Politics

Rats and Rot: NYC Report Rips Family Homeless Shelters

Published

12 years ago

March 13, 2015

Beonca Williams takes her son Joshua Felix, 1, for a walk outside the Regent Family Residence, Thursday, March 12, 2015 in New York. A report issued Thursday by the city’s Department of Investigation found decrepit and dangerous conditions and lacking enforcement were rife in the city-paid, largely privately-run shelters that house nearly 12,000 homeless families with children. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

JENNIFER PELTZ, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — One family of six was living in a homeless-shelter apartment where a dead rat festered on the floor for days. Another family had no living-room furniture and had been without electricity for days.

At another family homeless shelter, a puddle of urine soiled the only working elevator. And at yet another, a stairway was so treacherously rusted that inspectors ordered guards to block access to it.

All those buildings were part of a system that costs the city Department of Homeless Services about $360 million a year, with the agency sometimes paying well above neighborhood market rates for apartments, the city Department of Investigation said in a report released Thursday. It found that decrepit, dangerous surroundings and lagging enforcement were rife in city-paid, largely privately run shelters that house nearly 12,000 homeless families with children.

“At its worst, DHS is turning a blind eye to violations that threaten the lives of shelter residents,” the report said. Department of Investigation Commissioner Mark G. Peters called the findings “bluntly Dickensian,” though he credited the homeless services agency with making some progress.

Officials say they have closed two problematic shelters, stopped housing children in two others and shuttered an average of 39 apartments a month for repairs.

More than half the 600-plus building and fire code violations the report identified have been fixed, inspections are tougher and more frequent, and other steps are coming, Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor said.

“We are committed to fixing everything that needs to be fixed,” Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli said by phone.

New York City is legally obligated to provide shelter to all homeless people who seek it — a number that has grown from an average of about 39,000 a night in the start of 2010 to over 60,000 this past November, according to the most recent data available from the nonprofit Coalition for the Homeless. The coalition called Thursday’s report “deeply disturbing” but credited the city with providing a plan to do better.

Family homeless shelters were bleakly spotlighted in December 2013, when The New York Times profiled an 11-year-old girl who lived amid mice and rotting walls in a Brooklyn shelter that no longer houses children. Mayor Bill de Blasio took office the next month and requested an investigation.

Investigators inspected 25 of the over 140 family shelters last spring and summer. They include converted hospitals with on-site social services, single-room occupancy hotels and “cluster sites,” or apartments within buildings that also house private tenants.

At cluster sites, inspectors reported roaches crawling on the walls, holes in the corners and inadequate security in buildings with histories of shootings and other crimes. Garbage was piled in halls and urine pooled in the elevator at a facility called the Brooklyn Acacia Cluster. A reeking, dead rat lingered for two days in a facility called the Bronx Neighborhood Cluster Annex, the report said.

The city pays an average of $2,450 a month for cluster site apartments, while the average rent in some of their neighborhoods is $1,200 a month and lower, the report said.

Private groups managing the Brooklyn Acacia, Bronx Neighborhood and some other cluster sites either declined to comment or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

De Blasio’s administration has been emphasizing free-standing shelters, rather than cluster sites: The city opened 22 shelters last year with space for 5,500 people in all, compared to 225 cluster units.

But even some better-equipped shelters had fire code violations and other problems, including the rusted-out stairwell, the report said. It was one of two stairways in the 140-family, city-owned Regent Family Residence in Upper Manhattan.

The homeless services agency had known the stairway was deteriorating since 2012 and tried to get repair money. Ultimately, the city spent $637,000 for the guards who were ordered after the DOI inspection, plus over $750,000 to fix the stairs. They reopened in September.

Beonca Williams moved in two months ago with her 1-year-old son, and she’s been impressed.

“I can’t complain at all,” she said Thursday.

___

AP Photographer Mark Lennihan contributed to this report. Reach Jennifer Peltz on Twitter @ jennpeltz.

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Mayor Barbara Lee Holds Special State of the City Address in Deep East Oakland

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14. The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highli

Published

3 days ago

October 19, 2026

Post News Group

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, left. moderated a community chat with (l.to r.) Selena Wilson, CEO of the East Oakland Youth Development Center; Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO of the Black Cultural Zone; Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO of Roots Health Center and Greg Hodge, CEO of the Brotherhood of Elders.

By Special to The Post

In partnership with Rise East and the 40×40 Council, Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee held a special 2026 State of the City East Oakland community conversation on Oct. 14.

The purpose of bringing a State of the City address directly to the community was to celebrate East Oakland, highlight the work underway, and look ahead to what neighbors, local businesses, youth, funders, community organizations, and partners can accomplish together.

Held at the Roots Community Health/Parker Elementary School Campus at 7929 Ney Ave., the event was emceed by special guest Mark Curry, Oakland native, comedian, and actor.

Lee shared how Rise East and the 40×40 Council have brought together the knowledge, relationships, and resources of people and organizations committed to East Oakland.

Residents bring lived experience, community organizations bring trusted relationships and philanthropy, and businesses bring resources and opportunity, she said, then turned to the government’s role: public investment, services and policy.

But, Lee intoned, City Hall has a responsibility to help connect those efforts.

“I am committed to listening to residents, working across departments and sectors, and helping open doors to opportunity. We must connect neighborhood priorities to the decisions we make about housing, economic development, safety, health and our young people.

City Hall “must be accountable for the results,” Lee said. “The measure of success is what families experience: greater stability, more opportunity and a stronger sense that they belong and have a future here.

“Tonight is an opportunity to listen to the leaders doing this work, learn what is making a difference and identify where we can do more together,” the mayor said.

Lee went on to moderate a ‘fireside chat’ on the theme: Building Oakland’s Future Together — From Neighborhood Investment to Community Empowerment with:

Selena Wilson, CEO, East Oakland Youth Development Center
Greg Hodge, CEO, Brotherhood of Elders
Carolyn “CJ” Johnson, CEO, Black Cultural Zone
Dr. Noha Aboelata, CEO, Roots Health Center

Mayor Barbara Lee’s media relations department provided this report.

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Opponents Smear Effective African American Transit Director as Election Nears

Incumbent Joel Young is defending his seat on the AC Transit Board against allegations of harassment stemming from a public interaction in 2026. Supporters of the director cite his record of securing $600 million for bus services and leading civil rights initiatives as evidence of his effectiveness. They argue the accusations regarding a group photo interaction have been politically weaponized by opponents to influence the Ward 3 election.

Published

3 days ago

October 19, 2026

Post News Group

By Kitty Kelly Epstein

I am an academic and a community activist. I take women’s issues, including workplace harassment and discrimination, seriously. I have been following the AC Transit Ward 3 election and have become concerned about what I believe is a serious injustice.

Joel Young is an effective AC Transit director. He has secured more than $600 million for local bus service and fare affordability. He led the Freedom Bus Project, integrating civil rights history, art and transit. He was presiding over the board of AC transit when it won the 2023 Outstanding Public System Award, and he raised $1 million for the hydrogen fuel cell bus program. These are just a few of his accomplishments.

I reviewed the allegations of unwanted physical contact and harassment made by AC Transit Director Sarah Syed against Director Joel Young, I believe the events of Sept. 24, 2025, have been characterized in a way that does not accurately reflect what occurred.

That interaction took place during a group photo after celebrating the life of a longtime Board member who passed away. From the video I reviewed, it appears that individuals were consoling one another and exchanging hugs in a public setting surrounded by numerous witnesses.

Young’s interaction with Syed appears consistent with those expressions of sympathy and it appears that Young was attempting to extend a gesture of goodwill toward Syed.

I am concerned by how this incident has been recently used as a political tool to influence the outcome of the AC Transit Ward 3 election and support Young’s opponent.

Syed and her supporters launched a targeted political campaign, first through the Alameda County Democratic Party and subsequently by organizing a letter from a group of majority-white elected officials who have endorsed Young’s opponent against Young, who is Africa American.
Furthermore, this manufactured controversy distracts voters from the critical issues facing AC Transit. The public deserves a substantive debate on service reliability, ridership recovery, passenger and operator safety, financial stability, regional equity, and future transportation infrastructure. The electorate should be evaluating which candidate possesses the judgment, experience, and vision to lead AC Transit forward – not reacting to a distorted personal interaction.

Regardless of one’s political views or preferred candidate, allegations of harassment should never be weaponized for electoral purposes. We all know that exaggerated or unsupported accusations can undermine public understanding of, and trust in, efforts to address genuine sexual harassment and violence.

Kitty Kelly Epstein