9:21 am By Maegan La Mala · New York City| children| housing · Comments Off
31 Oct 2008
NYC Mayor Bloomberg may be the boogeyman this year. With him running for a third term, he is pretending to be the business man who can save the city from a tumbling economy. Problem is, so far, he hasn’t handled the situation that well.
According to the Coalition for the Homeless, the number of new homeless families has surpassed all-time record levels each of the past three months.
Last month, 1,464 new families moved into the shelter system, which is the “highest one-month count since the City began keeping records 25 years ago” and it’s 22% higher than September 2007. The group’s head, Mary Brosnahan, told the Daily News, “While both city and state budget shortfalls require difficult choices, vulnerable New Yorkers now need more support, not less.”
Via / Gothamist
Image Via / NYT
5:47 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Labor| US Presidential Race 2008| housing · Comments Off
18 Sep 2008MSNBC is reporting that with the increase in foreclosures countrywide, there has been an alarming increase in a phenomenon known as tent cities. Tent cities are reminiscent of Hoovervilles of the Great Depression, basically areas where homeless people congregate and live. What makes these areas different than “normal” homelessness is that generally it’s agreed that most of the people are living in these areas for reasons directly related to events connected to the government/free market, such as the Great Depression or the home foreclosure crisis.
The absolutely only good thing about this horrible mess?
Homeless people and their advocates have organized three tent cities at City Hall in recent months to call attention to the homeless and protest the sweeps — acts of militancy, said Harris, “that we really haven’t seen around homeless activism since the early ’90s.“
I just wish that homeless activism wasn’t dependent on people reacting to what is probably the worst times of their lives.
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