Cindy Rodriguez
Cindy Rodriguez has been a staff reporter at WNYC, New York Public Radio since July of 2002. As the station’s urban policy reporter she covers the impacts of poverty on communities in all five boroughs. ...
NYC Must Notify Legal Aid About Shelter Evictions
Friday, June 05, 2009
New York, NY –
The state's top court has ruled that New York City must notify the Legal Aid Society whenever it tries to remove homeless people from shelters. The city does have the right to evict people who are violent, disruptive or don't follow shelter rules. But advocates say most people who don't comply are seriously mentally ill. Mary Brosnahan is from the Coalition for the Homeless.
BROSNAHAN: The solution is not to sanction them and throw them out on the street. The idea is they need more help and the last thing we need is more troubled people on our street.
REPORTER: Brosnahan says the city has attempted to remove 70 people from shelters since 2004 and advocates successfully intervened in dozens of those cases.
The city's law department says while it's disappointed in the ruling, the court did uphold the overall policy of removing people from shelters when they're unruly.
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.