According to data collected by Coalition for the Homeless, more than 60,000 people—25,000 of them children—will sleep in the city's shelter system tonight, an increase of 10,000 from when de Blasio took office a year ago.
The mayor inherited the epidemic from his predecessor, and he's had to open up 225 new shelter sites to accommodate the need. According to the Daily News and The New York World, the 3,143 sites are still rife with housing violations, despite receiving tens of millions of dollars in City contracts. Their analysis shows found 6,767 code violations—for problems like vermin, poor heating, and collapsing infrastructure—in just 224 units.
This past summer, Aguila, Inc. announced it would shut down their Bronx Neighborhood Annex Shelter program at 941 Intervale and throwing 500 families into disarray because of the City's plan to rein in their rent subsidies to something closer to the market rate.
“It’s still way too high and until we can find more permanent housing and decent places people can afford, we’re going to continue to face challenges," First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris said of the homelessness rate. “We know we have to turn the tide. We know that’s going to take a while.”
If you see someone in need of shelter during this latest snowstorm, call 311 and ask for Mobile Outreach.
