New York NY Mayor Bill de Blasio waved a photograph of a drowned Syrian child as he directed “anger and disgust” at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a Republican presidential candidate who opposes admitting to the US refugees fleeing marauding Islamic State militias.
Advertisement
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that the city will use the money to create 15,000 housing units over the next 15 years.
“We are not waiting on Albany”, de Blasio crowed on Wednesday, glossing over the fact that he’s going it alone months after he could have gotten underway in tandem with Cuomo. But the city will now fund the entire expansion.
No one can now say that Mayor de Blasio stands by idly as the mentally ill homeless sleep on subway grates.
The proposal comes as housing advocates were trying to get the city and state to agree on a new supportive housing agreement called NY/NY 4. Supportive housing is permanent residence and services offered to homeless individuals dealing with addiction, mental illness, domestic violence, and other acute challenges. “The city of NY is acting decisively”.
Advocates and legislators hope to pressure Cuomo into a new and significant commitment before the start of the next legislative session when he returns to negotiate with the legislature over the budget. The funding for the initiative includes $1 billion in city capital funding and $1.6 billion from low-income tax credits and other private sources.
The plan calls for about 7,500 newly constructed apartment buildings and 7,500 “scattered site units”.
De Blasio previously blamed the media and public perception for the idea that homelessness was on the rise before finally acknowledging a problem.
Roughly 25,000 of those units would have been in the city.
For decades, the city and the state approached homelessness in partnership. “I think the city should spend more”, he said.
Advertisement
“This is the answer”, said de Blasio. “Like the mayor said, we can’t wait any longer”.
