By Mark Hallum
Northeast Queens City Council candidate Joseph Concannon has blasted the de Blasio administration for “reactive” handling of the homeless crisis, which he claimed is escalating and called for a special commission to consider better options for the displaced.
Concannon’s call to action comes following the revelation that the city has been lodging the homeless in hotels in Sunnyside and Kew Gardens near Borough Hall a year after Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks told members of the City Council the agency would no longer use this strategy for getting people off the streets without informing leaders and elected officials in the area.
Community leaders said they were not adequately informed.
“I worked the streets of New York, and this problem is getting worse by the day,” said Concannon, a former NYPD captain. “The cost for housing homeless continues to rise without addressing the acute underlying individual issues, which are creating the nearly 4,000 homeless individuals on the streets without shelter. Temporarily housing homeless in hotels does not solve the problem. Under the current de Blasio and City Council administration, the homeless problem worsens and costs us taxpayers millions of dollars with no end in sight.”
Concannon, a Bellerose resident and veteran, is challenging City Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) as a Republican in the November general election.
“Throwing millions of dollars at a problem doesn’t solve anything without identifying the underlying issues and further creates discord in communities who are left dealing with homeless issues on a daily basis,” Concannon said. “Last year alone, New York City spent nearly $650,000 a night to house the homeless. The mayor’s solution to housing the homeless lacks a basic compassion and understanding of the many issues confronting our homeless fellow New Yorkers. This administration has been reactive for too long on the homeless plight. I’m calling on the mayor and City Council to empanel a special commission to sit down, give priority to the dignity and humanity of our homeless population, and explore viable options to take care of our homeless.”
Concannon recently attempted to hold the state’s feet to the fire about oversight of Creedmoor Hospital patients and said he hoped the attorney general would launch an inquiry into residents of the psychiatric facility wandering through Glen Oaks and surrounding areas freely, unattended and occasionally winding up being listed missing by the NYPD.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
