Council approves plan to build apts. for homeless
BY MARK HALLUM
What Council Speaker Corey
Johnson called a “revolutionary
change in policy” passed
in the chamber Thursday and could fi -
nally deliver stable housing to families
experiencing homelessness.
Intro 1211 by city Councilman Rafael
Salamanca, will require housing
developers receiving city funds to reserve
15 percent of units for homeless
New Yorkers, a goal which will provide
affordable housing and bring relief to
the city’s shelters which house well over
60,000 people.
“This bill will do more to fi ght homelessness
in New York City than any
other actions that has been taken in
the last 10 years,” Councilman Stephen
Levin said while voting in favor of the
bill. “The fact there are 20K children in
shelters every night… is something we
should all be ashamed of.”
Under the bill, the Department of
Housing and Preservation would enforce
the regulation and provide an
annual report for both the mayor and
council speaker on the number of affordable
units created.
“Building more shelters is not the
solution, we need to build more affordable
housing and have statutory
Councilman Rafael Salamanca.
set-asides for people who have fallen on
hard times,” Councilman Eric Ulrich
said voting in the affi rmative. “Next
year we really need to turn the heat
on Albany to get them to pony-up to
provide funding for a real and robust
rental subsidy program.”
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
The motion passed 38 in favor and
3 opposed in the stated meeting which
was the last of the year and saw several
members absent.
“This historic vote today represents
a major turning point in combating
the city’s record homelessness crisis,”
Giselle Routhier, Policy Director at
Coalition for the Homeless, said. “By
codifying a requirement on a projectby
project basis, this bill could create
1,000 additional apartments each year
for the New Yorkers who need them.”
VOCAL-NY as well as Nathylin
Flowers, who gained notoriety after
confronting Mayor Bill de Blasio about
homelessness while in his Brooklyn
gym, campaigned in favor of Intro 1211
for months leading up to its passage.
“My lifetime fi ghting for racial and
social justice taught me that change
only comes when people fi ght together,
confront power, and demand what is
right,” Flowers, now a leader in VOCAL
NY, said. “The bill we passed
today is simple and right. At its core,
it legislates that government must serve
the needs of the people. We look forward
to many more victories like this
one, because we need to ensure everyone
has a home.”
The bill will become effective 180
days after being signed into law.
Memorial event honors homeless who died this year
BY GABE HERMAN
More than 150 homeless New
Yorkers have died thus far in
2019, and they were remembered
in a special way on Dec. 18 with
a proper memorial.
The annual event, called Homeless
Persons’ Memorial Day, was hosted by
the nonprofi ts Care For the Homeless
(CFH) and Urban Pathways (UP) at the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, at 7
West 55th St.
This year, 153 homeless people were
honored, and each name was read
aloud as a bell tolled and a candle was
lit. Several elected offi cials spoke, including
City Council Speaker Corey
Johnson, Assembly Member Richard
Gottfried, Assembly Member Andrew
Hevesi and City Council Member Ben
Kallos.
A eulogy was also given for the four
Chinatown victims who were beaten to
death one night in early October.
There were six other eulogies
given at the event, and 15 people
read the names of all those who had
died in 2019.
Among those remembered at the
event was Anedia V., a loving mother
who received CFH’s Health Care Success
award this past July at its Summer
Solstice Success Celebration.
The memorial was held at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
Before the event, CFH shared a quote
from Anedia: “Life is a blessing, life is
a gift, and faith is power. We all have
the same objectives in life: to love,
feel joy, to teach, to learn; to become
fathers, mothers, daughters, sons, and
friends. We are all part of the same
team and we do so through strength,
patience, understanding, respect, and
COURTESY CARE FOR THE HOMELESS
love of one another.”
The event’s stated purpose was not
only to remember those lost in 2019,
but to raise awareness of the ongoing
problem of homelessness in the city.
“Housing and health are essential
components to preventing and ending
homelessness,” said Urban Pathways
CEO Fred Shack before the
event. “With Homeless Persons’ Memorial
Day, we’re acknowledging
the value and dignity of each person,
while also bringing attention to that
essential connection.”
The nonprofi ts are advocating for
more comprehensive lists of how many
people are homeless in the city, and
for more affordable and supportive
housing to be built.
They also support adoption of the
Home Stability Support legislation,
which would provide more housing
subsidies for New Yorkers receiving
public assistance.
“Even as we pause to grieve for those
who passed away while homeless, we
need to acknowledge that chronic
homelessness can rob a person of 30
or even 40 years of life,” said Care
For the Homeless Executive Director
George Nashak before the event. “As
a society, we have it within our power
to end the modern-day homeless crisis.
And it starts with rectifying poor policy
choices. Better policies can end homelessness
as we know it.”
The memorial event has been held
for the past several years by Care For
the Homeless and Urban Pathways,
and it has been adopted elsewhere,
according to the nonprofi ts, with over
180 cities expected to have a similar
event this year.
22 December 26, 2019 Schneps Media