“The Administration’s troubling application, which appears to pursue an elimination of more than 40 years of legal protections for our city’s most vulnerable, leaves in question whether New Yorkers will be left to sleep on our streets, parks, roadway shoulder exits, and subways. It’s beyond disturbing that so much effort is being spent on rolling back protections for all New Yorkers, instead of implementing immediate and long-term solutions that can help us avoid and move out of shelters. The Council’s CityFHEPS housing voucher reforms would relieve pressure on the shelter system by supporting the transition of New Yorkers left in the system for far too long, while reducing the exorbitant spending on emergency shelters. Instead of solely focusing efforts on emergency shelter space and taking away essential safety protections, this Administration should pursue readily available solutions that can reduce homelessness, including adequate investments in eviction prevention, housing vouchers, agency staffing, and affordable housing development that are currently missing from its proposed budget.”
