By Rich Bockmann
A lawmaker from southeast Queens who spent two days on the street last year wants Albany to ease restrictions he says are preventing the city from helping the homeless get back on their feet.
City Councilman Ruben Wills (D-Jamaica) is the lead sponsor on a non-binding resolution calling on the state Legislature and the governor to strike language from the upcoming fiscal year’s budget that prevents the city from using state money to reimburse housing subsidies for the homeless.
“It’s been proven that it costs less to put families in permanent housing” than to put them up in city shelters, Wills said. “It just makes sense.”
Through the Advantage program started by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2007, the city used to provide rental subsidies for up to two years to homeless New Yorkers who either worked or received job training.
But when Gov. Andrew Cuomo eliminated the state’s $65 million contribution to the program in 2011, the city lost out on $27 million in federal matching funds and could not maintain Advantage.
Following the program’s demise, the shelter population swelled to more than 52,000 and the city has struggled to cope with the overwhelming numbers.
But when it comes to providing rental subsidies with current funds, the city Department of Homeless Services’ hands are tied by language in the state budget that bars the agency from providing shelter supplements “other than those to prevent eviction.”
Now Wills and his allies on the Council are urging state lawmakers to eliminate the language from the budget before they reach a deal ahead of the April 1 fiscal deadline.
“Homelessness is at record highs in New York City and the number of people in the shelter system, including families with children, is continuing to increase” said Councilman Stephen Levin (D-Brooklyn), chairman of the General Welfare Committee. “It must be our mission to help homeless New Yorkers find a way out of the shelter system and New York City needs flexibility to make this happen.”
Wills said communities like his are overburdened with homeless shelters and he has introduced legislation that would require the city to more equitably distribute the facilities.
In December he spent two days as a homeless man before he was sidelined by pneumonia.
The councilman said he decided to tackle homelessness as an issue out of empathy for those who are simply down on their luck, adding that despite grabbing a few headlines himself there is a large coalition of lawmakers and organizers who are working hard to resolve the problem.
“I just get a little more attention,” he said.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
