Posted on December 8, 2015 by Jacquelyn Simone With all of the recent attention on the upsurge in street homelessness in NYC, it’s easy to forget that a humane and cost-effective solution exists: supportive housing. Twenty-five years ago, the City and State signed the first NY/NY agreement to jointly fund 3,800 units of supportive housing in NYC, and the two subsequent NY/NY agreements continued to build upon that success. With NY/NY III about to expire and the city experiencing record homelessness, the Coalition and the Campaign 4 NY/NY Housing have been urging the Mayor and Governor to enter into a fourth NY/NY agreement to create 30,000 units of supportive housing in New York City (and another 5,000 units elsewhere in the state). Mayor de Blasio’s announcement last month that the City would fund 15,000 units of supportive housing in NYC over 15 years was a historic commitment – but it only gets us part of the way there. In order to meet the tremendous need, it is imperative that the Governor at least match this commitment unit for unit. The Daily News reports that a group of more than 250 members of the clergy sent a letter urging the Governor to join the Mayor and create the full 35,000 units statewide. The partnership of the faith community underscores that supportive housing is more than just the fiscally responsible solution to the unprecedented homelessness crisis – it’s also morally responsible. “We need BOTH the city and state,” [the clergy] wrote, citing not just funding but expertise from those in both governments. The group of clergy are calling for the creation of 35,000 supportive housing units statewide. Starting when Cuomo’s father, Mario, was governor, the city and the state came up with a joint plan known as NY/NY to build supportive housing on three separate occasions. The last time was in 2005 and resulted in a 10-year plan to create 9,000 units. “The highly successful NY/NY III has run out just as homelessness has risen to an all-time high, and we need you Mr. Governor and Mr. Mayor to do this together, to recreate the visionary pact Mario Cuomo and David Dinkins first pushed through 25 years ago,” the letter says.
