WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Senator Rev. Rubén Díaz
District 32 Bronx County, New York
You should know that in
the eleventh hour, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has slipped language
into the Budget that would allow him to take over the homeless shelters in the
City of New York.
As you all know, Governor
Andrew Cuomo has declared war on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, and he is
doing everything possible to embarrass the Mayor without regard or respect for
the hard work and sacrifices of New York City’s Community-Based Organizations
that run shelters.
In the middle of this
fight are the poor, the needy and the suffering New York City residents.
Instead of joining forces
with the Mayor of the City of New York and the Community-Based Organizations,
the Governor wants to remove Community-Based Organizations and replace them
with anyone he chooses to be in charge.
Governor Andrew Cuomo
should strive to solve housing problems by forcing the landlords who own the
actual property where the homeless shelters exist to remedy the violations in
those buildings. The building violations are caused by the landlords’
neglect – not the Community-Based Organizations!
Instead of Governor Andrew
Cuomo working to punish the landlords who own and neglect the buildings where
the shelters are located, surprise, surprise: he is planning to punish the
Community-based Organizations for building code violations that are completely
out of their hands.
It is absolutely
ridiculous for the Governor and for the State of New York to take over shelter
programs in the City of New York and, yet still force the Mayor and the City of
New York to fund shelters with the City’s resources they are not even in
control of.
My dear reader, it’s A-OK
for the Governor to take over State programs and put in charge whomever he
pleases, but NOT for him to come to the City of New York and tell
the Mayor and the City Council and Community-based Organizations that he’s
taking over the shelter system – expecting to use the City’s resources.
It’s only in Cuba where
you see these kinds of political maneuvers!
I have to implore my
colleagues in the State Legislature – especially Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie,
Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeff Klein, Senate Democratic
Conference Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins to NOT allow for this outrageous
manipulation of resources to pass in New York State’s Budget and force the City
of New York to pay for programs controlled by the State of New York.
If our leaders allow for
this kind of power shift to take place, and use the excuse that it will help
the homeless, they are fooling no one. This language that has been slipped into
the Budget at the last minute will hurt the Community-Based Organizations that
serve the homeless and the City of New York, and we must not allow that to
happen.
I am Senator Rubén Díaz
and this is what you should know.
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