Public Advocate Gotbaum, Comptroller Thompson, Councilmember de Blasio, and others lined up to criticize Mayor Bloomberg last week for defending his administration’s failed homeless policies by claiming that he had made city homeless shelters “a lot more attractive” to families.
Public Advocate Gotbaum said, “It is clear from the Mayor’s comments that he is totally out of touch with the city’s homeless population and the experience of living in these shelters. It’s absurd that he would think anyone would choose to live in a homeless shelter over permanent housing. Because the administration doesn’t understand the problems facing homeless New Yorkers, its policies fail to present real solutions. Policies should be reevaluated to respond to the worsening economy, the scarcity of jobs and affordable housing, and the reality that recent strategies have not been working.”
According to a recent report by the Coalition for the Homeless, the “total homeless shelter population is essentially the same as when the Mayor unveiled his plan” in 2004, and the number of homeless families is actually 9 percent higher than when Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his plan.
Joel Berg, Executive Director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, said, “Given how absurd the Mayor’s personal assumptions about homelessness are, it is no wonder that his Administration is following absurd, counter-productive policies regarding homelessness. Given that the Mayor ridiculously believes that the reason more families are flooding to homeless shelters is that there are more ‘attractive’ as a result of his policies, it is no wonder that his Administration is sticking to the inane policy of charging homeless people rent to be in shelter. I challenge the Mayor to live in a shelter for just one week to see for himself what an ‘attractive’ option they are for poor families in New York City.”
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Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. said, “The Mayor continues to demonstrate how much he does not understand the struggles of New Yorkers. His callous comment about “families finding shelters attractive” reveals just how out of touch he is. Families enter a shelter out of desperation. And they are desperate because the Mayor has failed to fulfill his promise to reduce homelessness. The Mayor needs a reality check and homeless families need real help.”
Councilmember Bill de Blasio said, “Last week, Mayor Bloomberg claimed that more people are choosing to stay in homeless shelters because they have become more attractive during his tenure. It is insulting to the 35,000 people who spent last night in a shelter to say that they were there out of choice, not out of necessity. We need real solutions for our City’s homeless population, not out of touch excuses.”
Robert Kelty, Deputy Executive Director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said, “In November, 2007 – long before the current downturn – the number of families in New York City shelters hit an all time high. That wasn’t about the economy – it was about a failed homeless policy.
