a family's income would increase and they would be able to afford the apartment on their own. That never happened for many of these families.
Maybe it was laziness. Maybe the recession and weakened job market and increased cost of living expenses kept people from being able to financially support themselves. Maybe it was a combination of many different factors.
But it all comes down to this: the families and individuals on these programs were not succeeding. And then even more people lost their jobs and homes in the recession and then became homeless for the first time. So it's not an easy issue. If there is anything to blame the Mayor for--besides his snide attitude toward the homeless--is that he believed his own hype about the city's quick rebound from the recession. And that view prevented more aggressive action to revitalize the lower and middle class.
the article talks about homeless in shelters...anyone who rides the E train in the early morning can attest that there are a greatly increased number of homeless sleeping on the train. no doubt, there are homeless sleeping on other trains as well. a homeless man accidentally burned himself with a fire he set to sleep in Forest Park. Clearly, not all the homless are in shelters and their numbers are increasing.
They're on all the trains!This city sucks.People who need help rarely get it,but certain types get over daily.........
Euthanasia is a wonderful thing.
Homelessness starts in NYC housing courts. Bloomberg is responsible for putting people out on the streets.
there are hardly anymore SRO's single room occupancy buildings or rooming houses.
and then, who is getting section 8 vouchers? illegal immigrants with too many jackpot babies. don't believe the lies that no one is getting section 8 vouchers.
NYC is no longer "Hymie Town" (hat tip Jesse Jackson) but "Homeless Town".
Put them back in the nuthouse, Mr Cuomo. Don't use them to extort more taxes!
Vote for Cuomo. Not the homo!
Andy printed the Coumo Homo signs at 25-83 Francis Lewis!
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