Since 2002, the homeless population in New York City has steadily grown, and in 2013 ballooned to an all-time high, reaching over 50,000 people, nearly 21,000 of which are children. Although the number of the city’s homeless is roughly equivalent to the population of Troy, NY and Niagara Falls, NY, this population has largely been ignored for the last decade.
Under Mayor Bloomberg, the city and its low-income families have seen a severe drop in assistance and subsidy programs that help families and individuals transition out of emergency shelters and into stable housing. Section 8 housing? Gone, even though NY’s waitlist topped 125,000 people before the program was frozen. HASA paying brokers’ fees? Nope, now they issue a voucher for half of the fee. The Advantage Housing Subsidy? Gone. The city’s Code Blue policy? Changed, and without notifying many of the city’s shelters administrators.
As a result, the city’s shelter system has seen a 61% rise and there has been a 73% increase in homeless families across the city. While Bloomberg is on his way out, this city-sized homeless population will have to be addressed by the city’s next mayor.
Fortunately, many of the city’s Mayoral Candidates recognize the wisdom in providing subsidies rather than shelter to homeless or unstably housed families or individuals, as it costs taxpayers an average of $36,799 per year to shelter to a family.
Mayoral candidate and current Comptroller John Liu has proposed a rental voucher program to lower shelter costs, while Public Advocate Bill de Blasio proposed the creation of 100,000 new affordable housing units and preserving 90,000 current units. Sudden front-runner Anthony Weiner has advocated to eliminate the “red tape” to creating more affordable housing units in the city, Bill Thompson Jr. has focused on an “anti-poverty” approach that would revive the Section 8 voucher program, and Christine Quinn wants a rental subsidy program as well as a 40,000 “middle income” units.
The candidates running on the Republic ticket—Joe Lhota, John Catsimatidis, and George McDonald—have proposed “market solutions,” to the city’s homelessness problem, according to the New York Times.
We’ll be watching to see how the candidates’ platforms unfold and their engagement, or lack thereof, on homelessness and HIV/AIDS issues.
Stay tuned for updates.
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