Homeless NYers, Advocates, & Electeds to Mayor: "Protect Homeless New Yorkers"
NEW YORK, NY (07/18/2022) -- Yesterday, in the middle of Homeless Rights Month, homeless New Yorkers and advocates, including VOCAL-NY, the Fortune Society, Neighbors Together, Housing Works, the Open Hearts Initiative, the NY Doctors Coalition, the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing, SURJ-NYC, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice (JFREJ), helpNYC, and more marched to Gracie Mansion to demand the City stop the sweeps of encampments, fast-track housing, and provide privacy and dignity for those in shelters.
While the city touts plans to address homelessness, over 60,000 New Yorkers are still languishing in shelters. A few days ago, three individuals sleeping on the streets were stabbed. Instead of providing single rooms for homeless New Yorkers, the Adams administration is closing one of the few remaining sites offering private rooms for high-risk individuals in the shelter system, and has threatened to curtail access to these reasonable accommodations, while stepping up subway and street sweeps. Just last week, the NYPD cleared encampments in Chinatown without the Department of Social Services (DSS) even on site to offer services, forcing homeless New Yorkers to move to less safe locations, rather than getting them on a pathway to housing.
Homeless Rights Month began one year ago with a call from directly impacted advocates to stop the city's assaults on homeless rights. This July, as little has changed, advocates and directly impacted New Yorkers are once again joining together for a month of action, declaring July Homeless Rights Month in New York City. Their demands are:
Stopping Street and Subway Sweeps
Stop criminalizing homelessness; get cops out of outreach
End abusive street sweeps that dispose of belongings and destroy trust
Follow CDC guidelines to allow people to shelter in place on the street or in subways unless single rooms can be offered
Offer single rooms and vouchers directly to folks on the street
Fast-Tracking Housing
Broaden voucher eligibility and get vouchers into people's hands more quickly, whether in shelters or on the street
Eliminate voucher utility allowance and "rent reasonableness" standard
Truly invest in source-of-income enforcement
Fast-track HONDA developments and make substantial budget investments in permanent housing
Privacy + Dignity in Shelters
Invest in single-room Safe Haven and stabilization beds; Work to phase out congregate shelters
Don't end reasonable accommodations protecting high-risk NYers
Provide on-site medical and mental healthcare in all city shelters
Protect against undue administrative transfers that disrupt people's lives, health, and education
"The sweeps that the city has conducted have eroded the trust between homeless New Yorkers and outreach workers that outreach workers need to be successful. We know what works best to help homeless people: housing. Why is the city committed to such a wrong-headed policy?" said Karim Walker, who is formerly homeless.
"Neighbors Together is thrilled to participate in this year's Homeless Rights Month with our coalition partners. Our campaign to make vouchers work, crafted by impacted people, is crucial to tackling the homelessness crisis in NYC. Impacted members of Neighbors Together often languish in the shelter system for months and years while possessing a housing voucher. On behalf of our members, we hope this month's advocacy can address their critical needs," said Jonathan Gaffney, Housing Campaign Manager for Neighbors Together.
"It's time for neighborhoods to get serious about welcoming housing for homeless New Yorkers if we're going to end New York's homelessness crisis together. Open Hearts is proud to stand with our homeless neighbors and advocates this month to call on the city and state to close the gap between rhetoric and action: by stopping the sweeps, fast-tracking housing, and providing shelter with privacy and dignity," said Sara Newman, Director of Organizing for the Open Hearts Initiative.
"The Fortune Society stands with advocates calling for people who are homeless to be treated with dignity, humanity, and compassion. New York City is in the midst of a housing and homelessness crisis. Exclusionary policies that foreclose housing options based on conviction records contribute to this crisis. People who are formerly incarcerated are almost ten times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public. Last year, over 2,000 people released from prison wound up on our streets and in our shelters – because they had nowhere else to go. We need to end housing discrimination against people with conviction records, through measures like the Fair Chance for Housing Act, because everyone deserves a place to call home," said Andre Ward, Associate Vice President of David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy at the Fortune Society.
"When there's an opportunity to a real pathway to housing, unsheltered New Yorkers realize that accepting help from the city offers a light at the end of the tunnel. In providing options, every New Yorker is better served. There needs to be more funding for the Housing and Preservation Department (HPD) in order for more people access to deeply affordable units. Creating and protecting affordable housing opportunities has always been a key priority for this Council, from expanding CityFHEPS to funding for drop-in centers, safe haven beds, and stabilization beds. We need to help New Yorkers in providing them with services that are critical to addressing homelessness and affordable housing," said Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala.
"New York Doctors Coalition is a group of diverse physician and healthcare advocates in the New York area with the collective aim to use the voice of health professionals to advocate alongside our patients and communities. We are excited to join this coalition in participating in 2022 Homeless Rights Month. As healthcare providers we bear witness to the physical, psychological, and structural violence that our patients experience due to a lack of safe, affordable housing. In particular we are frustrated by the current administration's practices of criminalizing homelessness in the name of public safety through subway and encampment sweeps. We are calling for an immediate end to these practices and a true commitment to pathways to permanent housing for all New Yorkers," said the New York Doctors Coalition.
"Housing Works' mission is to end the twin crises of AIDS and homelessness. We are proud to join this coalition for July Homeless Rights month. We abhor street and subway sweeps designed to force homeless people into the dehumanizing mass shelter system and out of sight of the public. We very much support the call for drop-in centers and stabilization facilities that offer an alternative to homeless people who reject the shelter system. But Mayor Eric Adams has been woefully slow in developing such facilities even while continuing these sweeps. Ultimately, we have far too few low-income housing units to make a serious dent in the number of individuals and families who are homeless in New York City. We call on the Mayor and City Council to commit substantive resources to rapidly develop both transitional facilities and permanent low income housing sufficient to bring homelessness to an end in our City," said Charles King, CEO and co-founder of Housing Works.
"SURJ NYC members are proud to once again take part in July Homeless Rights month. We believe in investing in communities, not police or prisons, so we support efforts to decriminalize homelessness and prioritize housing and healthcare over carceral solutions for our unhoused neighbors. Housing justice is racial justice is economic justice, and we know that we can achieve systemic change when we organize in solidarity with those experiencing homelessness," said Olivia Killingsworth, organizer for Showing Up for Racial Justice-NYC (SURJ NYC).
"At helpNYC we believe that our lived experience is the most important tool we have to help underserved New Yorkers. Those with lived experience or currently experiencing homelessness are at the forefront of our advocacy efforts. We are looking forward to elevating those voices this month. The City of New York has made minimal changes to how we address homelessness and poverty in our city and there is more work to be done. The solutions reside in those with lived experience. We hope all New Yorkers will take Homeless Rights Month this year to seriously look at their views on homelessness and seek answers to any questions they may have. Homelessness is a solvable challenge and we can improve the lives of underserved New Yorkers, together!" said Rue Parkin, Executive Director, helpNYC.
"The Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing is proud to join our allies in supporting Homeless Rights Month, 2022 and we call on all people of faith to stand with those who have experienced homelessness and housing instability to challenge the Mayor and his extraordinary team to commit the resources and the will needed confront the obstacles and systemic resistance - and finally deliver the promise owed to every New Yorker - a safe, decent and affordable home," said Marc Greenberg, Executive Director of the Interfaith Assembly on Homelessness and Housing.
"As Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), we believe New York should be a place where every community has the freedom, opportunity, and resources to thrive. We're proud to take action this month alongside our unhoused neighbors to make NYC a more caring and just city for everyone who lives here. We demand the City end the violence of encampment sweeps, the criminalization of poverty, and the scapegoating of our city's most vulnerable residents. An approach based on care and compassion, including vastly increased permanent and transitional housing, is the only way to provide dignity and safety to all New Yorkers," said Anne Kemper, Jews for Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ).
