Just when you thought Mayor de Blasio’s homeless policies couldn’t get any crazier, here comes his plan to use the threat of eminent domain to force the sale of private buildings to nonprofits to permanently house those now in the system.
The mind boggles.
This scheme starts fairly small, targeting 25 to 30 buildings that now have half or more of their units serving as “cluster site” shelter space. But in principle there’s no reason to stop there: Why not seize lots more private buildings to create de Blasio’s beloved “affordable” units?
Plus, it’s hard to see the city getting many fresh takers for future cluster shelters if it makes you a target for a forced sale. As it is, the city pays at least twice market rate for these units; how much higher will it have to go now?
Yes, de Blasio’s homeless czar, Steve Banks, claims this is how he’s finally going to end the use of cluster sites. (And, presumably, the even pricier renting of hotel rooms to house the homeless.) But the plan is for these units to permanently house the 3,000 or so people now living in them — which will do nothing for the seemingly endless tide of new homeless.
Banks believes deeply that providing permanent (free or heavily subsidized) housing is the main cure for homelessness. But the city’s homeless ranks have only grown in the decades since it recognized a “right to shelter” — and grown more rapidly under a mayor who aims to deliver permanent, not temporary, housing.
Nor is it clear where the money’s coming from. The 1,100 new “affordable” units are to rent for no more than 30 percent of household income. That means the nonprofits managing them will need taxpayer money to cover the real costs of building operations and maintenance — even as the move takes these properties off the tax rolls.
It all reeks of a desperation move: De Blasio is falling badly short on his goal of opening 18 to 20 new shelters by next March, part of his plan for 90 new shelters citywide. These forced conversions may help catch up — but only by raising the specter of future seizures of private property as the new-shelter effort continues to falter.