Photo Courtesy of Assemblyman Hevesi
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (r.) crafted Home Stability Support to help address the homeless crisis in NYC.
By Michael V. Cusenza
As temperatures this week hovered around the freezing mark, Gotham’s homeless crisis debate remained red hot.
On Wednesday afternoon, a coalition of elected city and state officials and advocacy groups rallied on the steps of City Hall and called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to include in the next budget a plan to increase the State’s outdated rental assistance subsidies and help prevent families on the brink from becoming part of the record-breaking NYC homeless population.
Public Advocate Letitia James and 30 members of the City Council signed onto a petition urging Cuomo to support the Home Stability Support proposal: a new statewide rent supplement for families and individuals who are eligible for public assistance benefits and who are facing eviction, homelessness, or loss of housing due to domestic violence or hazardous living conditions. According to the plan, HSS will be 100 percent federally and state-funded, and will replace all existing optional rent supplements.
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), chairman of the Social Services Committee, unveiled HSS in September.
“Having a stable home serves as a platform for people to become better parents, employees and members of the community. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers and their children currently don’t have that foundation,” Hevesi said. “The Home Stability Support is an effective, fiscally-responsible solution. By providing adequate rental assistance to families now, we can keep tens of thousands of people in their homes and save taxpayers millions of dollars.”
According to Hevesi, as a result of inaction by the State, the shelter allowance has failed to keep up with the rising cost of housing. For a household of three, the current shelter allowance ranges from $264 to $447 per month, whereas actual average rental costs for two-bedroom apartments – suitable for a three-member family – ranges from $658 to $1,608 per month in New York.
HSS would cost $11,224 per year for a household of three in the city, Hevesi noted. Meanwhile, the cost of shelters in NYC is $38,460 for a family with children. The net savings for taxpayers is $27,236 per year. Similar savings would be realized in counties throughout the state, he added.
“Our city has long been a leader in finding creative solutions to the greatest challenges we as a society face,” Hevesi said on Wednesday. “The growing homeless crisis is no different.”
Also on Wednesday, State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) again blasted Mayor Bill de Blasio and his homeless policies, which according to a recent Wall Street Journal report have cost the City more than $1.6 billion.
“Not only is an enormous amount of taxpayer dollars being spent fighting this issue without any transparency to the public, but the policies this administration is choosing to allocate the funds on are failing and are not resulting in long term solutions,” Addabbo said. “These hotel shelters delay more permanent assistance, while also diverting resources and attention away from more viable alternatives – such as creating more affordable housing, providing rental assistance to New Yorkers in jeopardy of losing their homes, and working with our Governor to possibly make use of available land outside the city where the cost of living is much lower. It is time for Mayor de Blasio to change his ways and realize once and for all that shutting out the community and their elected officials is not acceptable. We deserve to know how this money is being spent.”
