Treat Us Fairly on Homeless Relocations
By Dan Murphy
Late last year, published reports indicated that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio had implemented a program where members of the homeless population were sent to communities neaer and far in a relocation program that included funds for housing and necessities for one year. The City of Yonkers was one of those communities.
Mayor Mike Spano asked for cooperation and information from NYC about the program, and this week, he renewed his call after de Blasio and NYC reached an agreement with the City of Newark NJ, which is suing NYC for its relocation program.
In attempts to negotiate proper communication between New York City and Yonkers regarding the Special One Time Assistance homeless program, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano rejects New York City’s conditions and insists Yonkers be provided the same agreement as Newark, N.J., which currently is involved in a federal lawsuit with NYC.
“We want the same deal New York City afforded Newark, which is joint inspections of building and housing conditions before homeless are moved to Yonkers,” said Spano.
Pending the court’s ruling in Newark’s case, NYC agreed to provide Newark with a confidential list of persons who were being moved there, along with their addresses. Newark and New York will work together to inspect those apartments and homes for housing code violations.
“If these conditions can be agreed upon with another municipality, why can’t they be done with Yonkers?” asked Spano. “Instead, New York is placing restrictions on Yonkers, such as the type and number of buildings. Yonkers is being short-shifted. We reject New York’s offer and demand to be treated fairly.”
New York City’s SOTA provides homeless individuals or families who have been in a shelter for at least 90 days with one year’s rent into housing within NYC or another state. Yonkers, like other cities across the country, has not been given the courtesy by New York of disclosing where, who and how many individuals are being sent.
“Whether you are paying a bad landlord upfront or monthly, you are still paying a bad landlord,” said Spano. “You are still exporting your homeless to other municipalities and potentially placing families in substandard housing. This program is flawed and New York needs to take a serious look at how it treats its homeless and their neighbors.”
The Westchester County Department of Social Services manages the care and well-being of the county’s homeless population, who are often sent to Yonkers for overnight shelter and daily intake services.
“I am asking Westchester County to support us in our efforts and take a more active role in these negotiations with New York,” said Spano. :We need to work together and support our local communities, collectively… While we are sympathetic to the needs of these individuals, Yonkers serves as the county’s largest city and is already overly burdened by the county’s homeless. We are asking that New York be transparent with us and the county so we can work together to solve for needs of our most underserved population.”
Last month, Spano filed a Freedom of Information Law request seeking all records of payments made to Yonkers landlords under New York City’s controversial SOTA program. Yonkers has not yet received a response with the requested documents.
City Councilman John Rubbo condemned Mayor Bill de Blasio for not treating Yonkers fairly.
“Here he goes again,” said Rubbo. “Mayor de Blasio again fails to deal in good faith. The residents of Yonkers deserve to know where the Special One Time Assistance homeless program is placing people from NYC’s homeless community within Yonkers… Yonkers should have the right to guarantee that SOTA is not placing these Americans in third-world, illegal apartments that are sub-par living environments. I stand with Democratic Mayor Mike Spano in his calls for Yonkers to be afforded the same deal that NYC gave to Newark, N.J.”
