Transcript: Mayor Adams Announces Historic Progress Moving New Yorkers From Shelter to Permanent Housing

July 11, 2023

Donald Capoccia, Managing Partner, BFC Partners: Welcome to The Arch. The Arch is one component of a redevelopment project of the former Bedford-Union Armory Building and campus that is today now, in our estimation, New York City's first comprehensive Health and Wellness community. In addition to The Arch, we have the Major Owens Health and Wellness Center, a 100,000 square-foot rec center with 35,000 feet of office hub for local nonprofits, as well as a federally qualified health center that'll be run by Brooklyn Plaza Medical, right here along president.

So, welcome. I wanted to thank you for choosing to use our building today to make this announcement. I want to, of course, recognize Commissioner Molly Park, a lady who we have worked with for many years who is an old school housing person, who has worn many hats. Welcome Molly. Of course, we have the 110th mayor of the City of New York, Eric Adams.

And I just have to say one more thing and that is: I have our team here from BFC, Joseph Ferrara, my partner; Eric Woodland, our community engagement director; Win Wharton, our project development director; and Melanie La Rocca, our Chief Operating Officer.

So thank you all for coming. And with that I'm going to turn this over to deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Anne Williams-Isom. Thank you.

Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you, Don.

Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, Health and Human Services: Thank you Don. And Don said my last name well, because he said he has friends that are Isoms upstate somewhere. So we are connected somehow.

Thank you so much, Don, for your introduction and for your team and all the good work that we are doing here today. I am Anne Williams-Isom. I'm the deputy mayor for Health and Human Services and we're here today to talk a little bit about something important that the city has been doing and the progress that we've been able to make in a very short period of time around the 90-day rule. So I'd like to turn it over to Mayor Adams now to give us some of those details.

Mayor Adams: Thank you so much deputy mayor and Don. Beautiful building. Very well done right here from my hood.

Really excited as we deal with this real issue around housing or something that Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom and her team have been really leaning into. Housing is a real issue in our city and we know that if we don't get it right, a countless number of New Yorkers would go without a place to rest.

And it's only aggravated with the increase of now 84,000 migrants and asylum seekers that are here in the city. And to fill that void is a combination of things. Some are beyond our span of control and we need real assistance, and that is our Albany lawmakers to really address those three areas of major concern.
One, the expansion of 421a. It is crucial that we could get shovels in the ground, particularly the stall that we had during the Covid. There was a pause that was put in place.

The second is office conversion. We have millions of square feet of office space that... No, I'm good. We have millions of square feet of office space that we can convert it to housing. Some of that space is not going to be used again as office space, as commercial, but it is available for housing, and lifting the FAR.
Everyone, every elected official is indicating how important housing is for residents of this city, but in order for us to get it right, we have to make sure that we're all on the same page, all hands on deck.

The moonshot number of 500,000 units of houses is something that we want to reach for. We're going to do our part and getting people into housing and that is why we are here today.

So I really want to thank Molly and the deputy mayor for just the level of focus and determination on this incredible effort, getting people out of shelter into the homes they need.

And a few weeks ago, we made it clear that we would lift the 90-day rule and any long-standing requirement. This is something that previous administrations were asked to do, but we got it done.

The people who stay in a shelter for 90 days, they had to wait until they receive vouchers. We remove that. And thanks to the dedication and hard work of this administration and our city agencies, we are here today to update New Yorkers on our progress. And the good news is it's working.

In the weeks since lifting the rule, 500 households who would have had to wait for 90 days in shelter were up already and able to receive CityFHEPS vouchers and they are working with DSS to get matched with 
permanent housing.

So thanks to the staffing, Molly's job well done, and the team, the training, the improvement, the staffing up, and really just focusing on getting people out of shelters into housing.

We have connected a record number of New Yorkers to CityFHEPS in fiscal year 2023, helping so many in crisis find stability as well as reducing stress and trauma.

And so, I want to thank everyone at DSS and other city agencies for their work in this area. And I'm proud of the work our city does every day to help those in care find safety and stability. And I know we're going to hear from one of them right now. And it just really connects the activity with the face and the opportunity.

We have made real progress moving people out of shelter into subsidized housing despite serious challenges and on our shelter system. And we are continued to deal with that.

Our shelter system has doubled in size and although it's no longer on the front pages of our daily tabloids, we are still dealing with an asylum crisis. We're receiving hundreds a week. The numbers are increasing and it's continued to be a heavy lift for this city.

We've increased placement from shelter to permanent housing using CityFHEPS vouchers by 17 percent year-over-year. A 17 percent increase year-over-year. That means thousands of people, including families with children now have a place to come and call home as everyday New Yorkers want to and the security of knowing they have a safe and affordable housing.

And so, ending the 90-day length of stay requirement for our CityFHEPS rental assistance program has taken this effort to the next level. Today's announcement will help continue the record of achievement and highlights the good work our city government delivers every day. And as we have said so often, it is always good having Shams in a room with us. My man. Why don't you stand in the mayor's spot? You know what I'm saying?

Audience: [Laughter.]

Mayor Adams: That's me. The solution to homeless is building more affordable housing. That is the only solution.

Look, let's be clear. The need of housing must meet the inventory. We have to build more. The need of housing must reach the inventory and that inventory is real.

And as we have said so often, the solutions lie not only in what we are doing in the city, but it lies also in our partners in Albany. So again, thank you team, Don, thank you for building a beautiful place for people to live and the entire team here. And congratulations to you for benefiting from a program such as this.

Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom: Thank you so much, mayor. I'd now like to bring up Commissioner Park. It has been such a pleasure to work with you, to learn from you. As the mayor said, the only solution to homelessness is housing.

You are a housing person in your gut. You have come and dealt with, I don't know, has it been six months that you've been the commissioner, and really dealt with this and giving hope to the folks that are dealing with the asylum seeker crisis, but keeping pressure on everyone to know that we still have to make sure that we are connecting New Yorkers that are unhoused to the housing they need. So thank you so much, Commissioner Park, and I'd like to introduce you now.

Commissioner Molly Wasow Park, Department of Social Services: Thank you so much. Good morning. I'm Molly Wasow Park, commissioner of the Department of Social Services. I'm very thrilled to be here in this beautiful building. I worked on it in my HPD days when it was not much more than an idea and an incredibly complicated financing scheme. So it is great to see it turn into a terrific reality.

I'm excited to share all the progress we are making to move even more New Yorkers from shelter into permanent housing. We know that strengthening and expanding access to permanent affordable housing for our low-income communities is absolutely critical to addressing the citywide challenge of homelessness.
This incredible site is part of the solution. I want to congratulate BFC Partners for re-envisioning our vital community spaces with the Bedford-Union Armory project and creating much needed affordable housing including set-asides for formerly homeless New Yorkers.

As we look to the creation of more deeply affordable housing, our agency has been laser focused on our efforts to increase permanent housing placements from shelter and doing this more effectively and quickly while cutting the red tape and administrative burdens for shelter residents.

And when I say laser focused, I mean it. We are closely tracking progress, looking at what's working, and implementing process improvements in real time. The wide range of CityFHEPS reforms that we announced late last year are already in effect helping even more New Yorkers get stably housed. And now, thanks to the lifting of the 90-day rule, we are already connecting hundreds more households in shelters to CityFHEPS vouchers.

We are excited to continue building on all this progress because bottom line: DSS is the city's social service agency, but we're also a housing agency. We administer rental assistance for more than 56,000 households, which makes us effectively the fourth-largest housing authority in the country.

And DSS continues to innovate bold and creative solutions to create housing opportunities for families and individuals. We're using social service dollars to increase affordable housing options through master leases, piloting a housing first model to place unsheltered New Yorkers into apartments, and partnering with HPD on projects like this one, which will serve more than 30 households exiting the shelter system. We are truly leaving no stone unturned.

I also want to thank our incredible not-for-profit partners. Each move from shelter starts with a collaboration between a housing specialist and a client. And I know how much work providers do to make these exits happen. Thank you for joining us today, Jina. And we really can't do this work without partners like HELP USA. So thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom: Sometimes we hear numbers, 500, 1000, and we gloss over because it's hard to imagine. What we always want to do is center ourselves and stop and listen to how the people who are affected by this, the impact it is happening has on them.

So I'm so happy now to bring brother Jonathan Hines here to talk a little bit about how this has affected your life.

Jonathan Hines: Good afternoon everyone.

Mayor Adams: Good afternoon.

Hines: Thank you mayor.

Mayor Adams: Man.

Hines: Thank you deputy mayor.

Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom: You're welcome.

Hines: Thank you commissioner. My name is Jonathan Hines and I'm here to talk about the CityFHEPS program, how it helped me and helped others get placement and permanent housing.

The CityFHEPS program, I couldn't do nothing without it, basically. I had goals and I couldn't reach my goals without it. It was able to provide housing. I was able to get a backyard. I just recently got a puppy, her name is Sparkle.

The challenges that people face, New Yorkers, all, we all go through it, but without a program like CityFHEPS, it's quite hard and impossible for it to happen.

I would like to thank y'all for having me here. And there's other things about the program that needs help, but we are here to try to help people get to the program, get help, get on their feet, and be able to become people they want to become.

Without the program, it's hard. So thank you to the program, thank you to Mayor Adams, deputy mayor, commissioner. I appreciate everybody for having me here and thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you.

Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom: Thank you so much. And Shams, I didn't get a chance to say thank you and thank you for being here and your voice that you give to this issue is so important.

And Jonathan, you said something really important, which is: there could be improvements in the program. So I want to hear about that because as we always say this, the folks that are closest to the challenge are probably the ones that have the solution.

So thank you so much for being here. And if you have a picture of Sparkle, I would like to see the picture of the puppy. Now, I'd like to bring Jina Park from HELP USA to say a few words. Jina.

Jina Park, Senior Vice President, Family with Children Services, HELP USA : Thank you Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom. Good morning. I am Jina Park, senior vice president of Family with Children's Services at HELP USA, one of the leading homeless services providers in New York City.

HELP USA began its mission nearly 40 years ago with one shelter for families in Brooklyn. And since then we've grown to more than 60 program sites across seven states providing shelter, supportive services, and affordable homes for our neighbors in need.

We serve vulnerable people from all backgrounds, including families, individuals, veterans, survivors of domestic violence, people with health challenges and disabilities, and seniors.

To date, we have helped over 500,000 people build better lives. And our work here in New York City has never been more important than it is now during this critical housing crisis.

Our staff begins providing comprehensive services to our shelter clients the moment they walk through the door. We work to connect them to vital supports with the goal of helping them access and retain stable housing.

However, for years, the process to making those critical connections happened for our clients took too long and we cannot afford to lose time when we're dealing with actual lives in crisis.

The wide range of reforms Mayor Adams has implemented to cut the red tape and reduce barriers to access CityFHEPS vouchers are already having an impact. With the 90-day rule change, our staff can now immediately begin working to help our clients find and secure their next home.

This administration is working to strengthen access to rental assistance, cut the red tape, and eliminate barriers to permanent housing for vulnerable New Yorkers. Against the backdrop of an ongoing humanitarian crisis, it is critical that we work together to provide resources to everyone experiencing homelessness.

Mayor Adams, thank you for taking this important step and to the city's leadership team, thank you.
HELP USA looks forward to continuing our work together with the city and other agencies to provide safe and stable transitional housing for those in need. Thank you.

Mayor Adams: Thank you. Yep. Want me open to a few on topic.

Question: So as you know, the council passed legislation reforming the FHEPS' program, which you vetoed. I don't know if the vetoes actually happen yet, but has there been any negotiations with the council about how to move forward with that legislation?

Mayor Adams: Well, we had several conversations with the council and really tried to show them why the existing legislation that they pushed forward was problematic.

Number one, we all agree that we're dealing with an inventory problem. How many units do we have, the limited number of FHEPS vouchers that we have. And so, what the legislation was going to do, it was going to take those who live in shelters and have them compete for the limited supply of housing for those who may have fallen behind in their rents.

It would have added an additional anywhere from four 14 to $15 billion to our budget. It just did not make sense. Giving people the rental assistance while they're in their homes is a small thing to do. It's something that we've always believed in.

But to give FHEPS vouchers to those who have fallen behind in their rents so they could compete with those who are living in the shelter, it just didn't make sense.

And I don't know if they're looking at the same economics that I'm looking at, adding an additional 13, $14 billion on our budget, if not higher, it's just something that was not logical.

Question: So, I got two questions. Of the 500 families that are now eligible, are any of them already on their way into permanent housing and it takes a long time?

But then also you said 17 percent, the increase was 17 percent year-over-year. How many people does that constitute? And also, what's the comparison to last year? What were the applicant number [inaudible] breakdown?

Commissioner Park: Sure. On the 500 households people are searching, it does take some time to find a unit in New York City.

As the mayor just referenced, there is a supply issue. With respect to the 17 percent, we can get back to you on the precise number, but I can tell you, we're moving more than 200 households a week into subsidized housing.

Question: [Inaudible] are there any of the migrants that would be eligible for this?

Mayor Adams: No, it's against the law. It's against the law. You know that Bernadette.

Question: Following up on Bobby's question, later this week, the council's going to have a stated meeting. They're expected to override your veto there. What do you think about that? What are you going to do if that happens?

Mayor Adams: Well, I can't speculate what they are going to do. I do know based on our analysis that the state and DSS are in charge of making the determination. The state determines the subsidies, rules. DSS actually applies them.

And so, I think that we have to wait to see what they're going to do. I don't know what they're going to do. I can't speak on their behalf. We take action after.

Question: Does that reference the legal authority line that you would put in the…

Mayor Adams: Yep. Yep.

Question: Based on what you described today about how successful lifting the 90-day requirement has been, why did your administration lift that rule earlier?

Mayor Adams: Well, when we came into office, during these processes, there's a lot of conversation negotiations, listening to advocates. As you know, the previous administration did not lift it at all. We want to acknowledge that.

A year and six months into our administration doing all of our analysis and speaking with the council, negotiating with them and other advocates, we said, "Let's move to do so."

But at the same time, I cannot overemphasize that we have people with CityFHEPS vouchers right now that are looking for places to live. The worst thing we can do is add more to that population. And our goal is to continue to put people in housing and that's the goal of what we are doing.

One way we do that is as we're doing today, the 500 vouchers that we gave out, but also to encourage us to build more housing. We need to build more. I think that's getting lost in the narrative that if we don't build more housing with the help of the state, we are going to continue to have this problem.

I was at a shelter yesterday uptown in Washington Heights, and I spoke with several residents that stated they have vouchers, they have been going around trying to find housing and the inventory is just not there. 

We need more housing. We are willing to do our part. Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer is going to be placing some new initiatives in place to do so, but we need help from the state. And a lot of many people don't realize that.

Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom: All right. One more question. Go ahead.

Question: Mr. Mayor, since you mentioned the migrant crisis and the 84,000 that have come to the city, I'm curious how many of those is the city still directly caring for? Is that directly caring for number and also is that flow of several hundred a week, which is slower, but still a lot? Are you still looking for additional locations or have you been able to decompress enough to where you don't need additional locations at this point?

Mayor Adams: Oh, okay. I think we have around about 50 something thousand… So as we stated, 54,000 still in our care. January 1st, 2022, I think we were at 45,000. We doubled. And I always like to point out, unlike other municipalities, you don't see people sleeping on streets in tents.

We've been able to manage that with Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom and her team of… What we believe that we have to continue to put in place a decompression strategy throughout the entire state. And I would like to just really allow people to know that when the storm hit upstate, they call New York City.

New York City has always been here for the entire state. The storm of migrant asylum seekers have hit us for over a year now. We need help. We need help on the national government. We need help on the state government.

Governor has given us some assistance. We need everyone to be on board with this. And we are nowhere near a resolution. Matter of fact, this is unsustainable. And I know people say, "Well, it has decreased some, it's just a couple of hundred,"

No, no. A couple a hundred a week. We need to be clear on that. A couple a hundred a week. We're at full capacity. We're going to have to still come up with ways.

We cannot start our day crossing our fingers, hoping we could have enough room for children and families. And it's just unbelievable what's happening to the people of the City of New York that are going through this.

And nothing is more anti-American that you can't have a job when you come to America. There's nothing more anti-American. Every one of us in this room, family members came from somewhere. And the guiding light of this country is to be able to come here and work.

We have a population of 84,000 people that we're saying you cannot work. That's anti-American.

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