DeBlasio's kicking the can down the road on homelessness

From City Limits:

The lie began in 2014, when Bill de Blasio campaigned for Mayor on the platform of ending the “tale of two cities.” He said he would end inequality in our City. He said he would help the most vulnerable.

The lie continued in 2017 when he was reelected, and he said he would create the “fairest big city in America.”

Meanwhile, today we still have over 61,000 people living in shelters in New York City. The impacts of this cannot be understated: homeless people’s lives are endangered, their physical and mental health deteriorates, kids miss school, working people lose their jobs, and so much more. No one should ever have to face these spiraling circumstances.

Since he took office, Mayor de Blasio has continued to praise his administration for dealing with a homelessness crisis of record proportions. He’s made half-hearted attempts to deal with the immediate crisis of homelessness by issuing rental assistance vouchers that don’t cover average rents in our city. When people are able to find housing with these below-market rent vouchers, they are relegated to few far-flung neighborhoods where the housing is often in poor conditions. Seeing this lackluster attempt to help homeless people find housing, City Councilmember Steve Levin introduced a bill in January to raise voucher values to meet fair-market rent and to guarantee that voucher recipients continue to receive the assistance as long as they meet eligibility requirements.

But beyond providing New Yorkers with subpar vouchers to find housing, de Blasio has a bigger stain on his record when it comes to housing the homeless: his Housing New York 2.0 plan. Out of the 300,000 units of affordable housing in his plan, the mayor has committed only 15,000 units—five percent—for the homeless.

Apartment denied, deposit pilfered

From PIX11:

Demaris Morales and her mom Delia need help getting a new apartment in Queens. Why? Because they gave a $6,600 deposit to a broker they knew as “William” at Britati Realty in Woodhaven.

Demaris and her mom are Section 8 tenants. They’re housing is assisted by the federal government. But they told us “William” never permitted the Section 8 inspector to check out the Jamaica apartment they wanted. And next thing they knew, another tenant was in there.

So, of course, “William” gave them their money back, right?

Of course not. If he did the right thing I wouldn’t be involved.

Oh, and by the way, it appears “William” may actually be Anthony Ferrerosa. He’s used both names. In 2013, The NYC Commission on Human Rights found “William” and “Anthony” were the same person. And fined Ferrerosa $7,500 for discriminating against tenants with subsidies or vouchers.

Anyway, when we went over to his office, “William” wasn’t very happy to see us. First, he said there was a paper the ladies had signed that seemed to suggest he was off the hook. No such paper exists. And then he bolted out the door and then just walked away.

Landlords don't want LINC vouchers

From DNA Info:

Approximately 80 percent of the vouchers the city has granted to homeless New Yorkers under a rent subsidy program aren't being used, according to the Department of Homeless Services.

Since the program began last year, 15,921 LINC vouchers were granted to families and individuals living in homeless shelters to help them pay rent in private apartments.

But only 3,220 vouchers have actually been used to exit a shelter — about 20 percent of the number certified for the program.

“People don’t want to deal with a LINC V voucher because they feel that it’s unreliable,” said one resident, who preferred her name not be used. She said she has tried between 20 and 30 landlords, to no avail.

“It’s discouraging when you go out there and you look for apartments and nobody wants to deal with the LINC V voucher.”