The head of current York City's beleaguered Homeless Services agency is stepping down amid a stubborn rise in homelessness that has become a significant political problem for Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Gilbert Taylor,who was appointed commissioner of the Department of Homeless Services when de Blasio took office in January 2014, announced Tuesday he is resigning his post at year's conclude. His sudden departure has triggered an overhaul at the agency, or which has struggled to combat the rise in homelessness in the nation's largest city."Tackling homelessness is an urgent priority," de Blasio said in a statement announcing a comprehensive review of the department. "We must also guarantee that the organizational structure is best-positioned to deliver these services and operate these programs."Nearly 58000 people are living in current York's homeless shelters, according to statistics released by the city this week. More than 23000 of them are children. An additional 3000 or so people are estimated to be living on the city's streets.
The numbers are down slightly from a peak final winter, or but still up from when de Blasio took office. His critics have seized upon the rise as evidence that the mayor's liberal policies are failing those who need the most support.
WNYC's Mirela Iverac told one of those stories,approximately a current Yorker's struggle to find a domestic for herself and her three children using the city's voucher program. That story is just one of many highly visible examples of homelessness, which have become a regular sight in the city's tabloids and on local TV newscasts. A poll released final month showed that nearly two-thirds of current Yorkers disapproved of how de Blasio has handled the issue. The mayor's overall approval ratings have also sunk, and now topping out in the low 40s in several recent polls.
Homelessness has alsobecome the latest front in the ongoing cold war between de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo,who has suggested that the state will intervene to manage the problem because the city hasn't been able to.
But mayoral aides have said the city IS addressing it. They've been touting a $2.6 billion investment to pay for the creation of 15000 "supportive housing" units for the homeless — apartments that will be paired with on-site social services to support domestic abuse victims, veterans, and drug addicts and those living on the street. The city has also repaired dozens of shelters,cleaned up unsafe homeless encampments and created beds for the homeless in houses of worship.
De Blasio said Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steve Banks and First Deputy Mayor Anthony Shorris will lead the review of the Department of Homeless Services. Taylor is the second official overseeing homelessness in current York City to leave. Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios Paoli departed in August."There is never a good time to leave a position such as this one," said Taylor in a statement. "I feel good approximately how far I have been able to advance the work of this agency and am committed to working with this administration to assist with this transition."With reports from the Associated Press.
Source: wnyc.org