CM Pierina Sanchez questions OMB on $1.9 billion hotel shelter contract
Sanchez questions whether a $1.9 billion three-year no-bid contract for homeless hotels is a good investment. Solomon emphasizes the primary goal is permanent housing but the city has legal obligations and capacity constraints requiring hotel use, with active efforts to move families into shelter capacity.
Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon.
I hope somebody is passing you snacks, sugar.
I don't know.
I saw a granola bar being eaten by Councilmember Ressler, but he offered some.
Hint, hint.
You got to restart my...
Somebody get them some sugar.
Okay.
In March, the New York Post published that Mayor Mamdani signed a $1.9 billion three-year no-bid contract for DSS to house homeless households in New York City hotels on an emergency basis.
Homelessness, we know, leads to community instability, family trauma, more disrupted childhoods, more families in crisis.
Does the administration believe a $1.9 billion contract to house families in hotels over the next three years, homeless families in hotels, is a good investment for the city of New York?
So let me start, Council Member.
Thank you for the question.
I'll pass it over as well to Patrick DiStefano.
I think, as was mentioned before to Council Member Narcisa's question, our primary goal is to focus on housing.
And I know this is an area that's near and dear to your heart.
We need to make sure that is the first approach, that's the first goal.
At the same time, we have an obligation, legal obligation, to house the homeless.
And we know that there has been, over the years, has been capacity constraints that required the reliance on hotels.
We have, as part of our cost containment, looked to move out as many families as possible from those hotels into where the shelter capacity exists.
There's more to do, clearly, but we also have to fulfill our legal mandates as well.
Patrick, I'm not sure.
Thank you.
I'm so short on time, but thank you.
Thank you, Director.
I understand that these funds will be dispersed as they are used.
If the administration agrees that this kind of sheltering is not optimal, what steps is the administration taking to ensure that we use as little of this?
contract as possible and I'm just going to sneak in my next question is a clarifying question from general welfare hearing.