Bloomberg claims on his campaign website he wants to use his "honest, independent leadership" to keep New York moving. There should be an asterisk next to that statement, so that it honestly leaves out help for the homeless. While the Mayor has no problem getting behind the ethically challenged (and very rich) car czar Steven Ratner, getting behind programs that give the homeless a leg up is something he cannot be bothered with.
From The NY Times:
The Bloomberg administration’s four-year-old policy of denying federal housing vouchers to the homeless has helped push the number of families in New York City shelters to record levels, an advocacy group for the homeless said in a report released on Wednesday.Tell me how exactly is that leadership that New York wants to see continued? The Mayor on the other hand tries to point out that the homeless rolls are decreasing. Why the discrepancy you ask? Well, I guess it matters how exactly one goes about counting the thousands of New Yorkers who can't afford a place to live anymore.The group, the Coalition for the Homeless, which is frequently at odds with the Bloomberg administration, predicted that the city’s policy, coupled with the economic recession, would worsen homelessness significantly in the coming months.
“We felt that it was a mistake in policy four years ago when they did it, and it’s even more mistaken now, given the recession and the rising numbers of homeless families,” said Patrick Markee, a senior policy analyst with the coalition.
According to data analyzed by the coalition, the economic downturn helped drive nearly 110,000 people into city shelters in 2008.
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