Malliotakis Joins Colton's Push to Stop Brooklyn Homeless Shelter

(BROOKLYN, NY) - Yesterday Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis' office participated in a public rally and today the Congresswoman released the below statement regarding New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's plan to open roughly 90 new homeless shelters across the five boroughs, including a shelter in the Bath Beach neighborhood. The general public, along with local, state, and federal lawmakers, were not given any opportunity to express concerns about the proposed locations.

"Yesterday my office participated in the public rally against the proposed homeless shelter on Bath Avenue led by New York State Assemblyman William Colton. I'm supportive of Assemblyman Colton's efforts to push back on this shelter location in Brooklyn and truly believe Mayor de Blasio's desire to build shelters in residential communities is extremely concerning. Instead of building shelters that warehouse individuals, the mayor should be working to address the underlying causes of homelessness, provide rehabilitation and mental health services, workforce training, and supportive housing so individuals can transition out of the shelter system and live productive lives. This city has spent nearly double in homeless services than what was being spent when the Mayor took office in 2014, and yet the problem has only gotten worse. It's time to restore the Guiliani/Bloomberg era policies that worked. "

Last week, Malliotakis joined New York State Assemblyman Michael Tannousis in calling on all New York City Mayoral candidates to restore Giuliani/Bloomberg era policies that reduced homeless and transitioned individuals out of homeless shelters instead of warehousing them, as well as improve transparency and public input when determining locations of homeless shelters in the city.