Public Advocate Demands City Stop Converting Rent Stabilized Buildings Into Shelters

"Public Advocate Letitia James is calling on City Hall to terminate more than $98 million in contracts that would keep 11 rent-stabilized buildings in use as homeless shelters after the mayor pledged to phase out the notoriously mismanaged cluster site program.

These privately-owned buildings, located in Brooklyn and the Bronx, have more than 300 apartments between them and are either partially or entirely occupied by homeless families. Rather than convert them to low-rental housing and provide residents with tenant protections, as Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged last January, DHS is planning to maintain them as family shelters..."

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