Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 17
Hoodline: New York City is taking steps to address homelessness. In a recent press release, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park announced the opening of a new affordable housing development in the Bronx. The project is part of the city’s Affordable Housing Services initiative, which aims to transition individuals from shelters into permanent housing. In the 2024 fiscal year, the initiative has already helped 18,500 households move out of temporary shelters.
Making strides in affordable housing, the Adams administration announced the opening of this new building, aiming to alleviate the city’s intense housing crunch. According to Mayor Adams, “A home is more than just a place for a family to rest their heads at night — it’s the skeleton key to unlocking the American Dream of stable, secure housing and a pathway to the middle class.” Forwarding the mission, Commissioner Wasow Park stressed, “We have been laser-focused on expediting and expanding pathways to housing for New Yorkers in need,” according to the city’s press release.
The new 63-unit development will be operated by The Doe Fund, a nonprofit organization with nearly four decades of experience supporting vulnerable New Yorkers. In addition to providing housing, The Doe Fund offers the “Ready, Willing, and Able” program, which provides employment support, particularly for individuals with criminal histories or substance use challenges. This project is part of the broader Affordable Housing Services initiative, which has already created nearly 400 deeply affordable homes, with the potential for 500 more, all supported by CityFHEPS vouchers.
Mayor Adams emphasized the city’s drive to not only build more affordable housing but to usher in the necessary zoning and legislative tools to support this growth. This includes a historic zoning proposal known as “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” which is projected to beget 80,000 new homes over the next 15 years. Various innovative efforts to revamp housing production and aid New Yorkers in the ownership stakes are underway, with new state budget tools helping to propel the creation and safe legalization of accessory dwelling units. Jenifer Rajkumar, New York State Assemblymember, told the City of New York, “In a city with a homeless population in the thousands, we must do everything we can to provide safe, stable housing to all New Yorkers.”
These initiatives are central to Mayor Adams’ State of the City plans to address homelessness. The approach includes the development of city-owned affordable housing sites, the reopening of the Section 8 waitlist, and the restructuring of the Tenant Protection Cabinet to reduce bureaucratic barriers that slow housing development. These efforts are intended to support New Yorkers in securing stable housing.
