Investing more in his efforts to relocate homeless people from the streets of New York City, Mayor Eric Adams announced on Sunday that he would offer a $ 171 million investment in homeless services that would include funding for 1,400 specialized beds in the shelter.
The costs come when the city implements an aggressive plan to remove homeless people from camps and subways.
Mr Adams’ plan will expand on a program launched by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, which provides temporary specialized shelter beds for New Yorkers coming out of the street – beds in high-quality facilities that offer more services and have fewer restrictions, including without curfew. Some have private rooms, not barracks-style beds.
Mr Adams had previously announced the addition of 500 beds to the program as part of his efforts to remove homeless people from subways; the proposal, presented on sunday, will expand the total number of such beds to more than 4,000, city officials said.
The program aims to facilitate street crossings for homeless people struggling with mental health problems and substance abuse. Although the facilities vary in size, they are usually smaller than collection shelters, although the mayor’s office is still unable to provide details.
Mr Adams, a Democrat who took office in January, focused on public safety and rebuilding the city from the pandemic during the first 100 days of his administration. He was under pressure to do more to help homeless New Yorkers after receiving criticism for clearing camps.
The mayor is in the middle of budget talks with the city council and plans to release his budget proposal in a big speech Tuesday at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn. He has not yet released a detailed housing plan, although he has promised to do so.
In February, Mr Adams proposed $ 2.1 billion in spending for the Ministry of Homeless Services in his preliminary budget proposal of $ 98.5 billion.
The final budget must be adopted by the Council by 1 July.
The mayor defended police inspections of homeless camps as crucial to the city’s revitalization. Several of the clean-ups were filmed in videos widely circulated on social media, which showed employees throwing the belongings of homeless New Yorkers in the trash.
“We must abandon the belief that it is worthy to allow people to live on the streets in camps, tents, cardboard boxes, without access to mental health services, drug paraphernalia, human waste in these tents,” he said. Adams last week in a television interview.
The distribution of more services for the homeless was applauded by City Council President Adrienne Adams.
“This $ 171 million investment in solutions that can better help New Yorkers move homeless from homelessness is the right approach and a big step forward for our city,” said Democrat Adams in a statement.
In his statement, Mr Adams sought to highlight the work of the field teams, which he said had persuaded 700 people living on the streets and subways to seek shelter.
This range is sometimes hampered by the shelters themselves, which can be crowded and dangerous, leading some to prefer the streets. City statistics from January show that less than a third of subway residents who have been persuaded to enter shelters are still there by the end of the month.
The mayor’s proposal will provide $ 12 million in field funding and create three new centers providing medical and behavioral health services.
Craig Hughes, a senior social worker at the Center for Urban Justice who advocates on behalf of the city’s homeless population, said what his clients really need are private rooms as well as permanent housing that they can have. access without passing through the shelter system.
While praising the mayor’s proposal to add shelter beds, he said it would do little to compensate for the cleaned homeless camps.
“His whole policy for the homeless is to get the homeless out of sight,” Mr Hughes said.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed to the report.
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