Homeless Leavin' on Jet Planes

Mayor Bloomberg's solution to New York City's homeless problem is to make families hit the road. The Guardian reports that under a new initiative by the Mayor's administration, hundreds of New York City families have received vouchers for plane, rail, and bus tickets, as well as for gas, to help them leave the city. All a homeless family needs to qualify for the vouchers is a relative outside the city who is willing to house them. The city has defended the plan as a cost-cutting measure; it costs taxpayers $36,000 to house a family in a city shelter, but a mere $6,332 to fly them to their relative's house in Paris, as a family of five recently did. The head of the New York advocacy group Partnership for the Homeless called the move "cosmetic" and said it passed "the problem of homelessness to another city."