The city is spending $12 million to expand its anti-eviction programs to provide free legal representation to tenants faced with the prospect of losing their homes, city officials announced Monday.
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The two programs will cost $46 million this fiscal year and increase to $62 million in fiscal year 2017 where it will help nearly 33,000 households per year consisting of 113,000 people.
The mayor’s office told Politico that de Blasio only made a decision to join the information-sharing initiative Tuesday, and that he understands the groups’ fears.
“If we had an actual legal team”, said long-term shelter resident Cancel about his fellow residents’ ongoing status of not knowing how long they can stay in their building, “this might be easier for us and everybody else”.
De Blasio said the initiative was aimed primarily at preventing homelessness through helping families fight harassment and eviction and remain in permanent affordable housing.
Mayor de Blasio is heading to Iowa, the early presidential voting state, to hit the campaign trail – to end income inequality.
“The increased resources for legal services is vital”, said Jennifer Flynn, executive director of Voices of Community Activists and Leaders, or VOCAL New York.
“Today’s announcement is great”, she added, “but we need that other piece, or it’ll all fall apart”.
Mr.de Blasio said New York City’s diversity is its strength, and repeatedly touted his own accomplishments in this arena, including the creation of the municipal identification program and the addition of new religious holidays to the public school calendar.
She pointed to a New York City Police Department document called “Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat”, which says that “giving up cigarettes, drinking, gambling and urban hip-hop gangster clothes; Wearing traditional Islamic clothing, growing a beard; Becoming involved in social activism and community issues” are all indicators that someone is developing a violent interpretation of Islam.
“There are still a few areas where I think we have to fill in the blanks and get a better sense of where things are going”.
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“They’re facing a huge challenge without having the kind of backup they deserve”.
