Malliotakis, Brooklyn Community Call for Repeal of City Zoning Laws to Stop Creation of Hotel Shelters
(BROOKLYN, NY) - Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) today joined concerned members of the Brooklyn community in calling on the City Council to repeal zoning laws that've allowed hotels to be turned into shelters as of right without any input from the community. The calls come as the city is proposing a new homeless shelter in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, that would provide temporary housing for 150 homeless men, including those with mental health challenges, in proximity to six different schools in the neighborhood.
In addition to calling on the city to repeal the 2018 law and focus on permanent, supportive and affordable housing options, Malliotakis is calling on the city to follow New York State law that requires a public hearing before a shelter is sited and implement a minimum residency requirement of two or more years so people aren't incentivized to move to New York City for the sole reason of obtaining free shelter at taxpayers' expense.
"The City should repeal its 2018 law that ignores zoning requirements and community input to allow shelters as of right. And, instead of warehousing people, the city should focus its efforts and resources on more permanent and sustainable solutions like supportive and affordable housing," Congresswoman Malliotakis said. "Property owners are now building hotels for the sole reason of entering lucrative contracts with the city, robbing taxpayers of their hard-earned money and deteriorating quality of life in their communities. The focus is no longer on helping homeless individuals and providing them with resources to turn their lives around, it's all about exploiting loopholes in current law to profit off of their misfortune."
Specifically, under the 2018 Citywide Hotels Text Amendment, Article Four, Section B, "Transient Hotels" may be used for "temporary housing assistance" by the City, State, or non-governmental entity in cooperation with government partners. According to data from the New York City Department of Homeless Services, hotel shelters contracted with the city are being paid daily rates ranging from $55 to $385, which on the high end, adds up to more than $11,500 for one room per month. Meanwhile, the average monthly mortgage payment is New York City is $2,991, and the average rent payment is $3,741.
Fraud schemes in homeless shelter contracts have been rising across the country, including earlier this month when a New York City contractor pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in connection siphoning money from homeless shelter contracts worth $12 million. In October, two men where charged with conspiring to defraud New York City of more than $50 million after they were caught funneling money from a nonprofit intended to help the homeless to other companies they owned.
WATCH MALLIOTAKIS' PRESS CONFERENCE HERE
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In January, the House overwhelmingly passed bipartisan legislation to expand and extend pro-growth, pro-worker tax policies that provide financial relief to middle-class Americans, including strengthening the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) created under the Reagan Administration. Since it's implementation, the LIHTC has helped finance approximately 3.8 million rental homes serving 8 million low-income households. Malliotakis has called on Senator Schumer to allow a vote on this legislation to give New York City the resources it needs to build stable, affordable housing options instead of more shelters. |