12 DECEMBER 1, 2016 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM EDITORIAL Money isn’t enough to address homeless crisis For the fi rst three years of his THE HOT TOPIC STORY: Cops on the hunt for a suspect in a bloody Thanksgiving murder in Elmhurst SUMMARY: Detectives are searching for a man who stabbed another man on an Elmhurst street on Thanksgiving Day. REACH: 3,250 people (as of 11/28/16) COMMENTS: ESTABLISHED 1908 Co-Publishers VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA SCHNEPS Editor-in-Chief ROBERT POZARYCKI Classifi ed Manager DEBORAH CUSICK Assistant Classifi ed Manager MARLENE RUIZ Reporter ANTHONY GIUDICE © 2016 SCHNEPS NY MEDIA, LLC. General Publication Offi ce: 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 TELEPHONE: 1-718-821-7500/7501/7502/7503 FAX: 1-718-224-5441 E-MAIL: [email protected] WEB SITE: www.timesnewsweekly.com ON TWITTER @timesnewsweekly PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY FOR 108 YEARS COMPOSITION RESPONSIBILITY: Accuracy in receiving ads over the telephone cannot be guaranteed. This newspaper is responsible for only one incorrect insertion and only for that portion of the ad in which the error appears. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to make sure copy does not contravene the Consumer Protection Law or any other requirement.TIMES NEWSWEEKLY Is Listed With The Standard Rate & Data And Is A Member Of The New York Press Association SNAPS SUNSET IN GLENDALE PHOTO BY DENNIS POPP Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @QNS or by emailing [email protected] (subject: Queens Snaps). administration, Mayor Bill de Blasio has made combating homelessness his top priority. When he fi rst took offi ce, more than 50,700 homeless people — a city within a city — resided within the fi ve boroughs. Today, that number is now over the 60,000 mark, and that’s with the city spending in excess of $1.6 billion to address homelessness last year. The number of homeless people in New York City continues to climb even with de Blasio and company scrambling to stem the fl ow, and spending huge money to do it. How is it that the city can spend so much money on a major crisis without abating it in a signifi cant way? No one expected de Blasio to wave a magic wand and create housing for 60,000 people overnight, but for more than a billion dollars, couldn’t we at least have reduced the homeless population rather than expand it? The Wall Street Journal recently published an in-depth report which found that more than two-thirds of the $1.6 billion spent on homelessness in New York City last year went merely toward shelter operations. The city has created myriad shelters across the fi ve boroughs, including Queens, primarily converting underused hotels into homeless havens, much to the disapproval of local residents. But the city can’t just keep pouring money into the shelters; it must also pump more money toward programs to keep people out of them. The remaining third of the city’s homelessness spending goes toward rent payments, security, rental assistance for low-income families, outreach services and legal services for those at risk of becoming homeless. Governor Andrew Cuomo allocated last week released more than $770 million in bonds to clear the way for new aff ordable housing construction in the city, enough for 6,000 families. The city also has a plan to create 15,000 units of supportive housing — which provide aff ordable rents and other services to qualifi ed individuals — over the next 15 years. These programs, however, just scratch the surface of the problem. New York City needs a new round of rent regulations to keep homes aff ordable. It should also work with banks to transform abandoned foreclosed properties into affordable homes. It must also double down its eff orts to get shelter residents into sustainable homes in a timely manner; the average homeless family spends 568 days in cramped shelter quarters. That time frame is totally unacceptable. It’s time for the de Blasio administration to work even harder in addressing the homelessness crisis, lest it be held accountable at the ballot box next year.
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