HOUSING

NYC Fights Surge in Homeless

In response to growing population.

New York City is working overtime to accommodate its homeless population, which has increased significantly over the past year. In just two months, the Bloomberg administration has opened nine new shelters, catching some of their new neighbors completely off guard. Instead of notifying the neighborhoods that shelters were moving in, the city government exercised its emergency authority to transform at least two Upper West Side residential buildings—formerly used as illegal hotels—into homeless shelters. While City Hall isn't necessarily required to get community approval before shelters are opened, they are obligated to notify tenants and neighbors ahead of time.