Photo Courtesy of CUNY TV
Former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Lilliam Barrios-Paoli recently said that the de Blasio administration doesn’t have “a long-term plan” for dealing with the homeless.
Addabbo rips Hizzoner for ‘hiding behind imaginary racial battle’
By Michael V. Cusenza
The brouhaha between boroughs and the de Blasio administration over the latter’s homeless policies showed no signs of slowing down this past week as a former top City Hall official called into question the mayor’s long-term homeless plans; Hizzoner publically ripped the city comptroller for attending a Queens civic organization’s meeting; and a state senator blasted de Blasio for “hiding behind an imaginary racial battle.”
In an appearance last week on Time Warner Cable News NY1 Noticias, former Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, said the administration is working in the crises of the moment, and doesn’t “have a long-term plan” for accommodating the homeless. Barrios-Paoli stepped down last year.
Last Thursday, one day after releasing the blistering results of an investigation into child care centers in City homeless shelters, City Comptroller Scott Stringer attended the monthly meeting of the Juniper Park Civic Association in Middle Village where the homeless and shelter siting dominated the evening.
Mayor Bill de Blasio was not happy.
“Scott Stringer is courting a group advocating for kicking women and toddlers onto the street, using ‘White Lives Matter’ as their protest song. He should be ashamed,” said a mayoral spokesperson.
That statement did not sit well with State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach).
“As made evident by his spokesperson’s statement, once again Mayor de Blasio has failed to see the real issue at hand when dealing with the city’s homeless crisis,” Addabbo said. “Instead of looking at the facts and realizing that his shelter policies are failing all throughout the city, our Mayor continues to hide behind an imaginary racial battle that has no place in this effort to find a solution to homelessness. The opposition to using hotels as shelters in any community, not just Maspeth, has never been racially motivated. In fact, the only time race has been used as the primary focus is when Mayor de Blasio’s administration uses it to attack and misrepresent the hardworking, taxpaying people I represent who simply want to improve a failed homeless policy and to assist those individuals in need of adequate, permanent housing. Twice now, the Mayor has wasted taxpayer dollars to record and produce inappropriate propaganda videos that wrongfully make the public believe that those who oppose shelters in their neighborhoods are racist. His rhetoric is doing nothing but continuing to divide our city and further delay the plausible solutions that homeless New Yorkers are counting on him to provide.
“I attended the meeting last night in Middle Village where NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer spoke with residents,” Addabbo continued. “Unlike the Mayor, who did not attend the meeting, I actually witnessed our Comptroller speak of credible ideas on addressing the homeless situation. I disagree with the Mayor’s statement that the Comptroller should be ‘ashamed’ for attending a civic meeting and attempting to work with the community toward a viable solution. I do believe elected officials, even the Mayor himself, should attend local civic meetings to hear first-hand the concerns of the people they represent…The homeless crisis our city is facing is color blind and has nothing to do with any one race versus another, and I find it despicable that the Mayor would imply anything different. My constituents deserve better than to be accused of being racist merely to justify Mayor de Blasio’s own failure to effectively address this homeless issue. He, not Comptroller Stringer, should be ashamed.”
