Posted on November 14, 2018 by Beenish Ahmed in WNYC WNYC, By Beenish Ahmed In the 19 years that Mary has lived in Astoria, Queens, she has seen luxury condos replace squat apartments at a steady pace. The gentrification reached her doorstep last summer when she was evicted. That was the moment when Mary and her two children found themselves homeless, joining the record number of people seeking services from the New York City homeless shelter system. Even more than housing, Mary said she worried about her children losing the stability and community of their schools. Her son has autism, and attended a special-education program that was good for him.
