Full Voter Guide

NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE VOTER GUIDE: HOMELESSNESS & HOUSING TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 Introduction

04 About RxHome

06 How to Use this Voter Guide 10 Summary of Mayoral Candidate Policy Platforms

17 Candidate Responses to RxHome’s Mayoral Questionnaire

70 How to Register and Vote in the 2021 NYC Municipal Election

75 List of Acronyms & Glossary

78 Additional Resources

80 Acknowledgements i

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I I I Introduction

How Your Vote Can End Homelessness

This year’s election will be unlike any other in New York City history. The implementation of ranked choice voting—in tandem with the impact of the pandemic on our city’s civic fabric, the massive turnover in city government leadership due to term limits and the uncharacteristically large field of candidates vying for mayor—creates an unprecedented opportunity for civic engagement to spur long-term change. Voting in both the primary and general elections can ensure that our next elected leaders commit to ending homelessness. New York City needs a leader who will create the structures and systems that prioritize permanent housing over emergency shelter, ultimately making homelessness a rare, brief and nonrecurring experience for New Yorkers.

Even with more than 8.4 million people in New York City, each voter’s voice matters. In 2013—the last mayoral election year without an incumbent—only 22% of registered Democratic voters (fewer than 700,000 people) participated in the primary election. De Blasio won that primary election with just over 282,000 votes, meaning that approximately 1% of New Yorkers determined our current city leadership.

COVID-19 has raised the stakes even higher. This past year has revealed just how many New Yorkers are on the brink of homelessness and the racial disparities among those facing housing instability. The dual health and economic crises—both of which disproportionately impact Black and Latino families—only exacerbated the existing homelessness crisis. In the wake of the pandemic, New York is not only continuing to manage a public health crisis, but also a looming avalanche of evictions, record unemployment and growing income inequality.

However, the recovery is an opportunity for swift change. The next mayor of New York City will play a major role in realizing this opportunity to end and prevent homelessness. The New York City mayor has the power to take sweeping action without approval from other government bodies and can immediately redesign the city’s homeless service system by putting permanent housing ahead of temporary shelter.

New Yorkers have a real opportunity to help move our neighbors experiencing homelessness off the streets, out of shelters and into stable homes for good. By voting in the upcoming primary and general elections, New Yorkers can choose who will make the investments that create a healthier, safer, equitable and more just city—where everyone has a place to call home.

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State of the Crisis in New York City I T

77,943 New Yorkers experienced homelessness on a single night in New York City in January 2020— nearly double the capacity of Citi Field. While many people think street homelessness drives this crisis, C only about 5% of people in New York City experiencing homelessness live on the street. In fact, 95% of all New Yorkers experiencing homelessness live in a shelter facility and are effectively invisible to the general U public. In other words, for every one person living on the street, there are twenty people living in shelters,

many of whom are children and their families. D

Children and their families bear the brunt of New York City’s homelessness crisis. Families account for more than 60% of city shelter residents and children themselves account for more than one third. Family O homelessness in New York City has increased 40% in the last decade, and one out of every four American families experiencing homelessness in the United States live in New York City. The average family spends R

495 days in a city shelter before moving into permanent housing. T

Homelessness is indisputably both a public health crisis and racial justice issue. Experiencing homelessness makes it harder to become and remain healthy. Living in shelters during a child’s early years can cause N irreversible damage to their health and development that will follow them for the rest of their lives. I Children who experience homelessness—even prenatally and for short periods—are at increased risk for asthma, hospitalizations, developmental delays, mental health conditions, food insecurity and educational barriers. These inequities are much more prevalent in communities of color. As a result of centuries of discrimination, Black and Latino households disproportionately experience homelessness and housing instability compared to white households nationwide and in New York City, compounding economic and health issues for these communities throughout the city.

How Did We Get Here? Ultimately, the ever-growing number of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness is a policy choice. The New York City homeless response system is designed to manage homelessness, rather than solve it. New York City and State are legally mandated to provide emergency shelter accommodations to individuals experiencing homelessness, as established in Callahan v. Carey (1981) and subsequent lawsuits (1983, 1986, 2020). The right to shelter mandate has led the New York City Department of Homeless Services to pursue a myopic, shelter-focused strategy that looks to “prevent and address homelessness in New York City” rather than solve it with permanent housing. But a right to shelter does not preclude addressing homelessness with housing. Shelter can—and really must—be defined as permanent housing rather than temporary emergency facilities.

By choosing to focus on shelter instead of housing, the city institutionalizes poverty, denies households experiencing housing instability— who are disproportionately Black and Latino—the resources that would allow them to avoid the trauma of homelessness and ultimately hides people experiencing homelessness in emergency shelter facilities. For example, the system mandates a minimum 90-day shelter stay for most families to even qualify for rental assistance, which forces nearly 700 families into shelters instead of long- term housing each month. This policy, and others that prioritize shelter and services over housing, are steeped in the incorrect belief that not everyone experiencing homelessness is “housing ready” and that everyone needs “stabilizing services'' before being connected to permanent housing. Without exception, everyone is housing ready and deserves to have a place they can call their home.

The city also lacks a coordinated, data driven process to address homelessness, resulting in an inefficient and often ineffective patchwork system across 19 agencies that frequently fails to meet the needs of people facing homelessness. Fundamentally, these policies undervalue and ignore the input of those directly impacted by homelessness, who time and again identify needing help paying rent and finding affordable permanent housing as their primary needs.

The overuse of shelter facilities and the siloing of the homeless response systems creates the dangerous appearance that homelessness is a problem only for people living on the streets. This undermines and diminishes the daily lived experiences of tens of thousands of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness who deserve solutions, and not to be relegated to the shadows.

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Solving Homelessness in New York City I T

Historically, New York City’s “right to shelter” mandate has led officials to believe that the city is required to focus only on shelters for its residents in need. However, this simply isn’t true. The next administration C shouldn’t remain beholden to the rigid consent decree’s stipulation of providing emergency shelter. Shelter must be defined as permanent housing. A housing first approach can coexist with a right to shelter, and it U can do so while providing a pathway to permanent housing for those who need it and help keep people out

of shelters in the first place. D

The majority of New Yorkers staying in the city’s shelter system just need help paying their rent. By redesigning the homeless service system to proactively help New Yorkers pay their rent and remain stably O housed, the city can better use its resources to focus on rehousing individuals who need the most assistance due to mental health needs, physical disabilities or other issues where a case manager can R

provide guidance or care. T

For New Yorkers experiencing street homelessness, the solution to homelessness is housing—not services or shelters. People who live on the street know this better than anyone, and many do not want to move N into emergency shelter facilities when they are asking for a place to live with dignity and call home. Ending I homelessness requires an intersectional approach that is anti-racist and proactively addresses the root causes of homelessness and housing vulnerability—specifically, structural and systemic racism—by creating policies and systems that lead with what people with lived experience say they want and need: permanent housing.

The next mayor can solve the dynamic challenge of homelessness by moving beyond today’s band-aid, ad hoc and short-term strategies and instead invest in accountable leadership, comprehensive prevention and rapid rehousing. The next mayor must focus their policies on providing actual homes—not just shelter —to those in need. Homelessness must be approached collectively and collaboratively across city agencies, nonprofit entities and partner organizations with a housing first strategy. By prioritizing prevention instead of warehousing people in shelters, the city can create a true housing first system. Read about RxHome's vision for a New York City where homelessness is rare, brief and nonrecurring on page 5.

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A A About RxHome A

We can end homelessness in New York City. RxHome (pronounced prescription home) is a nonprofit organization born out of the experiences of former public servants who understand the importance of home and that housing stability and the health of our communities are inextricably linked. By seizing the unique moment created by the unprecedented number of open seat municipal elections this year, RxHome is educating candidates and voters about proven policy, mayoral executive and budgetary power and the systemic inequity exacerbated by COVID. In doing so, RxHome will build accountability and provide the next mayor with the tools to immediately redesign the city’s homeless service system by putting permanent housing ahead of temporary shelter. For more information on proven policy, opportunities for collaboration and to join the movement, visit: rxhome.nyc.

Commitment to Public Education RxHome is committed to acting as a resource for our fellow New Yorkers. In this voter guide, we include background information to help voters in New York City gain a better understanding of the city’s existing broken homeless service system. We also provide policy analysis and highlight the proven policies that other jurisdictions are using to reduce, prevent and end homelessness in their communities. Please join one of RxHome’s weekly public workshops to learn more about homelessness in New York City and discuss solutions to our city’s homelessness crisis.

The upcoming New York City election will determine our city’s and its residents' future. New Yorkers have the rare opportunity to demonstrate to our newly elected leaders—and more importantly, to our neighbors experiencing homelessness—that this is an issue we care about deeply and will prioritize on Election Day.

Our city has the ability to end homelessness and your vote can make it happen.

RxHome workshop participants holding up key figures about homelessness in NYC. April 29, 2021 04

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Vision for the Future O H

Homelessness is a big and complex problem—but it is not too big or complex to be solved. New York City X can build systems that continually eliminate it, and ensure everyone has a place to call home and can live with dignity. A system that ends homelessness should be rooted in housing justice and make tangible R progress towards providing and maintaining stable, affordable housing for all New Yorkers. This begins

with a thoughtful redesign of government structures and responsibilities, as well as a more targeted and T efficient intake system that streamlines prevention resources and rehousing services.

First and foremost, this reimagined system centers around a streamlined process that connects all New U Yorkers experiencing housing instability—including families, single adults, youth, immigrants, people fleeing intimate partner violence and LGBTQIA+ individuals—to services that promote housing stability O and proactively prevent homelessness. Using a racial justice and equity lens, this streamlined process starts with a coordinated entry assessment, which will not only give people an opportunity to share what B they need, but also more effectively match them with the necessary services to promote long-term,

forward-looking housing stability. These services could include helping people pay rent, find new housing, A legally keep their homes, navigate family and personal relationships and make a home healthy enough to live in.

After completing the assessment, families and individuals ideally receive the help they need to stay in their homes with few preconditions or barriers to accessing this help, and if necessary, are connected to new housing. This system is purposely designed to not only keep people in their homes and rapidly rehouse those who need it, but also to use emergency shelter as a last resort, with the goal of limiting emergency shelter stays to fewer than 60 days. The housing stability services are easily accessed in each neighborhood at a standalone “housing stability center,” within existing community and nonprofit institutions, or on the street for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness. Families connected to new housing and services to maintain their existing housing are offered ongoing support through the “housing stability center.” By taking steps to meet the needs of New Yorkers facing housing instability and at risk of experiencing homelessness, the city can make real progress towards actually preventing and ending homelessness, rather than just managing it.

This system will only work if government agencies tasked with providing these services are better aligned and coordinated. To begin with, the next mayor should appoint a single deputy mayor in charge of all agencies that work with people experiencing and at risk of homelessness. All of these city agencies must play a part in the coordinated effort to end homelessness and contribute their resources towards making measurable progress—by reducing the number of New Yorkers living in New York City shelters—to help realize this citywide goal.

Finally, in order to move more people out of city emergency shelters and into permanent homes, the city must maximize affordable housing resources available to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness. This includes: independent housing, supportive housing, public housing, set aside units (income-restricted subsidized units) and nursing homes. The information collected in coordinated entry assessments will specify the volume of each type of housing needed, and can then inform affordable housing development and planning efforts. Together, these steps will create the foundation for a city where all New Yorkers have a place to call home and homelessness is a rare and brief experience.

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How to Use this Voter Guide O

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This voter guide is designed to give New Yorkers

the tools and information they need to:

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New York City O

H H Determine a mayoral candidate’s commitment to ending homelessness and how they H plan on achieving meaningful change

Have informed conversations about homelessness policy when interacting with other voters and mayoral candidates themselves

Vote with a more informed understanding of the current state of homelessness in New York City

The voter guide contains an introduction to homelessness and housing policy in New York City; a summary of mayoral candidate’s policy positions; and the full responses from candidates to RxHome’s mayoral candidate questionnaire. In this section, the RxHome team has provided a brief explanation of the process and methodology used to create the voter guide. We also define and give an overview of the eight visual badges that we created to distill the candidate’s policy positions.

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Process for Creating This Guide: U G

RxHome reached out to all of the mayoral candidates who filed with the Campaign Finance Board to offer educational briefings about the current state of homelessness in New York City, leading to meetings with 20 campaigns. In these meetings, we detailed the proven solutions used by other municipalities to reduce S and end homelessness in their communities. The presentation that guided RxHome’s candidate education I meetings can be found on our website.

After our initial candidate education meetings, RxHome sent a questionnaire to all of the mayoral H

campaigns. The questions were designed to learn about the candidate’s policy positions on preventing and T

ending homelessness, addressing the availability of affordable housing and structuring the leadership of

city agencies that deal with homelessness and housing instability. E This voter guide contains the full, unedited responses we received, as well as brief summaries of each of

the candidate's position around homelessness, health and housing. S

Of the 18 mayoral candidates who will appear on the primary ballot or are running as independents:

9 responded with written 4 candidates did not 5 candidates did not T

answers to the respond to our respond to our questionnaire. questionnaire, but questionnaire or our attended our educational request for an educational

briefing. briefing. W The responses from those 9 Since we previously We included only a interacted with these summary of their positions campaigns are included in O full and do not contain any campaigns, used their using publicly available edits. We also included a campaign websites and information from their summary of their positions. public statements to websites and statements in H provide responses where the press and at public Art Chang possible to the events. For candidates who Shaun Donovan questionnaire. We also have not shared plans on Kathryn Garcia included a summary of their websites or made Chris Krietchman their positions. public statements Ray McGuire regarding their platform at Dianne Morales Eric Adams the time of publication, we Bill Pepitone Quanda Francis noted that we were unable Scott Stringer Paperboy Prince to draft a summary and Andrew Yang Maya Wiley included a link to those candidates' websites. Aaron Foldenauer Fernando Mateo Curtis Sliwa Joycelyn Taylor Isaac Wright

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Candidate Questionnaire: U

Preventing and Ending Homelessness G 1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City?

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In S your response, please explain how you define Housing First. I 3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to H

prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? T

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? E 5. Right now, most households and individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City have to

spend 90 days in a city shelter before becoming eligible for City rental assistance. In your S administration, who would be eligible for City rental assistance, and how would these New Yorkers

access City rental assistance? U 6. The City operates separate emergency shelter systems for different populations, like youth, domestic violence survivors and families having trouble paying rent. These systems have separate processes and

do not provide equal access to services, like rental subsidies. As Mayor, how would you ensure that all O New Yorkers, such as families, young adults/youth, individuals leaving institutional settings, and people

fleeing domestic violence, are able to access City services that can help them maintain or gain access T to permanent housing? Healthy Homes

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to W help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s

work to prevent and end homelessness? O

Affordable Housing for Low-Income New Yorkers H 8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low-income New Yorkers?

Government Operations and Leadership 9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? 10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system?

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Badges Explained D

RxHome created eight badges to highlight the specific policies or issue priorities held by multiple (at least I two) candidates throughout their responses to our questionnaire and in public statements. The badges each represent a distilled concept around housing and homelessness policy. The presence of a badge does not represent an endorsement of a candidate or imply positive or negative connotations. We use the badges to U

simply highlight places of alignment across candidates’ platforms. G

Strategies & Values

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Housing Housing is Measurable goals

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alth care

first he using shared data E

Housing First Housing is Measurable Goals Using S Health Care Shared Data A candidate commits to a true housing A candidate identifies explicit,

first model across the homeless response A candidate recognizes quantifiable goals around ending U

system. We include this badge only if a that homelessness is a and preventing homelessness and candidate defines housing first and public health crisis and commits to transparent data- applies the principles across responses. commits to including sharing so that the general public

We do not include this badge if the the health sector in —along with city agencies and O candidate only said the words “housing solving homelessness. nonprofit organizations— can

first” at some point in their response. hold the city accountable.

Leadership Structure W Centralized Include people O leadership managing with lived experience with ness in homeless H leadership housing & homelessness

Centralized Leadership Managing Include People with Lived Housing & Homelessness Experience in Leadership A candidate commits to centralized A candidate commits to including leadership within City Hall across all people with lived experiences with agencies that touch housing and homelessness in its leadership and homelessness. decision-making around homelessness and housing policy.

Policies & Procedures

Increase flexibility Expand capacity of Increase housing safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

of city housing for extremely low vouchers income New Yorkers Increase Flexibility of City Expand Capacity of Safe Havens Increase Housing for Extremely Housing Vouchers (Low-Barrier Shelters) Low-Income Households A candidate commits to increasing A candidate commits to the A candidate plans to expand the flexibility of the CityFHEPS expansion of safe havens, a type of the supply of deeply affordable program (the city’s rental assistance low-barrier shelter that has fewer housing for extremely low- voucher) by raising the maximum rent traditional barriers, such as sobriety income New Yorkers levels and/or expanding eligibility to and curfew restrictions. the program (i.e. availability in the community, elimination of 90-day stay minimum, available to all shelter systems). 09

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Summary of Mayoral

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Candidate Policy Platforms M

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S S S Below is a summary of each 2021 NYC mayoral candidate’s plan to address housing instability and homelessness. This includes all 18 candidates in the race as of April 2021, including those that will appear on the Democratic (13) and Republican (2) primary ballots in June 2021, as well as those running as third parties (3) that will appear only in the November 2021 general election. These summaries were created using responses to the questionnaire RxHome sent to all campaigns as well as candidates’ public plans and statements for those who did not respond to the questionnaire, noted below. A list of candidates by their response status is below.

The questionnaire was sent to all of the candidates running for mayor in February 2021 and all were returned in March 2021. The summaries for each candidate provide a snapshot of candidates’ long-term plans to address homelessness (question 1), how they will improve access to affordable housing (question 8) and generally do not include short-term COVID-specifc proposals. RxHome believes that homelessness is a public health crisis, so our summaries also include when candidates note coordination with the health sector (question 7). Please refer to the full responses for each candidate for more details about their plans and policy priorities. Since candidates’ platforms can change over time, RxHome includes the website for each candidate so that voters can view their most up-to-date plans.

In addition to the summaries, we also created eight “badges” indicating key policies candidates included in their platforms (described in more detail on page 9).

Candidates are listed alphabetically by last name.

Eric Adams* Art Chang Shaun Donovan Aaron Foldenauer** Quanda Francis* Kathryn Garcia Chris Krietchman Fernando Mateo*** Ray McGuire Dianne Morales Bill Pepitone Paperboy Prince* Curtis Sliwa*** Scott Stringer Joycelyn Taylor** Maya Wiley* Isaac Wright** Andrew Yang

* Candidate did not respond to the candidate questionnaire, but attended RxHome’s educational briefing sessions. RxHome included a summary of their policy position based on publicly available information from the candidate's website and public statements. **Candidate did not respond to the candidate questionnaire or RxHome’s request to hold an educational briefing. RxHome included a summary of their policy position based on publicly available information from the candidate's website and public statements. ***Candidate had not published a housing plan or a plan to address homelessness on their website at time of publication. Please check the candidate’s websites for the most up-to-date policy platform information.

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Housing Measurable goals Housing is Increase Centralized Include people Expand capacity flexibility Increase housing

leadership managing w. lived experience of safe havens E w. homelessness in (low-barrier leadership shelters) housing + for extremely low First Health care homelessness of city housing T using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Badge Key; definitions on page 9 A

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ERIC ADAMS* N Party Affiliation: Democrat

Website: ericadams2021.com A Eric Adams focuses primarily on addressing the city’s housing crisis by creating more affordable housing.

His plan includes legalizing micro-units, accessory dwelling units and basement apartments, as well as C converting hotels and city-owned office buildings into affordable housing. He also proposes partnering with community land trusts, faith-based institutions and community development corporations to develop more affordable housing. Adams plans to increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance F subsidies, which he believes do not meet the needs of New Yorkers in the shelter system or those on the brink of homelessness. Adams also makes the connection between homelessness and physical/mental health, and suggests utilizing the extra capacity in public hospitals (Health + Hospitals) to co-locate social O services and “offer direct housing help at hospitals through community-based organizations.”

*This summary of Eric Adams’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available Y

information from the candidate’s website. R

ART CHANG A Party Affiliation: Democrat chang.nyc M Art Chang’s plan focuses first on addressing the urgent housing crisis caused by COVID and treating factors that contribute to homelessness, such as domestic and gender-based violence, “as the public M health crises they are.” He aims to do this by extending the eviction/foreclosure moratoriums and canceling the accrued debt for tenants and landlords. Chang also plans to invest in the development of new affordable and supportive housing for low-income New Yorkers on city-owned land. He notes that he U would “creatively think about temporary emergency housing, and consider all possible resources to bring people to safe shelter swiftly, including ensuring that all shelters are equipped with broadband access for S kids in remote learning.” Chang also states that he would prevent homelessness by improving the city’s technology infrastructure that would better connect New Yokers to municipal services, including housing.

SHAUN DONOVAN Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: shaunfornyc.com

Shaun Donovan believes that homelessness in NYC is solvable and that the city needs to move “from a right to shelter towards a right to housing.” He plans to use a coordinated, cross-agency approach to reduce the size of the emergency shelter system and provide rental assistance and other services to help New Yorkers remain in or regain permanent, affordable housing. He notes that in order to solve homelessness, his administration will invest in data, accountability and citywide coordination to maximize government resources to place New Yorkers in permanent housing and connect them to resources to help them remain stably housed. Donovan plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. His administration will “create 2,000 supportive housing units annually for individuals and families living with a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or other disability, and young adults.” He would also expand affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers by increasing the capital funding available for affordable housing projects and supporting the conversion of distressed properties into affordable housing.

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Housing Measurable goals Housing is Increase Centralized Include people Expand capacity flexibility Increase housing

Badge Key; definitions on page 9 A

I D AARON FOLDENAUER** Party Affiliation: Democrat N

Website: aaronfornyc.com A Aaron Foldenauer supports a preventative approach to “keep people in their homes wherever and whenever possible.” He supports building new affordable housing for residents in lower-income brackets, and he would advocate for “rehabilitative homeless shelters or halfway houses that provide mental health, C medical, education, and job training services that will strive to get people on their feet and back to leading

productive lives.” F **This summary of Aaron Foldenauer’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available

information from the candidate’s website. O Y

QUANDA FRANCIS* R Party Affiliation: Independent

Website: quandafrancis.com A Quanda Francis plans to reduce the population of individuals experiencing homelessness and make

housing more affordable in New York City. She notes that she would reduce the number of city agencies M (currently 19) that work with the homeless population, as it creates for “wasteful spending, and is the least efficient way to adequately service this vulnerable portion of the New York City population.”

*This summary of Quanda Francis’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available M

information from the candidate’s website.

U S KATHRYN GARCIA Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: kgfornyc.com Kathryn Garcia’s plan for preventing and ending homelessness emphasizes that “housing heals,” and focuses on placing and keeping people in permanent housing. She intends to track “metrics that matter,” and implement cross-agency coordination to better leverage city assets to prevent and end homelessness, regardless of which city agency’s shelter system New Yorkers are sheltered in. Garcia plans to expand the eligibility criteria for city-funded rental assistance subsidies as a key way to keep people in their homes, although she notes the need for federal and state investment to make the criteria “as broad as needed.” Garcia proposes a “deliberate strategy to provide [affordable] housing for the most severely rent-burdened New Yorkers.” She believes in focusing the city’s financial support for housing development “on supportive housing and deeply affordable housing and mak[ing] it easier for the market to build all types of housing - from basement apartments to accessory dwelling units to SROs.”

CHRIS S. KRIETCHMAN Party Affiliation: Independent Website: csk4mayor.nyc

Christopher S. Krietchman wants to remove institutional corruption and inefficiencies to prevent homelessness in the first place and help New Yorkers experiencing homelessness gain access to permanent, affordable housing. He believes housing is a basic human right, and he plans to expand affordable housing through private-sector partnerships. Krietchman supports increasing access to mental health services for people experiencing homelessness. He also proposes expanding the eligibility criteria for and increasing the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies as a tool to reduce homelessness across the city. 12 S

Housing Measurable goals Housing is Increase Centralized Include people Expand capacity flexibility Increase housing

Badge Key; definitions on page 9 A

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FERNANDO MATEO*** N Party Affiliation: Republican

Website: mateothemayor.com A

***Fernando Mateo has not yet published a plan to address homelessness or affordable housing in New York City. C

RAY MCGUIRE F Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: rayformayor.com O Ray McGuire’s plan “focuses first and foremost on preventing people from losing their housing in the first place,” by providing city-funded rental assistance, providing access to free legal counsel and obtaining Y additional Section 8 vouchers from the federal government. McGuire plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. He also wants to R “ensure people experiencing homelessness have tailored support services,” like job training, mental health treatment, childcare and wifi access, as well as transitional services for those leaving prison. McGuire believes he can use his management experience to “simplify the bureaucracy and streamline services A across agencies,” in order to determine what works and scale up. Using these tools, he wants to shorten the amount of time New Yorkers spend in the shelter system by holding service providers responsible for outcomes. McGuire also plans to expand the city’s affordable housing stock through the development of M

senior and low-income housing, the legalization of basement units, SROs and accessory dwelling units. M

DIANNE MORALES U

Party Affiliation: Democrat S Website: dianne.nyc Dianne Morales believes that “homelessness is a human rights crisis, but it is one that can be solved.” In order to prevent homelessness, Morales would direct her administration to use data to “review, assess, and address disparities throughout the city and to begin tackling these systemic issues through a strong equity & response lens.” Using this approach, she would shift the $3 billion annual homeless services budget to fund more programs aimed at preventing homelessness and invest in social-public partnerships to more effectively develop affordable housing. She highlights that her administration would use a coordinated approach across city agencies and that she would partner with community groups, like health care organizations, to best serve people experiencing homelessness. Morales also commits to advocating for rent burdened New Yorkers by rolling back rent to pre-pandemic rates. Her administration would expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies so that more New Yorkers in need could qualify.

BILL PEPITONE

Party Affiliation: Conservative Website: billpepitonefornycmayor.com

Bill Pepitone’s plan to end and prevent homelessness in New York City would address “drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, the inability to afford rent, out of work and displaced veterans, and other issues,” which he identifies as the root causes of homelessness. He believes the city needs more funding for counselors and service providers to help prevent New Yorkers from experiencing homelessness. He highlights the need to focus on permanent housing, and notes that “emergency shelters are essential as the first line of assistance for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness,” in order to provide counseling services initially to New Yorkers in need.

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Housing Measurable goals Housing is Increase Centralized Include people Expand capacity flexibility Increase housing

Badge Key; definitions on page 9 A

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PAPERBOY PRINCE* D Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: paperboyprince.com N

Paperboy Prince asserts that as mayor, they would end homelessness. They would cancel rent and A mortgages and provide every New Yorker above the age of 18 with “The Freedom Dividend” - an

unconditional payment of $1,000 each month that would not disqualify anyone from existing benefits. C *This summary of Paperboy Prince’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available

information from the candidate’s website and public comments that the candidate has shared with the media. F O

CURTIS SLIWA*** Y Party Affiliation: Republican

Website: sliwaforny.com R

***Curtis Sliwa has not yet published a plan to address homelessness or affordable housing in New York City. A

SCOTT STRINGER M Party Affiliation: Democrat

Website: stringerformayor.com M Scott Stringer proposes using a coordinated, citywide approach to “address our homelessness and housing crisis.” He plans to create more safe haven shelter facilities, improve shelter conditions, invest in programs U to prevent housing instability due to domestic/interpersonal violence and increase funding for New Yorkers at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. Stringer’s plan includes increasing access to S mental health support for people experiencing homelessness—specifically for youth/young adults, the LGBTQIA+ community and people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Stringer also plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. He proposes expanding permanent affordable housing by subsidizing the development of 30,000 supportive housing beds over the next ten years, redeveloping vacant buildings—such as hotels— into housing, and creating a “Universal Affordable Housing” program. His proposed program would use a needs-based model to allocate subsidies to develop new construction housing that prioritizes funding to support deeply affordable housing for extremely low-income New Yorkers.

JOYCELYN TAYLOR** Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: taylorfor2021.com

Joycelyn Taylor supports a housing first model, which she defines as “find[ing] individuals and families permanent housing as the first option before putting them into a shelter system.” Taylor plans to provide all New Yorkers experiencing homelessness with stable housing that includes supportive resources such as employment help and mental health services. She supports expanding affordable housing by converting empty office buildings and vacant real estate into permanent housing, and she plans to make housing affordable by “basing rentals on neighborhood median income and not on greater metro area median income, and mov[ing] away from a lottery system and towards a more needs-based system for housing.” Taylor is also committed to increasing the monetary value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies.

**This summary of Joycelyn Taylor’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

14 S

Housing Measurable goals Housing is Increase Centralized Include people Expand capacity flexibility Increase housing

Badge Key; definitions on page 9 A

I D

MAYA WILEY* N Party Affiliation: Democrat

Website: mayawileyformayor.com A Maya Wiley sees homelessness as an “eviction and affordability crisis” and her housing-related plans focus

on protecting New Yorkers from eviction, supporting small and nonprofit landlords who are struggling C with nonpayments of rent and rapidly rehousing families experiencing homelessness. Wiley states that she “support[s] a Housing First model, and believe[s] we should build on its success by moving homeless individuals to subsidized housing and then linking them to support services.” Her strategy includes F investing in permanent supportive housing and SROs, and she recommends converting about one hundred hotels into permanent supportive housing. She proposes further expanding the city’s affordable housing stock by using vacant and underused property and stimulating nonprofit housing development. Wiley also O plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance

subsidies. Y *This summary of Maya Wiley’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available

information from the candidate’s website and answers to the UWS Open Hearts questionnaire. R A

ISAAC WRIGHT** M Party Affiliation: Democrat

Website: wrightfornyc2021.com M Isaac Wright believes housing is a human right, and that New York City needs a comprehensive system of housing for those experiencing homelessness. He proposes rezoning for the purpose of building new U affordable housing and increasing mandates for affordable housing integration in all new residential construction. He plans to convert empty lots and abandoned buildings into subsidized communities for S rehabilitation and job placement. Wright also supports the continuation of the current mayor’s plan of “opening 1,000 new ‘safe haven’ beds [and] converting 1,000 privately-owned housing units into new permanent housing.” **This summary of Isaac Wright’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

ANDREW YANG Party Affiliation: Democrat Website: yangforny.com

Andrew Yang wants to achieve “meaningful gains in reducing our shelter population and street homelessness,” specifically reducing street homelessness by 50 percent and reducing the shelter population by 20 percent. In his first year in office, Yang’s goal is to reduce the average length of stay in the shelter system by a third. Yang also plans to increase the number of drop-in shelter sites by 20 percent. He plans to address homelessness as part of his anti-poverty agenda, including providing universal basic income payments to increase the household income of the 500,000 poorest New Yorkers. Yang also proposes expanding the supply of deeply affordable housing through capital funding and density bonuses for private development. Finally, Yang wants to invest in “diversion” programming to prevent homelessness, including expanding the right to counsel program so more New Yorkers threatened with eviction can obtain legal representation.

15 Summary of Candidates by Badge Allocation The presence of a badge does not represent an endorsement of a candidate or imply positive or negative connotations. The badges highlight places of alignment across candidates’ platforms. More detail on the badge definitions are on page 9.

HOUSING HOUSING MEASURABLE CENTRAL INCLUSIVE EXPAND MORE MORE FIRST = HEALTH GOALS LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP VOUCHERS SHELTERS HOUSING

ADAMS

CHANG

DONOVAN

FOLDENAUER

FRANCIS

GARCIA

KRIETCHMAN

MATTEO

MCGUIRE

MORALES

PEPITONE

PRINCE

SLIWA

STRINGER

TAYLOR

WILEY

WRIGHT

YANG

S S S

E E E

S S S

N N

Candidate Responses to N

O O

RxHome’s Mayoral O

P P

Questionnaire P

S S S

E E E

Eric Adams* - p. 18 Dianne Morales - p. 45

R R R

Art Chang - p. 21 Bill Pepitone - p. 49

E E E

Shaun Donovan - p. 25 Paperboy Prince* - p. 52

T T T

Aaron Foldenauer** - p. 30 Curtis Sliwa*** - p. 53

A A A

Quanda Francis* - p. 31 Scott Stringer - p. 54

D D D

I I

Kathryn Garcia - p. 32 Joycelyn Taylor** - p. 61 I

D D

Chris Krietchman - p. 36 Maya Wiley* - p. 62 D

N N Fernando Mateo*** - p. 40 Isaac Wright** - p. 65 N

Ray McGuire - p. 41

A A

Andrew Yang - p. 66 A

C C C

The following section contains the full, unedited answers that RxHome received in response to our candidate questionnaire from 9 candidates running for mayor of New York City. For each of these candidates, RxHome has included a brief summary of each of the candidate's positions pertaining to homelessness, health and housing, based on their response to the candidate questionnaire.

In this section, we also provide information regarding the policy platforms for the other 9 candidates running for mayor who did not respond to RxHome’s candidate questionnaire:

For candidates who did not respond to the candidate questionnaire, but attended RxHome’s educational briefing sessions, we used campaign websites and public statements to provide responses, where appropriate and possible, to the questionnaire. We also included a summary of their policy position based on publicly available information. In the profile for each of these candidates (*), RxHome noted that the responses were compiled using publicly available information and cited the sources used for each questionnaire response.

For candidates who did not respond to the candidate questionnaire or RxHome’s request to hold an educational briefing, we included a summary of their policy positions using publicly available information from their websites and statements in the press and at public events. In the profile for each of these candidates(**), RxHome noted that the summary was drafted using publicly available information and cited the sources used.

For two candidates, there was insufficient information to be able to draft a summary. In the profile for each of these candidates (***), RxHome noted that there was insufficient information at time of publication to create a summary of these candidates' policy positions.

S M

ERIC A

ADAMS* D A

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: ericadams2021.com

Housing is Increase Increase housing flexibility

Health care of City housing for extremely low vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Eric Adams focuses primarily on addressing the city’s housing crisis by creating more affordable housing. His plan includes legalizing micro-units, accessory dwelling units and basement apartments, as well as converting hotels and city-owned office buildings into affordable housing. He also proposes partnering with community land trusts, faith-based institutions and community development corporations to develop more affordable housing. Adams plans to increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies, which he believes do not meet the needs of New Yorkers in the shelter system or those on the brink of homelessness. Adams also makes the connection between homelessness and physical/mental health, and suggests utilizing the extra capacity in public hospitals (Health + Hospitals) to co-locate social services and “offer direct housing help at hospitals through community-based organizations.” *This summary of Eric Adams’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

RxHome has used the candidate’s website and public remarks to provide responses, where appropriate and accurate, to the questions listed in our candidate questionnaire. We have only listed below the questions where we could find corresponding public statements. All sources for the quoted text response are listed at the end of each section.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? “We are in a homelessness crisis, and the driving factor is lack of affordable housing...Adams proposed the city provide subsidies to help homeless people move into vacant affordable units. Subsidies would have the benefit of “saving our city money and expediting the process of getting the working homeless out of the shelter system and into permanent housing,” he said.

Source: New York Daily News 3/22/2021: House city homeless in vacant apartments, says Brooklyn BP Eric Adams

Source: Candidate website

18 S

ERIC ADAMS M A Housing is Increase

flexibility Increase housing D

Health care of City housing for extremely low

vouchers income New Yorkers A

Source: Candidate website

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? "Poverty, homelessness, unemployment and food insecurity all directly lead to poor health—yet hospitals are largely not equipped to address those issues. By utilizing the extra capacity in H+H hospitals to co- locate social services, we will address both the social and physical causes of illness, leading to much better outcomes and cost savings."

"Living in a high-crime community and experiencing gun violence creates trauma that impacts a youth’s ability to perform in school and achieve in life. Without adequate services that address trauma and allow for healing, youth are placed at higher risk of incarceration, teenage pregnancy and homelessness. Prevention and follow up measures that serve to heal and support these youth are best delivered by trauma-trained credible messengers paired with mental health professionals, social services and violence interrupters. We will recruit, hire, and train community residents who have real-life experience to provide an immediate post-crisis healing space for, and to develop a working relationship with, affected youth. This helps reduce feelings of isolation and mistrust, cultivate shared investment of community-centered healing, and reduce the fear often associated with living in a high-crime, high-poverty neighborhood."

Source: Candidate website

19 S

ERIC ADAMS M A Housing is Increase Increase housing

flexibility D

Health care of City housing for extremely low

vouchers income New Yorkers A

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low-income New Yorkers? "To deal with our housing crisis in New York, the city must rapidly build new affordable housing while protecting existing apartments everywhere. That means bold, aggressive measures that are even more necessary now as we simultaneously fight a pandemic and an economic crisis. Here’s how: Up-zone wealthier areas where we can build far more affordable units. Repurpose city office buildings and hotels for affordable housing. Think big by thinking small and add basement apartments, SROs and other small units. Provide homes and help for the homeless and those struggling with rent. Add housing – for everyone – in wealthier areas.

For years, our re-zonings focused on adding apartments in lower-income areas—which led to higher- income people moving in, making communities less affordable, and often forcing out longtime residents. We will build in wealthier areas with a high quality of life, allowing lower- and middle-income New Yorkers to move in by adding affordable housing. And we will eliminate the community preference rule in those areas, which keeps many New Yorkers out of desirable neighborhoods.

Repurpose City office buildings for affordable housing. We will convert a number of City office buildings into 100% affordable housing by taking advantage of more City workers working from home and consolidating workers that will still be in-person to free up space.

Allow private office buildings and hotels to become housing. The pandemic emptied many of our hotels and office buildings. In some cases, their owners want to convert the buildings to housing, but City regulations make that either too expensive or too challenging. With some zoning tweaks and other rule changes, we can allow appropriate conversions and add desperately needed housing stock—particularly at hotels in the outer boroughs.

Give City-owned property to non-profit land trusts to create affordable housing. Vacant and underused City property is a massive waste of our resources and often a blight on neighborhoods. In the midst of this housing crisis, we will aggressively seek to partner with community land trusts by offering properties to organizations that commit to building permanently affordable housing.

Think big by building small. Outdated rules prevent New York developers from building the kind of small, cheaper micro-units common around the world. Homeowners in single family zones are prevented from legally leasing “accessory units” like “granny flats.” And single room occupancy units, or SROs, and basement apartments are still illegal, despite their common use elsewhere. By allowing all of these to be built or legally used, we will quickly add hundreds-of-thousands of affordable apartments.

Prioritize those who need supportive housing the most. New Yorkers in local shelters — especially those who lived in the neighborhood beforehand and were displaced — will be prioritized for supportive housing. So too will young people aging out of foster care, who should be given every chance at starting off adulthood on the right foot."

Source: Candidate website

G N

ART A

CHANG H C

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: chang.nyc

Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing Housing Centralized flexibility leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership housing + of City housing for extremely low First using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Art Chang’s plan focuses first on addressing the urgent housing crisis caused by COVID and treating factors that contribute to homelessness, such as domestic and gender-based violence, “as the public health crises they are.” He aims to do this by extending the eviction/foreclosure moratoriums and canceling the accrued debt for tenants and landlords. Chang also plans to invest in the development of new affordable and supportive housing for low-income New Yorkers on city-owned land. He notes that he would “creatively think about temporary emergency housing, and consider all possible resources to bring people to safe shelter swiftly, including ensuring that all shelters are equipped with broadband access for kids in remote learning.” Chang also states that he would prevent homelessness by improving the city’s technology infrastructure that would better connect New Yorkers to municipal services, including housing.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? The homeless can be housed in a sensible, safe, rational, and humane manner. To do this, I will partner with the City’s many thought leaders and practitioners to:

First, creatively think about temporary emergency housing, and consider all possible resources to bring people to safe shelter swiftly, including ensuring that all shelters are equipped with broadband access for kids in remote learning; Then, coordinate the delivery of services for the supportive housing essential to high-need populations; Finally, create solutions for long-term housing. The only way to accomplish this is through a major initiative to plan a massive program to build truly affordable housing.

Homelessness is driven by conditions pre-existing the onset of COVID: nearly 50% of homeless families fled domestic violence, and nearly 50% of homeless teenagers fled gender violence in their own homes. We will start treating these as the public health crises they are. I view the eviction crisis as a proxy for the size of the true need for low-income housing. By increasing the supply of housing across the board, we will achieve greater affordability for everyone. 2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. Absolutely. Housing in our city is too expensive -- many homeless people and families have simply fallen behind on a few rent payments. First, we need to address the urgent housing crisis that COVID has caused. I would immediately extend the eviction and foreclosure moratoriums to March 31, 2022, for residential and small business renters and their landlords. Then, I’d work with mortgage brokers to provide mortgage extensions to landlords who pass through the benefits to tenants. Doing this would cancel accrued debt for tenants and landlords alike. I would also address property taxes, fees, and other costs through a similar mechanism.

21 G

ART CHANG N A Measurable goals Increase Housing Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership H housing + of City housing First for extremely low

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers C

Question 2 continued:

Then, to address the homelessness crisis in the long-term, I would invest in the largest construction of truly affordable housing in the city since WWII. To do this, I would start with a creative approach to re-assessing City property ownership including underutilized property like parking lots, air rights including air rights over roads, and rail yards. The City’s 21 golf courses represent significant development opportunities, starting with the Trump course in the Bronx. I’d then give those in shelters and current NYCHA residents the first right to new housing, and collect and publish data to demonstrate performance on all issues related to housing.

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? A foundational principle of my platform is that data is key to success. The Mayor’s office needs clear, reliable data in order to function properly; and the public needs clear, reliable data to hold its government accountable. I will commit to increasing the amount of data we have on the needs of each individual community, so that we can get away from the one-size-fits-all approaches and customize our responses to certain crises to fit each community.

Of course maintaining accurate, up-to-date data on how many homeless folks we have outside and in shelters is the most obvious metric. We also need data on how these folks become homeless, and work not just to provide affordable housing, but also to address these other, interconnected issues that lead to homelessness. And as we’ve seen in recent news reports, the Mayor’s office needs to be more hands-on with privately-owned shelters, and be able to provide oversight on their operations to ensure they’re providing truly safe spaces for people & families to live in.

I will also study data on construction costs, and use that data to pursue creative approaches to lowering development costs.

I believe that when we are again able to have a thriving arts community in NYC, we’ll know we’ve made our city as a whole more affordable.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? Emergency shelter is just that: it’s for emergencies. When we have enough truly affordable housing for everyone, the need for emergency shelter will be reduced and the capacity inside shelters will be more manageable.

And when delivering emergency shelter to those who do need it, we need to better adapt to each person’s emergency. For example, trans youth often end up in shelters fleeing violence or lack of acceptance at home; they may need single-room accommodations. For some, homelessness is a result of mental health issues, and our emergency shelters need to be equipped to care for them. And shelters need to be held accountable when they don’t provide safe or healthy environments for their residents.

22 G

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers C

Technology can help but it has to be available on every “channel” and we need to provide a non-technology process for this. I don’t have an answer, but also need to consider disabled, elderly and other people.

Emergency shelter should be focused on people fleeing unsafe home situations, like domestic violence against women and LGBTQIA+ people.

6. The City operates separate emergency shelter systems for different populations, like youth, domestic violence survivors and families having trouble paying rent. These systems have separate processes and do not provide equal access to services like rental subsidies. As Mayor, how would you ensure that all New Yorkers, such as families, young adults/youth, individuals leaving institutional settings, and people fleeing domestic violence are able to access City services that can help them maintain or gain access to permanent housing? The City, under my Mayorship, will prioritize revamping our City’s websites and technological infrastructure, utilizing technology to deliver services to its constituents. In order to fortify New York’s technological infrastructure for the future, much-needed updates need to be made. These include streamlining citizen experience with government websites, ensuring that every home in this city has broadband access, and creating transparency for New Yorkers and enhancing the responsiveness and accessibility of information services. Every individual that needs government assistance should know what’s available to them and how to access it.

There’s an opportunity to integrate and unify these separate processes, because often the issues are combined. See above for rental subsidies. 7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? One of my priorities is to find signs of economic distress that could be indicators for potential homelessness. These could include new filings for public assistance, new filing for unemployment insurance, and property tax delinquencies for homeowners. These could be compared against income data to infer potential distress.

My LGBTQIA+ platform includes education and raising awareness for parents, to help decrease the number of LGBTQIA+ children that need to leave their homes.

23 G

ART CHANG N A

Measurable goals Increase Housing Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived

experience w. H homelessness in leadership housing + of City housing First for extremely low

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers C

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? I would invest in the largest-scale building of new affordable housing since WWII, by creatively adapting city-owned land. See my answer to #1 above: homelessness and the availability of truly affordable housing are interconnected problems, and by building more affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers, we will drastically lower the amount of homelessness in our City.

I will also commit to ensuring this truly affordable housing is properly taken care of, again, by using transparent, timely, and accurate data. NYCHA housing and its residents need more data, especially now, as countless public housing residents are trapped in their homes during the pandemic in dilapidated apartments. These apartments lack the data to track their decay, and it’s only after the reports reach the hundred-thousands that they are published and reported on. And the problems will only become worse as the data on broken elevators, rundown playgrounds, and lack of heating, trickles in. 9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? All of our City’s problems are interconnected, and recognizing that is essential to solving them. I care deeply about modernizing government with better technology, better management practices, and better performance metrics. I have worked in and around government for most of my career, and I’m no stranger to the difficulty of implementing these ideas effectively. I will simply commit to living and breathing efficient, decisive, modern government that puts public well-being first.

I will swiftly address the dysfunction of the city government by restoring civilian control over broken and rogue organizations by re-establishing control over the budget. With my background in the tech industry, I know how to bring our city’s technological infrastructure into the 21st Century -- making our government work for the people more accessibly and effectively.

In order to establish a healthy organizational culture, modeling a healthy, collaborative, inclusive management approach is essential. To achieve this, I will organize cross-agency efforts via an Operating Committee for the City, with offices such as:

Deputy Mayor for Operations and Finance - COO for the City Deputy Mayor for Safe & Healthy Communities Deputy Mayor for Opportunity - DOE, CUNY and Workforce Development Deputy Mayor for an Affordable City, focusing on Affordable Housing Deputy Mayor for Climate Deputy Mayor for Economic Growth Deputy Mayor for Technology - CIO for the City Deputy Mayor for Diversity, Inclusion and Communities Municipal Labor Committee representatives 10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? The City must re-align with service providers. Today, they’re treated as vendors regardless of the form of service or tax status. In my administration, non-profit service providers would be treated as valuable partners. We need to re-orient our priorities to proactive, predictive, collaborative services. 24

N A

SHAUN V

DONOVAN O N

Party Affiliation: Democrat O Candidate website:

shaunfornyc.com D

Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing for extremely low Health care homelessness First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Shaun Donovan believes that homelessness in NYC is solvable and that the city needs to move “from a right to shelter towards a right to housing.” He plans to use a coordinated, cross-agency approach to reduce the size of the emergency shelter system and provide rental assistance and other services to help New Yorkers remain in or regain permanent, affordable housing. He notes that in order to solve homelessness, his administration will invest in data, accountability and citywide coordination to maximize government resources to place New Yorkers in permanent housing and connect them to resources to help them remain stably housed. Donovan plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. His administration will “create 2,000 supportive housing units annually for individuals and families living with a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or other disability, and young adults.” He would also expand affordable housing for low-income New Yorkers by increasing the capital funding available for affordable housing projects and supporting the conversion of distressed properties into affordable housing.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? Homelessness is a solvable problem. We cannot accept the status quo nor solve homelessness with homeless programs alone. An emergency shelter system is essential for families and individuals in crisis, but the focus of past administrations has been to build a larger and larger system, draining money from permanent housing. We will spend smarter, moving our city from a right to shelter towards a right to housing, ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to the housing support they need.

We can do this by creating an improved system of emergency rental assistance and other services to help people stay housed when facing economic setbacks to avoid homelessness altogether.

We can do this by coordinating better across our own City agencies to ensure that people do not fall through the cracks but instead receive the support they need.

We can do this by operating a well-run homeless system that efficiently gets people into permanent housing as quickly as possible so they can rebuild their lives.

And we can do this by maximizing all resources available from all levels of government.

We are committing to the following policies and programs:

Invest in keeping people in their homes Provide appropriate housing and services Increase accountability and improve citywide coordination Protect domestic violence survivors

25 N

SHAUN DONOVAN A V Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) O housing + of City housing for extremely low Health care homelessness

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

N O 2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define D Housing First. Yes! As President Obama’s HUD Secretary, I led the national strategy that reduced street homelessness by a quarter across the country and ended veteran homelessness in more than 80 cities and states.

Housing First means that we need to solve homelessness through housing programs - not homelessness programs. It means that every resident deserves the right to stable housing.

We will create and fully implement a simple, client-focused process of placement of individuals and families who are homeless into safe, affordable permanent housing. Increasing the speed from which people move from homeless into permanent housing will relieve pressure on the homeless system. This streamlined system will build upon the Coordinated Assessment and Placement System (CAPS) model which focuses on getting the right person into the right housing as quickly as possible, based on the individual or family needs. Managing housing placement across systems will allow the city to hold itself and the landlords accountable for timely placements and housing stability.

We must make sure to expand the creation of permanent supportive housing units for those who need the more intensive support provided by this form of housing. The administration will aim to create 2,000 supportive housing units annually for individuals and families living with a serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or other disability, and young adults.

In parallel, we must expand models of shelter that have very easy access, such as safe havens and stabilization beds, recognizing that some people, particularly those living on the streets, do not want to enter the shelter system.

And, we will fund a service-enriched model of aftercare for formerly homeless New Yorkers, to ensure that formerly homeless people are supported in their new homes. The program will be administered through neighborhood-based centers that provide holistic aftercare and “poverty alleviation” services to local communities.

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? We will invest in real-time data across all city agencies that allows for recognizing the needs of people currently or at risk of experiencing homelessness and delivering services in a targeted way. We will also expand the Bronx Frequent Users System Engagement data sharing system—which identifies frequent users of jails, shelters, and hospitals and connects them with supportive housing and other services—to the other four boroughs.

In order to link historically distinct City departments under singular leadership for greater accountability and consistency, we will empower a single Deputy Mayor for Housing Opportunity & Economic Development to assert clear goals and demand progress in addressing NYC’s homeless crisis across agencies including the Department of Education, Administration for Children’s Services, Department of Homelessness Services, Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and NYCHA. We will also improve targeting of homeless services by creating a 21st Century integrated data system, improving data sharing and communications across agencies, and enhancing the use of predictive analytics while ensuring racial equity.

26 N

SHAUN DONOVAN A V Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) O housing + of City housing for extremely low Health care homelessness

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

N O Question 3 continued:

In the case of hospitals, we must create medical respite programs with pathways to permanent housing to D reduce the revolving door between hospitals and homelessness for people experiencing homelessness who have complex medical needs. We will develop and implement a city-level legal framework and programmatic approach to provide medical respite care for vulnerable populations that ultimately leads them to housing. Also, the City should provide funding of hospital-based housing specialists and develop a formal protocol on how hospitals and street outreach teams should communicate and collaborate. And, we will work with health providers, including hospitals, to prioritize available land for senior or homeless housing and explore how health care payers might directly invest in affordable senior and homeless housing with services.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? We are committed to reducing the size of the emergency shelter system - and reducing the length of shelter stays, but it's unrealistic to think we will do away with it entirely. Emergency shelters play an important role in helping people who hit a crisis and fall through the cracks of the regular assistance programs. But shelter stays should be short, and we will prioritize moving assistance upstream to reduce the number of people who have to rely on shelters. 5. Right now, most households and individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City have to spend 90 days in a city shelter before becoming eligible for City rental assistance. In your administration, who would be eligible for City rental assistance, and how would these New Yorkers access City rental assistance? We will work collaboratively with the state to increase annual spending on emergency rental assistance to $500 million and increase the amount of arrears covered to $5,000 per household. This program will provide support before renters get to housing court and certainly before emergency shelter. This emergency support will reach some 100,000 New Yorkers struggling or unable to pay rent due to economic setbacks.

We also propose a longer-term city assistance program: In order to help prevent families from becoming homeless in the first place, we must create a new, flexible rental assistance program that could serve 200,000 low-income households per year when the program fully ramps up. The administration would commit $330 million from reducing reliance on shelter, with an additional $500 million coming from state matching funds, and $1 billion from the federal government.

27 N

SHAUN DONOVAN A V Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) O housing + of City housing for extremely low Health care homelessness

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers N

Question 6 continued: O

The COVID-19 Pandemic has revealed how limited the current programs are in supporting our D communities in times of crisis. We will work collaboratively with the state to increase annual spending on emergency rental assistance to $500 million and increase the amount of arrears covered to $5,000 per household. This program will provide support before renters get to housing court and certainly before emergency shelter. This emergency support will reach some 100,000 New Yorkers struggling or unable to pay rent due to economic setbacks.

In addition, we will create a domestic-violence-focused flexible funding reserve that addresses problems and expenses before they lead to rent arrears and the possibility of homelessness, helping domestic violence survivors and their children remain housed after a case of domestic violence. The administration will work with and listen to domestic violence survivors to determine which pathways are appropriate.

Building on a program that I piloted as Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, my Administration will provide housing vouchers to people leaving jail and prison to ensure that they can access housing, thus providing a platform for success in the community. As I said previously, we would use the FUSE system to identify at-risk individuals and connect them with supportive housing. In 2017, 54% of people released from state prisons to New York City went to a city homeless shelter. We will partner with the State and City correction departments to ensure housing placements for individuals exiting NYS and NYC jails & prisons while ensuring it does not impact parole prospects and public safety. We will work to break down barriers so that justice-involved people can access housing and jobs, and reunite with their families to get the support they need to thrive in their communities.

In the case of hospitals, we must create medical respite programs with pathways to permanent housing to reduce the revolving door between hospitals and homelessness for people experiencing homelessness who have complex medical needs. We will develop and implement a city-level legal framework and programmatic approach to provide medical respite care for vulnerable populations that ultimately leads them to housing. Also, the City should provide funding of hospital-based housing specialists and develop a formal protocol on how hospitals and street outreach teams should communicate and collaborate. And, we will work with health providers, including hospitals, to prioritize available land for senior or homeless housing and explore how health care payers might directly invest in affordable senior and homeless housing with services. 8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? We will make an unprecedented investment in New York City neighborhoods by increasing the supply of affordable housing, equitably and inclusively, across all five boroughs.

As commissioner of the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), I crafted and carried out the largest and most ambitious affordable housing plan in the nation. He boosted the housing plan from a 65,000-unit program to 165,000 units and spurred the revitalization of neighborhoods that had long struggled to recover from the blight and abandonment of the 1970s and 1980s.

28 N

SHAUN DONOVAN A V Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) O housing + of City housing for extremely low Health care homelessness

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

N O Question 8 continued:

Today, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an affordable housing crisis in our city that primarily D impacts low-income, underserved communities of color. Prior to the pandemic, these communities were already facing systemic disparities that affected their opportunities for fair and affordable housing and economic growth and prosperity. The economic impacts of COVID-19 are serving to destabilize an already at-risk population, and have shown the need for prioritization to ensure these New Yorkers don’t fall through the cracks.

We are committing to the following policies and programs:

Expand capital funding for affordable housing Ensure regulatory agreements match the public investment and need Adopt United for Housing’s recommendation to implement a city-state housing partnership for affordable and supportive housing Create good paying jobs for hardworking New Yorkers Convert distressed properties into affordable housing Implement United for Housing’s recommendation to lead an inter-agency effort to innovate new models, create efficiencies in process, modernize building codes, and streamline approval processes

The financing and construction of new affordable housing and the preservation of existing affordable housing can require the work of multiple city agencies, including HPD, HDC, DOB, EDC, DOHMH, DHS, etc., and some one may not consider but may be required for permitting, like DOT, FDNY, DEP, and others. We will engage stakeholders to develop a strategy to streamline approvals and interactions between agencies, with the goal of reducing the average affordable housing construction timeline by 20% while maintaining all necessary safety standards.

We will also reduce hard costs in affordable housing construction by 20% percent while maintaining all necessary safety standards, by allowing innovative forms of project delivery, expanding allowed materials in construction, and reviewing labor requirements. By reviewing ballooning site insurance costs and other insurance costs, reviewing HDC financing fees for possible savings, and applying other similar strategies, we will identify extraordinary soft costs that can be reduced through exemptions or alternatives. 10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? As I’ve explained throughout, homelessness is a solvable problem. We cannot accept the status quo nor solve homelessness with homeless programs alone. I will work with every tool to accomplish this. We will spend smarter, moving our city from a right to shelter towards a right to housing, ensuring that all New Yorkers have access to the housing support they need.

R E

AARON U A

FOLDENAUER** N E

Party Affiliation: Democrat D

Candidate website L

aaronfornyc.com O

Summary F Aaron Foldenauer supports a preventative approach to “keep people in their homes wherever and whenever possible.” He supports building new affordable housing for residents in lower-income brackets, and he would advocate for “rehabilitative homeless shelters or halfway houses that provide mental health, medical, education, and job training services that will strive to get people on their feet and back to leading productive lives.” **This summary of Aaron Foldenauer’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

Candidate did not respond to the RxHome questionnaire or request for an educational briefing. RxHome used publicly available information found on the campaign’s website and public comments to create a summary of the candidate’s policy position but could not accurately provide responses to the candidate questionnaire.

I C

QUANDA N

FRANCIS* A

R F Party Affiliation: Independent

Candidate website quandafrancis.com

Increase housing

for extremely low income New Yorkers

Summary Quanda Francis plans to reduce the population of individuals experiencing homelessness and make housing more affordable in New York City. She notes that she would reduce the number of city agencies (currently 19) that work with the homeless population, as it creates for “wasteful spending, and is the least efficient way to adequately service this vulnerable portion of the New York City population.” * This summary of Quanda Francis’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? "I will reduce the homeless population and reduce the number of agencies that currently service the homeless population. 19 city agencies currently service the homeless population. This is wasteful spending, and it is the least efficient way to adequately service this vulnerable portion of the New York City population."

Source: Candidate website

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? "I will address the economic inequalities that are correlated with disparities in education, employment opportunities, access to safe and affordable housing, quality of life and access to quality and affordable healthcare."

Source: Candidate website

I C

KATHRYN R

GARCIA A G Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: kgfornyc.com

Housing is Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing Housing Centralized flexibility leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership housing + First Health care homelessness of City housing for extremely low using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Kathryn Garcia’s plan for preventing and ending homelessness emphasizes that “housing heals,” and focuses on placing and keeping people in permanent housing. She intends to track “metrics that matter,” and implement cross-agency coordination to better leverage city assets to prevent and end homelessness, regardless of which city agency’s shelter system New Yorkers are sheltered in. Garcia plans to expand the eligibility criteria for city-funded rental assistance subsidies as a key way to keep people in their homes, although she notes the need for federal and state investment to make the criteria “as broad as needed.” Garcia proposes a “deliberate strategy to provide [affordable] housing for the most severely rent- burdened New Yorkers.” She believes in focusing the city’s financial support for housing development “on supportive housing and deeply affordable housing and mak[ing] it easier for the market to build all types of housing - from basement apartments to accessory dwelling units to SROs.”

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? Homelessness has multiple causes, but the solution starts with housing. My plan will:

Add 50,000 units of deeply affordable housing affordable to households making 30% of Area Median Income Create 10,000 units of supportive housing Rezone high opportunity areas to enable the construction of new affordable housing in places with good access to transit, schools, jobs, and parks Legalize basement apartments, accessory dwelling units, single room occupancy (SRO) housing, and multifamily housing Citywide Shift funding from shelter-based solutions to eviction prevention and affordable housing Redesign existing rental assistance, eviction prevention, and housing placement procedures with current and formerly homeless New Yorkers to humanize the process

These shifts will be accompanied by aligning responsibilities for affordable housing and homelessness under a single Deputy Mayor. We cannot have a fragmented approach to homelessness.

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. I will commit to a Housing First solution which I define as looking for ways to keep households at risk of homelessness in their homes and rapidly placing households experiencing homelessness in permanent housing. In order to do this, we must dramatically increase the supply of affordable housing to phase out the use of shelters which will take time. Keeping New Yorkers housed and out of shelters is the right thing to do and also helps break the cycle of homelessness. Children who experience homelessness are more likely to experience homelessness as adults. We need to provide all New Yorkers, and especially kids, with stable housing.

A I

KATHRYN GARCIA C

Increase R Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership A housing + of City housing First Health care homelessness for extremely low

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers G

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? Yes. My housing plan will focus on the metrics that matter - how many New Yorkers are rent-burdened, how many New Yorkers are living in homeless shelters, and how many New Yorkers are experiencing street homelessness. Given the time it will take to phase out of shelters entirely, I will also focus on the length of time it takes to place New Yorkers experiencing homelessness in permanent housing and keep a close eye on the demographics to understand if more targeted interventions are needed for specific populations.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? The City is legally and morally obligated to provide shelter for all New Yorkers. However, shelters should be a last resort solution and durations should be short. We should be focusing resources on eviction prevention and the expansion of affordable housing options for the lowest income New Yorkers. No one should spend years in shelter.

A I

KATHRYN GARCIA C

Increase R Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership A housing + of City housing First Health care homelessness for extremely low

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers G

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? Previous housing plans have focused too much on the overall number of affordable housing units. Affordable units were like points on a scoreboard rather than part of a thoughtful, deliberate strategy to provide housing for the most severely rent-burdened New Yorkers. I will focus subsidy on supportive housing and deeply affordable housing and also make it easier for the market to build all types of housing - from basement apartments to accessory dwelling units to SROs - we need more supply throughout the entire City. I will also work with the Council to rezone neighborhoods to create new affordable housing in places with good access to transit, job centers, schools, and parks.

In addition to creating and preserving housing at the right income levels, I will also focus on eviction prevention and rental assistance to keep New Yorkers from becoming homeless in the first place.

Other policies I have committed to championing will also expand access to affordable housing. For example, I will champion a one-swipe in-city transportation network to integrate the subway, the LIRR and MetroNorth. If the MTA adopts this change, it will make it easier and cheaper for New Yorkers to commute to job centers - another way to keep New Yorkers housed.

The health portfolio will be under a different Deputy Mayor but will collaborate closely to design and provide services administered by DOH, H+H, DYCD, DFTA, ACS, and others.

Cross-agency collaboration will be managed by creating a HomelessStat approach that brings multiple agencies together to create and retool solutions based on data.

A I

KATHRYN GARCIA C

Increase R Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership A housing + of City housing First Health care homelessness for extremely low

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers G

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? As Mayor, I will use a performance-based approach to many different kinds of contracts, including contracts with service providers to encourage the outcomes we want - placing and keeping people in permanent housing. A simple contract change won’t end homelessness by itself - that requires the right level of rental assistance and creating and preserving deeply affordable housing - but it focuses service providers on the outcome we want and starts to break the cycle of dependence on shelters.

35 N

CHRIS A M

KREITCHMAN H C

Party Affiliation: Independent T

Candidate website: I

csk4mayor.nyc E

Increase Increase housing Housing Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Expand capacity R leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing for extremely low First using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers K

Summary Christopher Scott Krietchman wants to remove institutional corruption and inefficiencies to prevent homelessness in the first place and help New Yorkers experiencing homelessness gain access to permanent, affordable housing. He believes housing is a basic human right, and he plans to expand affordable housing through private-sector partnerships. Krietchman supports increasing access to mental health services for people experiencing homelessness. He also proposes expanding the eligibility criteria for and increasing the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies as a tool to reduce homelessness across the city.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? After watching your presentation and reviewing more and more information, I have realized that there is a lot of corruption and we must clean out the problems by exposing them and removing them. Then I will be implementing what I've learned from your suggestions and more unconventional approaches:

"1. Commit to ending and preventing homelessness in NYC by using a housing first approach for NYC homeless services.

2. Appoint a Deputy Mayor responsible for leading the citywide cross-agency effort to end homelessness and tasked with managing all the agencies that provide housing and homeless services.

3. Implement a coordinated entry system that provides comprehensive prevention services and rehousing assistance, via performance based contracting, for all New Yorkers.

4. Amend the City rental assistance voucher rule to increase the monetary voucher amount and expand the eligibility criteria so more New Yorkers in need can access this program. Increase the supply of affordable apartments by legalizing ADUs, basement units, redeveloping City owned shelters as housing, and converting vacant as-of-right buildings into low income housing.

5.Recruit partners from healthcare, philanthropy, and business to contribute financial and strategic resources to help end homelessness in NYC."

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. Yes, I absolutely will. To me 'Housing First' is part of a basic human rights and needs are part of a bigger topic. I believe that we must New Minimal Standard of Living in New York City. Basic Human Rights & Needs are priority with the beginning of my platform. Every single New Yorker must have a Home, Food, Water, Hygiene, Healthcare, and Technology in the 21st Century. This covers people's Needs, not Wants. Once a human's needs are completely met then they can focus on their wants, and NYC will create access for all people and communities to grow.

36 N

CHRIS KREITCHMAN A

Increase Housing Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Increase housing Expand capacity M leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing for extremely low First homelessness H

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

C T

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending I

homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking E and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? R As Mayor, yes, I absolutely would support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City. I would expose all metrics that exist and new ones that will be created, such as K inefficiencies and corruption. This should be readily available to all taxpayers to see the ROI for their tax dollars, as well as knowing the efficacies of non-profits and other involved NGOs. We must raise the standard of living in NYC to immediately provide homes for the homeless, prevent people from going homeless, and make sure that all basic human needs are met for free here in NYC. This includes access to food, water, health, hygiene, home, and technology (or access to information and reporting).

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? The role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness is vital and paramount. No New Yorker should ever not have a place to live in one of the richest cities of the world, and to be extremely clear about this, we are talking about having a safe, clean, and healthy space to live in - especially now with a global pandemic people need space at home and can no longer live crammed in extreme tight spaces. This is where we must, as a city, set a standard of real minimal living spaces at the bare minimum with public health and wellness as an absolute priority.

6. The City operates separate emergency shelter systems for different populations, like youth, domestic violence survivors and families having trouble paying rent. These systems have separate processes and do not provide equal access to services, like rental subsidies. As Mayor, how would you ensure that all New Yorkers, such as families, young adults/youth, individuals leaving institutional settings, and people fleeing domestic violence, are able to access City services that can help them maintain or gain access to permanent housing? Simply put, I will remove barriers to entrance for any and all New Yorkers in need. Living in NYC is and can be difficult enough, accessing systems and programs that are designed to help people in need should in no way be difficult to reach, access, and/or use. Therefore; I will create a team that will come from outside the current system to lower barriers and remove institutional corruption, racism, and all biases from preventing New Yorkers that are in need to create a massive overhauling of the systems. This will also be made completely transparent and reported upon quarterly directly to the people of NYC. 37 N

CHRIS KREITCHMAN A

Increase Housing Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Increase housing Expand capacity M leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing for extremely low First homelessness H

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

T I 7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role E

can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and R end homelessness?

We have great resources here in NYC in the Private Sector and my administration will create a team that’s K sole purpose is to develop ethical and transparent partnerships that will fund and expand all social services to raise the minimally acceptable standard of living to a New 21st Century Standard to include all my points to remove any possibility of homelessness in the future, but that will take time and great disruption, and yet it is also not impossible. Mental Health and Support is a tremendous component to supporting this as well as job retraining and re-educating, and so much more. We must and will make changes for the sake of the people who make all aspects of this city operate day to day.

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? I would expand access to affordable housing in NYC for low-income New Yorkers in many ways. First, we need to clean up NYCHA, DOB, DOH, and many many more departments to expose and remove corruption and any barriers for New Yorkers in need. There are partnerships that can be created through large corporations operating and native to NYC that can be established to provide more affordable housing. We must also address property developers, banks, and REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York), as well as Albany’s impact on the real estate market here in NYC. We must have legislation passed in Albany that gets NYC back in control of its own city. This is just a start to a long road to change.

9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? I feel that the leadership and management structure that is in place is inefficient and outdated. There is a clear and necessary need for a ‘flat’ system that is less hierarchical, where decisions can be made and executed upon. Therefore; Senior leadership and their agencies must be restructured. More importantly, Public Health (& Wellness) must become a department that oversees and interacts with all agencies and subsequent departments, including Senior Management. The style of management must also evolve to today’s standards in the 21st Century. It is clear and prevalent that how our system of governance works here in NYC is antiquated and does not meet the needs of today’s NYC. How we do this is a major undertaking and it starts with establishing new operating systems and procedures, which then give rise to re-educating and re-training, even recruiting new teams and individuals that can meet today’s new standards. From there we grow and work together with a Coalition of Citizens that make up each neighborhood, community, and institutions of NYC to be the bridge between the government and the people. This also serves as a problem identifier as well as a ‘crowdsource-like’ platform to solve problems from the people. I can elaborate on this upon request.

38 N

CHRIS KREITCHMAN A

Increase Housing Measurable goals Centralized flexibility Increase housing Expand capacity M leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing for extremely low First homelessness H

using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

T I

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as E contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability,

prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our R

city’s shelter system? K As Mayor, I will absolutely use all the tools available, especially in unconventional ways to investigate, identify, expose, and correct any inconsistencies that may exist that prevent, delay, confuse, or negatively influence any ability of any New Yorker to have access to affordable housing, resources to avoid homelessness as well as leave the shelter system for long-term housing stability. There is a lot of work to do around these problems that plague our city’s institutions, and New Yorkers suffer through displacement and many other subsequent problems. This should have never been allowed and been correctly established from the formation on day one, but we now know better and will have a better living experience for all New Yorkers. We must be able to crack down on property developers and landlords from gaming and cheating the system, because New York City suffers in the long term. We cannot and will not lose more New Yorkers and its character that they give to NYC that makes this town so unique. I pledge my word to fight all forms of crime, especially corruption.

O E

FERNANDO T A

MATEO*** M

Party Affiliation: Republican

Candidate website mateothemayor.com

Summary ***Fernando Mateo has not yet published a plan to address homelessness or affordable housing in New York City.

R I

RAY U

MCGUIRE G Party Affiliation: Democrat C

Candidate website: M rayformayor.com

Include Increase Increase housing Housing Measurable goals flexibility Expand capacity people w. lived of safe havens experience w. (low-barrier shelters) homelessness in leadership of City housing for extremely low First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Ray McGuire’s plan “focuses first and foremost on preventing people from losing their housing in the first place,” by providing city-funded rental assistance, providing access to free legal counsel and obtaining additional Section 8 vouchers from the federal government. McGuire plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. He also wants to “ensure people experiencing homelessness have tailored support services,” like job training, mental health treatment, childcare and wifi access, as well as transitional services for those leaving prison. McGuire believes he can use his management experience to “simplify the bureaucracy and streamline services across agencies,” in order to determine what works and scale up. Using these tools, he wants to shorten the amount of time New Yorkers spend in the shelter system by holding service providers responsible for outcomes. McGuire also plans to expand the city’s affordable housing stock through the development of senior and low-income housing, the legalization of basement units, SROs and accessory dwelling units.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? Homelessness is a major crisis in NYC, with over 50,000 people experiencing homelessness. A majority of people living in shelters are families, and there has been a 50% increase in family homelessness in NYC since 2007, while there has been a 27% decrease nationally.

My plan focuses first and foremost on preventing people from losing their housing in the first place. I will keep those with a place to stay in their homes by providing rental subsidies, legal assistance and advocating for additional section 8 vouchers from the federal government. It’s critical that we look at existing housing stock to determine where vouchers and rental subsidies can help place people transitioning from other government programs such as the prison system, foster care and hospitalization.

Second, we need to ensure people experiencing homelessness have tailored support services. I will ensure that children and families receive childcare and access to wifi while adults receive mental health and substance abuse treatment as well as job training. We also need transitional services for those returning from prison, to ensure that they lead independent lives and can find a good job. I will leverage my management experience to simplify the bureaucracy and streamline services across agencies. We should establish expectations for service levels and outcomes and hold providers accountable and then invest in what works and scale up.

Finally, we must create a pathway to permanent housing by shortening the time that people are in shelters, which are not meant for long term use. We have to hold providers responsible for the duration of stay in their shelters and reward providers who accelerate departures. I will consider all options to accomplish this including expanding affordable housing stock through quality basement apartments, accessory dwelling units, and communal housing.

E R

RAY MCGUIRE I

Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing U Housing flexibility Expand capacity people w. lived of safe havens experience w. (low-barrier shelters) homelessness in leadership

of City housing for extremely low G

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

C M 2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. I support a Housing First model. Shelters were not made for long term use, yet the average time spent for families in shelters is a staggering 443 days. As mayor, I will shorten the time frame that people are in shelters. I will put an end to street sweeps and invest in transitional services for those in vulnerable situations, so that they have a pathway to permanent housing and can access vital social services.

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? I would absolutely look to set measurable goals for reducing homelessness. I will hold providers responsible for the duration of stay in their shelters, and take my management experience to simplify the bureaucracy and streamline services across agencies. Within my first hundred days I will begin the process of reviewing all contracts with homelessness service providers and establishing clear metrics, so that we can ensure accountability and move resources to those providing the highest quality of services. I will also meet with advocates and New Yorkers experiencing homelessness in order to ensure that our approach is fully inclusive.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? My goal as mayor is to secure permanent housing for everyone. I will make sure that all homeless shelter contracts explicitly require those outcomes, so we can vastly shrink the number of people who need emergency temporary housing.

E R

RAY MCGUIRE I

Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing U Housing flexibility Expand capacity people w. lived of safe havens experience w. (low-barrier shelters) homelessness in leadership

of City housing for extremely low G

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers C

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? My administration would create “Emergency Social Services,” a 24/7 network of mental health, drug abuse, and homelessness specialists who can respond immediately to 911 calls instead of sending the police. In addition to Emergency Social Service teams, I will invest in mental health, homelessness, and youth services specialists embedded at the precinct level in every community to proactively engage with at-risk community members. These individuals will operate in tandem with the police to facilitate cooperation, referrals, and follow up. Other cities have shown promising results with this approach. I would like to see ESS units operating in every precinct in the five boroughs by 2023. This will create a long-term solution by connecting New Yorkers to care providers to treat the individual and not just the incident.

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? From 2001-2008, the city created 2.2 units per new job. By 2018, there were only 0.5 units per new job. If we're going to meet the enormous housing demand, we need to use every tool in the toolkit. As mentioned, I will expand existing affordable housing stock and increase subsidies to focus on housing for low income New Yorkers. Additionally, I will leverage other city assets, namely vacant and underutilized city owned plots of land to build housing that would be within affordable ranges. I also commit to building more senior housing with on-site services. We, however, need to make more resources available to seniors to allow them to age in place and stay in their communities. To increase affordable housing further, we have to look at a citywide process where every community district identifies places to add a percentage of new housing units. I will have Community Boards, local development corps, and community based organizations come up with their own strategy, with the support of city staff. We can use that to inform where we build, but every community must do its part.

E R

RAY MCGUIRE I

Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing U Housing flexibility Expand capacity people w. lived of safe havens experience w. (low-barrier shelters) homelessness in leadership

of City housing for extremely low G

First using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

C M 9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? Although I am not yet settled on the precise structure, my administration will prioritize these issues by creating a comprehensive plan that spans different departments and agencies to address the holistic nature of homelessness. What’s ultimately important is that the mayor has the leadership and management experience to drive outcomes when it comes to housing, homelessness, and health and exhibits the leadership to hold themselves accountable for getting it done–and that’s exactly what I promise to do.

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? As mayor, I will expand rental assistance to serve more New Yorkers and ensure that vouchers cover the actual cost of housing in New York City. One of my key metrics will be reducing the number of individuals entering the shelter system in the first place, and dramatically reducing the amount of time individuals spend in shelter. I will hold both city agency staff and shelter operators accountable for more quickly helping individuals experiencing homelessness access permanent housing, including supportive housing if needed. I will look at existing housing stock to determine where vouchers and rental subsidies can help place people transitioning from other government institutions such as the prison system, foster care, and hospitalization. As mentioned, I will keep those with a place to stay in their homes by providing rental subsidies, legal assistance, and advocating for additional section 8 vouchers from the federal government.

E L

DIANNE A

MORALES R O Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: M dianne.nyc

Housing Housing is Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing Centralized flexibility leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership housing + First Health care homelessness of City housing for extremely low using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Dianne Morales believes that “homelessness is a human rights crisis, but it is one that can be solved.” In order to prevent homelessness, Morales would direct her administration to use data to “review, assess, and address disparities throughout the city and to begin tackling these systemic issues through a strong equity & response lens.” Using this approach, she would shift the $3 billion annual homeless service budget to fund more programs aimed at preventing homelessness and invest in social-public partnerships to more effectively develop affordable housing. She highlights that her administration would use a coordinated approach across city agencies and that she would partner with community groups, like health care organizations, to best serve people experiencing homelessness. Morales also commits to advocating for rent burdened New Yorkers by rolling back rent to pre-pandemic rates. Her administration would expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies so that more New Yorkers in need could qualify.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? It’s time to get serious about ending homelessness once and for all. This year, the New York Times reported that in New York City, over 100,000 school-aged children are housing insecure. Federal data estimate about 80,000 unhoused people in the city, a figure 15,000 higher than projections from the de Blasio administration. Black and Latinx children are 15 times more likely to not have had a stable place to live in the last 12 months. Homelessness is a human rights crisis, but it is one that can be solved. Dianne’s plan includes:

Within the first 100 days, providing more secure and guaranteed pathways toward permanent residence, including the prompt conversion of hotels into permanent support housing and services for families of our 100,000 unhoused school-aged youth;

Appoint a Deputy Mayor responsible for leading and coordinating a citywide, cross-sector effort addressing housing, opportunity and social mobility, including shifting the $3 billion annual shelter budget towards preventative measures, and implementing preventative models that effectively responds to housing displacement and vulnerability;

Repurpose the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) for social-public partnerships focused on disrupting poverty from a root cause lens, prioritizing physiological needs, including the development of social housing, expansion of cooperative housing, increasing affordable housing and eradicating homelessness;

Advocate to extend rent moratorium and rollback rent to pre-pandemic rates, accounting for the hardship millions are still enduring and halting the punishing of renters by landlords and big real estate firms;

Increase the City’s rental assistance and monetary support system as well as expand eligibility criteria;

Implement performance based contracting with shelters and relief services and repurpose towards comprehensive prevention services and rehousing;

Partner with community-trusted organizations that have proven track records in responding to the needs of housing insecure communities, as well as elevate the voices of unhoused New Yorkers front and center — especially in healthcare and economic empowerment. 45

S E

DIANNE MORALES L

Increase A Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership R Health care housing + of City housing for extremely low

First using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers O

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a M Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. The Morales Administration would declare housing a right. In the midst of an unprecedented health crisis, high unemployment and our city’s failure to address chronic homelessness, it is imperative to our collective safety and security that every New Yorker has a place to call home that is dignified, peaceful and without harm. But having a roof over one’s head is not where the crisis ends. New York City has been in the middle of a housing and rent affordability crisis for decades. The current status quo favors and prioritizes speculation and powerful private interests and has led to displacement, homelessness and exorbitantly high burdens on renters and the city’s working class. The history of redlining, blockbusting, gentrification, government neglect and big bank predatory practices, as well as private subsidies and other market gimmicks, have perpetuated a legacy of racial, gender, and class inequality, cruelty and injustice. It’s time we change that. Under my leadership, we will ensure that Housing First is the approach, and move away from the City’s shelter first policies.

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? The Morales Administration will be utilizing data to review, assess, and address disparities throughout the City and to begin tackling these systemic issues through a strong equity & response lens. We’d begin by sharing numbers of how many unhoused New Yorkers we were able to survey, how many New Yorkers were at-risk of losing their homes, and how many New Yorkers were currently in the City’s shelter system (and for how long). We’d work backwards from there to quickly begin the move of ensuring New Yorkers were able to move into permanent housing and will share those numbers. We would ensure that these metrics were public and easy to access so that we can continue to be held accountable for the work.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? The key word is emergency. Under the Morales Administration, we’d be tracking to see how long New Yorkers stay within the shelter system, and moving towards building a system that can see New Yorkers almost immediately moved to permanent social and supportive housing. For those at-risk, we’d be fighting through means of Right to Counsel, expanding who can benefit from and receive Cash Assistance, lowering rents, and more to keep New Yorkers in their homes.

S E

DIANNE MORALES L

Increase A Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership R Health care housing + of City housing for extremely low

First using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers O

6. The City operates separate emergency shelter systems for different M populations, like youth, domestic violence survivors and families having trouble paying rent. These systems have separate processes and do not provide equal access to services, like rental subsidies. As Mayor, how would you ensure that all New Yorkers, such as families, young adults/youth, individuals leaving institutional settings, and people fleeing domestic violence, are able to access City services that can help them maintain or gain access to permanent housing? Housing for All is not just about a roof and four walls; it’s about living in dignity and we know the state of housing stability is intimately interconnected to the quality of one’s education, environment, safety, health and food security. Like mentioned above, the Morales Administration will be appointing a Deputy Mayor who will work to coordinate, citywide, cross-sector to address all these different buckets, and ensure that those who turn to the City for help, especially our youth and DV survivors, are able to experience care immediately, to stabilize them, to support them, and to eventually see them in secure, permanent housing. 7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? A few things we’re adhering to: The city’s development partnerships will favor nonprofit and mission- driven organizations, Community Development Corporations, supportive housing, tenants groups and alliances. An expanded cooperative ownership agenda will put increasing control of social housing and existing developments in the hands of tenants. This involves desegregating, preserving and expanding new cooperative housing ownership as well as Mitchell-Lama and Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) Cooperatives as permanently affordable homeownership alternatives for present and future New Yorkers; Due to ULURP failure to meet community needs, my administration will advocate for a community planning approach: zoning will reflect a balance between neighborhood and city-wide needs, and involve participatory processes to normalize more democratic and inclusionary community-centered goals. We will make better use of existing housing infrastructure by getting rid of single-family zoning, ensuring accessory dwelling and basement units are legal, safe and affordable, & enacting flexible zoning that allows for the conversion of vacant office space and hotels into social, affordable residential options. We will prepare for a growing demographic of senior citizens by expanding and strengthening the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption, & investing in rental assistance and retrofits; fight housing court evictions, enforce national and state moratoriums, & expand partnerships with public interest attorneys to serve as counsel to protect New Yorkers during the current health crisis; ban criminal background checks on potential tenants, eliminate source of income discrimination & streamline application processes; Fund Right to Counsel to provide free, comprehensive legal representation for tenant interests; & better regulate rental marketplaces to prevent holds on vacant apartments and prevent the market from using short-term hotels without any of the compliance or revenue. 8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? As seen above: a housing for all initiative that fights to decrease and stabilize rents, takes housing development and land significantly off the speculative market, and instead builds quality needs-based, mixed-income housing similar to the Vienna model. We would also implement a better use of land and existing space policy that includes a land value tax for vacant and blighted land to discourage speculation. Through the use of land banks, community land trusts, and cooperative housing models, a Morales administration would also democratize housing to meet New Yorker’s needs and not simply to profit off of space and real estate.

S E

DIANNE MORALES L

Increase A Housing Housing is Measurable goals Centralized Include flexibility Increase housing leadership managing people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership R Health care housing + of City housing for extremely low

First using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

O M 9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? Besides ensuring that housing is a human right and a starting point for all agencies. I will also appoint a Deputy Mayor responsible for leading and coordinating a citywide, cross-sector effort addressing housing, opportunity and social mobility, including shifting the $3 billion annual shelter budget towards preventative measures, and implementing preventative models that effectively responds to housing displacement and vulnerability.

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? As Mayor, I will use a performance-based approach to many different kinds of contracts, including contracts with service providers to encourage the outcomes we want - placing and keeping people in permanent housing. A simple contract change won’t end homelessness by itself - that requires the right level of rental assistance and creating and preserving deeply affordable housing - but it focuses service providers on the outcome we want and starts to break the cycle of dependence on shelters.

E N

BILL O T

PEPITONE I P

Party Affiliation: Republican E

Candidate website: P billpepitonefornycmayor.com

Centralized leadership managing

housing + homelessness

Summary Bill Pepitone’s plan to end and prevent homelessness in New York City would address “drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, the inability to afford rent, out of work and displaced veterans, and other issues,” which he identifies as the root causes of homelessness. He believes the city needs more funding for counselors and service providers to help prevent New Yorkers from experiencing homelessness. He highlights the need to focus on permanent housing, and notes that “emergency shelters are essential as the first line of assistance for New Yorkers experiencing homelessness,” in order to provide counseling services initially to New Yorkers in need.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? We have to break the long-running cycle of placing people into shelters and walking away from the problem. To do such, we must address the root causes of homelessness; drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, the inability to afford rent, out of work and displaced veterans., and other issues. More resources are needed for counselors and advisors who can speak to individuals or families in crisis and help address their issues before they find themselves without a home. We must be proactive as opposed to reactive, and address the cause rather than just the symptoms.

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. Housing First is a completely different approach then what New York City has taken for years. Permanent housing must be the goal as opposed to temporary shelters. The goal of supportive housing is to help get individuals back on their feet and assimilate them back into society. Through counseling, the teaching of trades, and career assistance we can help place those that are struggling back into a permanent home instead of a shelter.

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? Yes, it is imperative to set goals and to make them transparent so there is accountability upon the Mayor and City agencies. We will provide real data to show that our plan is working, true numbers that will represent the number of homeless individuals and families that have been placed in permanent housing. That is the only way we can be honest with New Yorkers and show that we are truly invested in ending this crisis.

49 E

BILL PEPITONE N O

Centralized

leadership managing T I

housing +

homelessness

P E

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or P experiencing homelessness? Emergency shelters are essential as the first line of assistance for those at risk. We simply cannot allow individuals or families to spend days and nights on our streets. We are better than that. We will use our shelters as an intake center and temporary housing as we move forward into the counseling and assistance phase where the goal is first to avoid people from losing their homes and then to provide permanent housing if necessary.

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? I would incorporate the NYPD, the Board of Education and Children's Services into our plan to end homelessness. The NYPD has direct contact with those on our streets and encounter so many of the issues that place people in crisis. That first interaction is crucial. The BOE is essential as teachers interact with children on a daily basis and can ascertain if the child's family is displaced or having trouble providing food and nutrition. Children's Services is, of course, a must as their complaint and case investigations and follow ups can provide a look into a family's circumstances and if the possibility of imminent homelessness exists.

50 E

BILL PEPITONE N O

Centralized

leadership managing

T I housing +

homelessness

P E

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for P low- income New Yorkers? Through development and growth. We need affordable housing, especially in these COVID-19 times where families are struggling and unemployment continues to rise. We will put a reasonable cap on income that will make more families eligible and put them in a position to recover while not facing the threat of becoming homeless.

C N

PAPERBOY I

PRINCE* R P

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website paperboyprince.com

Summary: Paperboy Prince asserts that as mayor, they would end homelessness. They would cancel rent and mortgages and provide every New Yorker above the age of 18 with “The Freedom Dividend” - an unconditional payment of $1,000 each month that would not disqualify anyone from existing benefits.

*This summary of Paperboy Prince’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website and public comments that the candidate has shared with the media.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? "Canceling rent and providing every New Yorker with 'The Freedom Dividend'-- a $1,000 monthly payment that can serve as a safety net in a time of economic uncertainty."

"This money can be spent however someone would like and does not disqualify an individual from also receiving social services and benefits."

Source: Candidate website, Brooklyn Paper 2/24/2021 Paperboy Prince Wants to be the Youngest Mayor in New York City History, and The New Yorker 2/8/2021 Paperboy Prince's Platform: Cancel Rent, Abolish the Police, Legalize Psychedelics

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. While not explicitly stated on the candidate's website, ending homelessness is a commitment of Paperboy Prince’s according to an article in the Brooklyn Paper: "Prince says that love is the central ingredient trying together their platform, which includes universal basic income, healthcare for all, ending homelessness, and making the city more environmentally friendly."

Source: Brooklyn Paper 2/24/2021 Paperboy Prince Wants to be the Youngest Mayor in New York City History

A W

CURTIS I L

SLIWA*** S

Party Affiliation: Republican

Candidate website sliwaforny.com

Summary ***Curtis Sliwa has not yet published a plan to address homelessness or affordable housing in New York City.

R E

SCOTT G N

STRINGER I R

Party Affiliation: Democrat T

Candidate website: S stringerformayor.com

Housing is Measurable goals Include Increase Increase housing Housing Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing people w. lived of safe havens experience w. (low-barrier shelters) homelessness in leadership

First Health care housing + of City housing for extremely low using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Scott Stringer proposes using a coordinated, citywide approach to “address our homelessness and housing crisis.” He plans to create more safe haven shelter facilities, improve shelter conditions, invest in programs to prevent housing instability due to domestic/interpersonal violence and increase funding for New Yorkers at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness. Stringer’s plan includes increasing access to mental health support for people experiencing homelessness--specifically for youth/young adults, the LGBTQIA+ community and people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. Stringer also plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. He proposes expanding permanent affordable housing by subsidizing the development of 30,000 supportive housing beds over the next ten years, redeveloping vacant buildings--such as hotels-- into housing, and creating a “Universal Affordable Housing” program. His proposed program would use a needs-based model to allocate subsidies to develop new construction housing that prioritizes funding to support deeply affordable housing for extremely low-income New Yorkers.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? For too long we have approached homelessness and housing as separate problems, when in fact they are one and the same challenge. I’ve laid out a transformational plan to address our housing and homelessness crisis. As Mayor, I will end this siloed approach and finally tackle homelessness—by expanding our supportive housing network by an additional 30,000 beds over the next 10 years; opening up more low- barrier, Safe Haven beds and offering housing vouchers for those living on the streets; investing in programs to prevent domestic violence, which is now the leading cause of homelessness in the city; and fundamentally changing our housing approach to build a generation of real affordable housing, targeted to low-income and extreme low-income New Yorkers, including New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

The “housing first” model that I will champion necessitates cutting through bureaucracies and coordinating agencies. We’ve actually seen it work before, but on too small a scale. The City’s success in reducing homelessness among veterans was due in part to investing in resources by constructing affordable housing or providing vouchers; providing mentors and peers to offer support; and making placement of veterans a priority among agencies. The City must create a rapid rehousing program, that creates a priority of streamlining both supportive housing and general affordable housing placements. As Mayor, I will ensure that agencies work together to streamline the process for housing homeless individuals and families.

As a former housing organizer, I understand that the crisis of homelessness in our city is a product of decades of policy failure by all levels of government to build the housing we need. Housing is a right, not a privilege, and I’ve laid out a 27-point majoral agenda to fight the housing crisis and end homelessness with a new generation of social housing and a Universal Affordable Housing program.

54 R

SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

R T

Question 1 continued: S For too long, the City has created goals around the number of housing units constructed, but failed to consider the level of affordability needed, fueling speculation, gentrification and displacement across the five boroughs — but mainly, in communities of color. As mayor, I will launch a sweeping program for Universal Affordable Housing — building deeply affordable housing that low and extremely low-income New Yorkers need and can actually afford. I would also launch a new generation of social housing, harnessing the nearly 3,000 vacant lots owned by the City to build tens of thousands of new, 100% permanently affordable housing units in partnership with a new City Land Bank and community land trusts targeting the lowest income New Yorkers and those experiencing homelessness. As Mayor, I will prioritize reducing the shelter population by setting aside a minimum of 15% of all affordable housing units for those in the shelter system. My plan also includes expanding our supportive housing network by an additional 30,000 beds over the next 10 years to meet the growing need.

Most immediately, the City must ensure that permanently vacant hotels and office spaces that will not come back online after the pandemic do not get converted into luxury and market rate housing — but safe, truly affordable housing and supportive housing for homeless New Yorkers, and creating permanent homes not temporary shelter. In addition to creating at least 30,000 supportive housing beds in the next 10 years, as Mayor, I would also expand the number of low-barrier Safe Haven beds and drop-in sites, and invest in programs to prevent domestic violence, which my office has shown is the leading cause of Ihomelessness in the city. As Mayor, I would also reform the City voucher system so that CityFHEPS vouchers reflect actual market rates and can be easily used, by both New Yorkers in shelter and those who live on the streets.

We also need to dramatically improve shelter conditions as audits from my office have exposed the deplorable conditions that can keep New Yorkers from seeking shelter in the first place.

As I’ve laid out in my office’s public safety blueprint, we need to fundamentally reimagine public safety. As mayor, I would take a multi-agency, public health-focused approach to community safety, transitioning responsibilities away from NYPD and investing in alternative responses and services. Street sweeps are inhumane and criminalize homelessness. Outreach and responses to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and mental health or substance use challenges should be conducted by trained professionals in agencies other than the NYPD, and married with investments in long-term supports like housing, healthcare, employment services, and harm reduction.

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. It’s simple: housing is a human right, and the City must approach ending homelessness from that perspective to help homeless New Yorkers into permanent housing, not just temporary shelter. I support a “housing first” model for approaching homelessness with the goal of ending homelessness with permanently affordable housing, as well as investing in Safe Haven, stabilization, and supportive housing to help unsheltered New Yorkers into safe, dignified housing with the services they need to maintain stability while addressing mental health, substance abuse and other challenges.

As mentioned above, this approach necessitates fusing our housing policies with our homelessness policies; building truly affordable low-income housing; preserving the housing we have and ending the eviction crisis; and addressing non-eviction related homelessness such as domestic violence. In addition, we need to break through cycles of poverty and homelessness, address mental health and substance use with long-term supports, and end the over-criminalization of communities by taking a public health approach to public safety.

55 R

SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

R T

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending S homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? Our overall goal should be bringing the number of homeless New Yorkers in shelter and on the street down, as well as lowering the number of New Yorkers on the brink. Hundreds of thousands are in housing distress – shelling out more than half their income in rent and/or overcrowded.

To achieve that, the City need to focus its housing approach on metrics of need — both in terms of setting goals for reducing need and how we design our policy do so.

For too long, the City has created goals around the number of housing units needed to be constructed, but failed to consider the level of affordability needed. It does not matter if we build 200,000 units if those units are not affordable to those who are struggling the most. I believe the city should establish a needs- based model to serve those at risk of becoming homeless or those who are homeless themselves. Following this needs-based model, 77% of all new construction subsidized by the city should be for extremely low income residents or below, 21% for very low income or below and the remaining 2% for all other incomes. Rents should be set to 30% of income, and using the HUD income levels, based on family size. Currently, extremely low income for example is defined as below 30% of AMI or $30,720 per year for a family of three and very low income is below 50% of AMI or $51,300 for a family.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? Together with outreach, coordinated entry, prevention, and permanent housing, emergency shelter is a core pillar in the fight to end homelessness. But, it must be leveraged not as an end in-and-of-itself, but as a pathway to connecting New Yorkers with permanent housing. That has been one of the failures of this current administration, which has doubled spending on homelessness to more than $3 billion without reducing the population of New Yorkers experiencing homelessness.

In the wealthiest city in the wealthiest country in the world, allowing nearly 17,000 of our children to sleep in shelters every night is a disgrace. Further, the city has failed to address the rising single-adult shelter population, which has reached an all time high of more than 18,500 individuals. And the City’s current approach of throwing more and more money into temporary shelter capacity—like converted hotels charging exorbitant rates—is a band-aid, not a permanent strategy.

To chart a new course and end homelessness, we need an approach that gets at the root causes—namely, housing. All New Yorkers should have a safe, stable roof over their heads, no matter their background or the challenges they face, from mental health crises to substance use and domestic violence.

56 R

SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

R T

5. Right now, most households and individuals experiencing homelessness in S New York City have to spend 90 days in a city shelter before becoming eligible for City rental assistance. In your administration, who would be eligible for City rental assistance, and how would these New Yorkers access City rental assistance? We can work to end homelessness by helping New Yorkers experiencing homelessness find housing and those on the brink to stay housed. One critical tool the City has is its voucher system, which can provide individuals facing economic and housing instability with immediate relief. However, CityFHEPS vouchers are overly restrictive and underutilized as a prevention tool, too often requiring individuals at risk of housing instability to enter shelter before they qualify for assistance. Individuals and families who do not wish to brave the often dangerous conditions in shelters are left without resources. As mayor, I will end this practice, eliminate the 90-day requirement, and ensure that sufficient vouchers are available before entering the shelter door.

The value of CityFHEPS vouchers is also far too low to actually provide meaningful access to housing in this city. I support Intro 146, and would call on the Speaker to immediately schedule a vote and for the Council to pass the bill. The current City voucher is worth only $1,323 for a household of two in a one bedroom, while a comparable HUD voucher would be $1,714. For the City's vouchers to be useful, they must be worth at least the fair market rent. At the same time, we must also be more flexible and do a better job of centering individuals’ circumstances in the structure of the City voucher program. No one should be denied stable housing, especially after being issued shopping letter after shopping letter over many months if not years, because they had picked up an extra shift at work. But rigid income eligibility requirements make that all too common.

Further, the City must increase penalties and do more to aggressively fine landlords who discriminate based on source of income, educate voucher holders of their rights, and ensure credit is not a barrier to safe housing by eliminating the need for credit checks for voucher holders.

6. The City operates separate emergency shelter systems for different populations, like youth, domestic violence survivors and families having trouble paying rent. These systems have separate processes and do not provide equal access to services, like rental subsidies. As Mayor, how would you ensure that all New Yorkers, such as families, young adults/youth, individuals leaving institutional settings, and people fleeing domestic violence, are able to access City services that can help them maintain or gain access to permanent housing? One of the leading drivers of homelessness in New York City today is domestic violence, accounting for 41% of the family population entering homeless shelters — 90% women of color. Half of the families in shelter have Black heads of household and Black women also experience among the highest rates of interpersonal violence. Further, many single adults who enter the shelter system come from unstable homes that often include incidents of domestic violence. To address this challenge, the City and State must take a comprehensive approach that increases the capacity of the domestic violence emergency shelter system; addresses gaps in our laws so survivors who can remain safely in their homes are able to maintain their housing; provides rapid financial assistance to meet immediate needs through a Survivor Housing Stability Fund, and provides a new statewide rent supplement to assist vulnerable populations that include domestic violence survivors.

57 R

SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

R T

Question 6 continued: S

As mayor, I will commit to increasing capacity for New Yorkers (youth and adults) who require single room placement for reasons of health and safety, including those with mobility issues and/or are LGBTQ+. I will redouble efforts to specifically create and fund programs for LGBTQ+ homeless youth, including providing LGBTQ+ homeless youth with significant health, educational, workforce, and legal support and creating local 24-hour drop-in locations for LGBTQ+ youth. Additionally, on my watch, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice will be required to connect New Yorkers who are exiting the criminal legal system to a safe place to live.

As mayor, I would pursue an economic justice that includes expanded access to workforce protections that allow New Yorkers to care for themselves and their families and to maintain their livelihoods, such as paid leave, and building local community-led job networks to build economic security. Although we have won significant protections in recent years, many workers — low-wage, part-time, temporary, and gig workers — continue to fall through the cracks of our existing policies. In addition, I would create a local “network coordinator” to serve as a point person in every Community District in order to strengthen the pipeline between local businesses and residents, especially in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods where displacement is rampant.

We also must take a long-term and holistic approach to end the relentless cycle of incarceration and homelessness fueled by the criminalization of poverty and lack of sustained services that disproportionately impacts Black and brown New Yorkers. In addition to having led fights to abolish for- profit bail and eliminate mandatory court surcharges, fines, and fees in our criminal legal system, I’ve outlined a public safety blueprint to continue the work of ending the criminalization of poverty and advance a decarceral agenda for New York.

This must include refocusing our approach to mental health and substance use to reduce harm and connect New Yorkers with long-term services. Mental health and substance use are medical matters, not criminal offenses. As mayor, I would take a multi-agency, public health-focused approach, transitioning responsibilities away from NYPD and investing in alternative responses and services, as well as pursue citywide harm reduction policies.

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? I have a five-borough housing strategy to fundamentally realign New York City’s failed approach to our housing crisis and build the next generation of social housing targeted specifically for low and extremely low-income New Yorkers. My plan includes a new Universal Affordable Housing (UAH) requirement, ending 421-a, utilizing vacant city properties for those most in need of affordable housing, creating a NYC land bank and working in partnership with non-profit developers and community land trusts, and expanding home ownership opportunities.

58 R

SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

R T

Question 8 continued: S

Universal Affordable Housing The City’s inclusionary zoning program, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH), has centered the creation of affordable housing in specific neighborhoods and offers developers additional height and/or density in exchange for the construction of a certain percentage of affordable units. By every measure, MIH has been a failure. Much of this housing is not affordable to local residents; most of the housing built under the City’s ‘Housing New York’ plan is set at 80% of HUD-defined Area Median Income (AMI), or households making up to approximately $77,000 a year, or higher. As a result, instead of helping to stabilize those communities against displacement, MIH has fueled speculation and gentrification.

Under my plan, every new as-of-right development with ten or more units will be legally required to set aside a baseline of 25% of its units or 25% of its floor area for permanent, low-income affordable housing. These units would be affordable to families at an average of 60% of Area Median Income (household income of $58,000 a year for a family of three), or two parents making minimum wage and raising a child.

Ending 421-a I have called for ending the City's most expensive and least effective affordable housing program: 421-a. This program produces affordable housing units which can be above market rate in many neighborhoods — and worse, many of these units are not even created. I would end 421-a and instead redirect subsidies toward real affordable housing, using the $1.6 billion to plug financing gaps, deepen affordability levels, increase the amount of affordability, and provide good-paying jobs.

Housing for Extremely Low and Very Low-Income New Yorkers The “affordable” housing created by the current Administration’s “Housing New York” plan is too expensive for as many as 435,000 of the city’s most severely rent-burdened households. An analysis by my office found that nearly 565,000 New York households pay over half of their income for rent, are severely overcrowded, or have been in a homeless shelter for over a year.

As mayor, I would start by looking at every City-owned vacant lot -- all 2,900 of them -- as a potential site for 100%, permanently affordable housing, in tandem with the creation of an NYC Land Bank and in partnership with community-based land trusts. Under my plan, all new construction of affordable housing on City-owned properties would be targeted to the roughly 580,000 New York City households with the greatest need for affordable housing. Almost 90% of these households make less than $47,000 per year for a family of three, yet less than 25% of the City’s affordable housing is currently being built for these New Yorkers.

Housing and Supporting Homeless New Yorkers We need to take a “housing first” approach to solving homelessness and recognize that when you build affordable and supportive housing for those most in need, you relieve pressure on the marketplace for others struggling to get by. It is appalling to me that in the richest city, in the richest nation in the world, we still have more than 60,000 New Yorkers sleeping in shelters every night. That will change under my administration.

In addition to the housing policy I’ve laid out above, under my watch, the City will prioritize finding subsidized homes for shelter residents, and constructing more supportive housing for those with additional needs. And we should reform the voucher system so that they reflect actual market rates and can be easily used. I also think that the contraction in the hotel industry caused by COVID, resulting in the shuttering of some 200 hotels, offers a rare opportunity for the City to purchase hotels that may come up for sale and convert them to safe, affordable housing or shelter for a broad range of New Yorkers.

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SCOTT STRINGER E G

housing + for extremely low I First Health care of City housing

using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

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9. With respect to housing, homelessness and health, how would you structure S your senior leadership at City Hall and their agency portfolios? How do you propose to structure cross-agency collaboration and partnership between the agencies serving New Yorkers experiencing homelessness and agencies that develop and operate housing? Tackling homelessness will be a multi-agency priority when I am mayor, and that’s a message that will be sent on Day 1. One of the main reasons we have such a severe homelessness crisis today is because the City has for too long taken a siloed approach to managing the challenge, leaving it mainly up to DHS to provide shelter. But that’s the wrong approach. We need to recognize that the root causes of homelessness are varied, and that the best way to combat homelessness is by preventing it in the first place.

We need to recognize that individuals do not only enter the shelter system by eviction—many enter after being in a hospital, a correctional facility, or other social service entity. Each time a City agency or institution interacts with a person, it is a chance to stop homelessness before it starts with an integrated, citywide approach. However, only DHS is graded in the Mayor’s Management Report on whether it is taking steps to reduce homelessness. As Mayor, I will hold all agencies and institutions accountable for proactively intervening before individuals enter the shelter system.

I will also involve advocates and those with lived experience of homelessness in developing strategies -- as I have in the past. When I was Manhattan Borough President, my office partnered in 2007 with Picture the Homeless to count every vacant lot and building in Northern Manhattan. More than 150 volunteers hit the streets to walk every block, and by the end of the process we had counted over 1,700 abandoned buildings and 500 vacant lots. That work continues to inform my thinking around city-owned vacant lots and the role they could play in helping to build a new generation of social housing.

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? If we’re going to tackle the homelessness crisis, then we must invest in results. We need to take a full review of relevant social service contracts to ensure that they are aligned with our goal of ending and preventing homelessness. For example, we should ensure that social services that support New Yorkers do not disincentivize permanent housing and create a self-fulfilling prophecy of furthering housing instability, but link New Yorkers to stable longer-term supports. We also need to ensure that contracts are geared toward lowering the overall need for services, and that service providers are accountable to outcomes and rewarded for helping New Yorkers out of homelessness. To do this, the City must work with providers to reform the procurement and contracting process so service providers on the frontlines of our homelessness crises actually get paid on time (an issue my office has investigated and pushed the City on) and pilot new contracts that center outcomes.

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JOYCELYN L Y

TAYLOR** A T

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website taylorfor2021.com

Include Increase Increase housing Housing flexibility people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership for extremely low First of City housing vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Joycelyn Taylor supports a housing first model, which she defines as “find[ing] individuals and families permanent housing as the first option before putting them into a shelter system.” Taylor plans to provide all New Yorkers experiencing homelessness with stable housing that includes supportive resources such as employment help and mental health services. She supports expanding affordable housing by converting empty office buildings and vacant real estate into permanent housing, and she plans to make housing affordable by “basing rentals on neighborhood median income and not on greater metro area median income, and mov[ing] away from a lottery system and towards a more needs-based system for housing.” Taylor is also committed to increasing the monetary value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies.

**This summary of Joycelyn Taylor’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

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MAYA I

WILEY* W Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: mayawileyformayor.com

Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Include flexibility people w. lived experience w. homelessness in leadership First Health care of City housing for extremely low vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Maya Wiley sees homelessness as an “eviction and affordability crisis” and her housing-related plans focus on protecting New Yorkers from eviction, supporting small and nonprofit landlords who are struggling with nonpayments of rent and rapidly rehousing families experiencing homelessness. Wiley states that she “support[s] a Housing First model, and believe[s] we should build on its success by moving homeless individuals to subsidized housing and then linking them to support services.” Her strategy includes investing in permanent supportive housing and SROs, and she recommends converting about one hundred hotels into permanent supportive housing. She proposes further expanding the city’s affordable housing stock by using vacant and underused property and stimulating non-profit housing development. Wiley also plans to expand the eligibility criteria for and increase the voucher value of city-funded rental assistance subsidies. *This summary of Maya Wiley’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website and answers to the Open Hearts Initiative questionnaire.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? "In the long term, the best defense against homelessness and displacement is ensuring that New York’s housing stock is safe and truly affordable for all New Yorkers. We need to build on the success of the housing first model by moving homeless individuals to subsidized housing and then linking them to support services."

"We need a plan to: 1. Provide long-term solutions and stability instead of continuing the destabilizing pattern of providing month-by-month aid that does nothing to ease the painful psychic burden of housing uncertainty; 2. Stop New Yorkers hit by the crisis from being evicted; 3. Help small and nonprofit landlords who cannot afford to absorb the loss of nonpayments; and 4. Address the reality that many families will still fall into homelessness and require rapid relief to remain in, or return to, housing." Source: Candidate website and Open Hearts Initiative questionnaire

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. “I support a Housing First model, and believe we should build on its success by moving homeless individuals to subsidized housing and then linking them to support services. We would save money by investing in permanent supportive housing and models such as supported SROS. Next, public housing MUST remain public. Within that, we need to find creative solutions to fund public housing, especially with NYCHA facing $40 billion in capital needs."

Source: Open Hearts Initiative questionnaire

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MAYA WILEY L I

Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Include flexibility people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership W First Health care of City housing for extremely low vouchers income New Yorkers

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? "A 2019 analysis by the Coalition for the Homeless found that it costs the city $47,000 a year to provide emergency shelter to a single adult and $82,000 for a family. When taking into account emergency shelter, emergency room visits, and longer shelter stays, a single eviction costs the City $8,000. An estimated 400,000 families are on the brink of eviction, meaning the cost of evictions for the public is conservatively estimated to be nearly $3.2 billion."

"But in order to keep people in their homes, and realize the humanitarian benefits and financial savings from doing so, we need to make a significant initial investment in direct rent relief."

Source: Candidate website

"We must increase the City FHEPs subsidy from the current $1200 per month and restructure it so that homeless New Yorkers can actually afford an apartment. Under the current system, less than 5% of voucher recipients are able to find an affordable apartment."

Source: Candidate website and Open Hearts Initiative questionnaire

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? "Creating a new partnership with area law schools and pro-bono legal partners to introduce a community lawyering model. The program will provide legal counsel at the building level in cases where a significant number of tenants are facing eviction. This program would build on the existing legal infrastructure that has developed to provide counsel to individuals. One lawyer or team of lawyers would represent the interests of the tenants in the building. The attorney/attorneys would be better able to get to know building conditions and management and be better able to negotiate more effective agreements on behalf of tenants."

Source: Candidate website

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MAYA WILEY L I

Increase Increase housing Housing Housing is Include flexibility people w. lived experience w. homelessness in

leadership W First Health care of City housing for extremely low vouchers income New Yorkers

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? "We need to look for opportunities to expand our affordable housing stock by converting tax liens, buying up properties left behind in the wake of COVID and stimulating more non-profit housing development. With almost half a million people living in public housing– including many workers essential to NYC’s success- we need to prioritize the stabilization and restoration of this critical asset."

"We (also) need to find ways to immediately house people. Approximately 4,000 people are sleeping on the streets on any given night. At the same time, around 100 hotels will likely go bankrupt due to the pandemic. As Mayor, I will explore ways for the city to acquire these properties to convert them into permanently supportive housing."

Source: Candidate website and Open Hearts Initiative questionnaire

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ISAAC G I

WRIGHT** R W Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website wrightfornyc2021.com

Increase housing Expand capacity of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

for extremely low income New Yorkers

Summary Isaac Wright believes housing is a human right, and that New York City needs a comprehensive system of housing for those experiencing homelessness. He proposes rezoning for the purpose of building new affordable housing and increasing mandates for affordable housing integration in all new residential construction. He plans to convert empty lots and abandoned buildings into subsidized communities for rehabilitation and job placement. Wright also supports the continuation of the current mayor’s plan of “opening 1,000 new ‘safe haven’ beds [and] converting 1,000 privately-owned housing units into new permanent housing.”

**This summary of Isaac Wright’s plan to end and prevent homelessness was drafted using publicly available information from the candidate’s website.

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ANDREW A YANG Y

Party Affiliation: Democrat

Candidate website: yangforny.com

Measurable goals Increase Housing Centralized flexibility Expand capacity Increase housing leadership managing of safe havens (low-barrier shelters)

housing + of City housing First homelessness for extremely low using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

Summary Andrew Yang wants to achieve “meaningful gains in reducing our shelter population and street homelessness,” specifically reducing street homelessness by 50 percent and reducing the shelter population by 20 percent. In his first year in office, Yang’s goal is to reduce the average length of stay in the shelter system by a third. Yang also plans to increase the number of drop-in shelter sites by 20 percent. He plans to address homelessness as part of his anti-poverty agenda, including providing universal basic income payments to increase the household income of the 500,000 poorest New Yorkers. Yang also proposes expanding the supply of deeply affordable housing through capital funding and density bonuses for private development. Finally, Yang wants to invest in “diversion” programming to prevent homelessness, including expanding the right to counsel program so more New Yorkers threatened with eviction can obtain legal representation.

1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City? There are far too many homeless individuals and families who live on the streets and reside in our shelters. As mayor, my anti-poverty agenda speaks directly to the core of this problem, seeking to uplift 500,000 of the City’s poorest through a basic income so that they can have a fighting chance.

We also must expand the support of deeply affordable housing. One of my administration's first housing priorities will be creating a program of forgivable grants and regulatory relief to facilitate conversions of underutilized hotel and office space to supportive and permanent affordable housing. In addition, my affordable housing plan is designed to expand the overall supply of affordable housing by allowing for the creation of microunits, accessory dwelling units, and coliving uses, which, when deeply affordable, would mainly be rented to single adults who would be the most likely to be shelters. My affordable housing plan also includes a reformed Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program which provides additional density and Floor Area Ratio (“FAR”) bonuses for the creation of deeply affordable units, some of which can be microunits.

I also understand that homelessness is the end result of the housing instability that affects millions of New Yorkers. I will prevent displacement and assist rent burdened New Yorkers through expanding the right to counsel to cover income up to 400% of the poverty line and undocumented New Yorkers, develop eviction diversion programs, and enforce the City’s source of income discrimination laws to help ensure more working families have a permanent, affordable place to live. 2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First. Yes, we must make meaningful gains in reducing our shelter population and street homelessness and this includes taking a housing first approach. Instead of having homeless people languishing in expensive shelters for a year or more, I would move to have those identified as homeless and living on the streets become eligible for supportive housing and expedited into their own apartments, in other words Housing First. The programs and policies I would use to create that housing is explained in response to question 1.

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Measurable goals Increase A Housing Centralized flexibility Expand capacity Increase housing leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) Y

housing + of City housing First homelessness for extremely low using shared data vouchers income New Yorkers

3. As Mayor, would you support setting measurable goals for reducing and ending homelessness in New York City? If so, what metrics will you commit to tracking and publicly sharing as part of your plan to prevent and end homelessness? If not, why? Absolutely. I believe metrics, gathering good data and laying out clear goals will keep my administration accountable. Here are my goals:

Reduce the street homelessness population by 50% in my first term Double the number of drop-in sites from 7 to 14 Establish a 20% reduction in the sheltered population over four years Reduce the length of stay in the shelter system by ⅓ in a year

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? We need to do all we can to expand shelter capacity in a way that will be used by individuals and families who need it. This includes increased drop in centers while at risk individuals are waiting for supportive housing or placement into the more desirable Safe Haven shelters. These drop in centers provide food, clothing, showers, medical care, and a social worker. The city only has seven drop in centers, and I propose that we double the number to 14 so that people can get off the streets easily and find a place to go instead of riding the subways. I will also increase the number of Safe Haven shelters which have been successful in moving people off the streets and subways.

5. Right now, most households and individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City have to spend 90 days in a city shelter before becoming eligible for City rental assistance. In your administration, who would be eligible for City rental assistance, and how would these New Yorkers access City rental assistance? Another important weapon to reduce shelter population is rental assistance programs. Although there has been some success in the past with these programs, we are now at a point where the city’s payment structure is substantially less than what landlords will accept. For example the city’s rental assistance program, Family Homeless and Eviction Prevention Supplement (“FHEPS”) will only pay approximately $1,600 a month for a family of four while Federal Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers pays $2000 a month. This difference results in landlords refusing to accept FHEPS vouchers while they wait for a Housing Choice Voucher. It is ridiculous that due to a gap of a few hundred dollars a month, families are remaining in shelters which cost $6000 a month. I will immediately move to make the city’s rental assistance program equivalent to the section 8 standards. I will also hold landlords accountable if they refuse to accept the vouchers. Tenants who are on the verge of eviction and are paying more than 50% of their income on rent would be eligible for rental assistance to help them stay out of shelter. In addition, we’re going to push the State to pass the Home Stability Support Bill, which provides a rent supplement of 85% of the difference between the fair market value of a two bedroom apartment ($1,951) in NYC and the current shelter supplement.

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ANDREW YANG N A Measurable goals Increase Increase housing Housing Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) Y

housing + for extremely low First of City housing using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? It is estimated that nearly 50% of the clients in single adult shelters have a mental illness and this number is greater with the street homeless. However, between 2014 and 2018 we lost 15% of the psychiatric beds. I would work closely with the state to substantially increase the number of psychiatric beds and provide mental health services in all single shelters not just specialized shelters. In addition, I would work with the state prison system to get them from sending nearly 5,000 recently released prisoners into the shelter system every year. The state must do a better job of discharge planning including halfway houses. As noted in my response to question 1, I would also enlist owners of Class B residential buildings and obsolete commercial buildings, as well as developers, to create more affordable housing. My administration would offer forgivable grants and regulatory relief for owners who convert, with larger forgivable grants for conversions to supportive housing and/or deeply affordable housing. My Reformed MIH program would offer additional FAR and density bonuses in exchange for more deeply affordable housing in new developments.

8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low- income New Yorkers? Due to the disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have a once in a generation opportunity to transform large swaths of New York City into affordable housing. As explained above, one of my administration’s first affordable housing initiatives would be to offer forgivable grants and regulatory relief to owners of Class B residential buildings and obsolete commercial office buildings who convert their properties to affordable housing and/or supportive housing. I estimate that we can create about 25,000 new units of affordable housing from this program by 2025.

In addition, I would use New York’s existing housing stock more creatively to expand supply. I would reform arcane laws that place arbitrary caps on the number of unrelated individuals who can share dwelling units in multi-family buildings and relax prohibitions on separate and independent living in dwelling units in multi-family builds. I would also ease the restrictions on the creation of rooming units. Reforming these parts of the City code will allow for the creation of more SRO-type residencies and legalize coliving, create thousands of new housing opportunities, much of it affordable. I’m also going to encourage the creation of microunits (also known as tiny homes and Small Efficiency Dwelling Units) by decreasing the Dwelling Unit Factor (the number of dwellings permitted on a lot depending on the allowable FAR) so that buildings with micro-units are permitted additional density and legalize accessory dwelling units (“ADUs”) so that basement occupancies, and additional dwellings built in the backyards of single family homes, are legal. 68 G

ANDREW YANG N A Measurable goals Increase Increase housing Housing Centralized flexibility Expand capacity leadership managing of safe havens

(low-barrier shelters) Y

housing + for extremely low First of City housing using shared data homelessness vouchers income New Yorkers

Question 8 continued:

Finally, I support upzoning dense and transit rich communities and, through a Reformed MIH program in those upzoned areas. I’m going to give additional FAR bonus and density bonus to developers who commit to deep affordability (20% of units affordable to households earning less than 40% of AMI). Buildings using Reformed MIH would be allowed to contain micro-units and would be required to contain 25% three bedroom units, creating deeply affordable housing for New York’s lowest income working families. Expanding access to affordable housing for low income New Yorkers also requires revamping the way the City connects low income New Yorkers to suitable housing. That starts with rethinking “Housing Connect” (the website where income restricted units are marketed) as a mobile first platform accessible through a NYCApp, especially because the only internet connectivity low income New Yorkers often have is through their phones.

10. As Mayor, how would you use our City’s administrative tools, such as contracts with service providers, to promote long-term housing stability, prevent homelessness and reduce the number of New Yorkers living in our city’s shelter system? Those organizations that provide shelter would be given specific goals with timelines on obtaining jobs and securing housing for their clients. The average length of stay in all of our shelters has greatly increased and this trend must be reversed. Providers that don’t meet these agreed upon goals will be held accountable.

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V V V

How to Register and Vote

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in the 2021 New York City O

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Municipal Election

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Important Dates and Deadlines W

O O O The important dates and deadlines you need to know to register, vote-by-mail or early vote for

the upcoming citywide primary and general elections in New York City are:

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Primary Election Day: Registration Deadline for The citywide primary the Citywide Primary Election : May 28 election for registered Mail-In Ballot Request Democratic and Deadline : June 15 Early Voting Dates : Republican voters in New June 12-June 20 York City is Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Registration Deadline for General Election Day: the Citywide General The citywide general Election : October 8 Mail-In Ballot Request election in New York Deadline : October 26 City is Tuesday, Absentee Ballot Return Deadline : November 2 November 2, 2021 Early Voting Dates : October 23 - October 31

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Primary Election Calendar V

Registration Deadline for the Citywide Primary Election : May 28 O

May 28 is the last day for New Yorkers to register to vote in the citywide primary election. New Yorkers T can register to vote by either applying in person at the Board of Elections or by sending in their application

via mail to the Board of Elections. W To apply in person at your local Board of Elections office, visit the office located in your home borough. You

can find your local Board of Elections office by visiting: https://vote.nyc/page/contact-us. O To register to vote online, visit: https://nycvotes.turbovote.org/?r=votingnyc to submit your application

through the NYC Votes website. H

To register to vote by mail, visit voting.nyc/register and fill out and print the registration form and send it to the Board of Elections office that is located in your borough. The mailed application must be postmarked on or before May 28, and received by the Board of Elections by June 2.

Vote-By-Mail Ballot Request Deadline : June 15

Due to COVID, all New Yorkers are eligible to vote by mail for the upcoming election. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot is June 15. There are several ways New Yorkers can request their ballot:

Online at nycabsentee.com Email a completed, signed request form to [email protected] Use the "Translate" button at Mail a request form to your local borough office nycabsentee.com to Call 1-866-VOTE-NYC (1-866-868-3692) request the ballot in other languages Fax a request form to 212-487-5349

If you are visually impaired or have a disability, you may request an accessible absentee ballot that can be read by a screen reader at nycabsentee.com/accessibility.

Absentee Ballot Return Deadline : June 22

New Yorkers must postmark their ballots or submit completed absentee ballots to their borough’s Board of Elections office by June 22. New York City voters who mail their ballots must use stamps to send their ballots via the USPS. Voters can track their ballots to confirm that it has been received by the Board of Elections using this website: nycabsentee.com/tracking.

Early Voting Dates : June 12 - June 20

Early voting for the New York City primary election starts on June 12 and ends on June 20, 2021. New Yorkers who would like to vote early should check their polling location, since it may differ from where you go to vote on Election Day.

Visit the New York City Board of Elections’s website to find your poll site for early voting: https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

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General Election Calendar O V

Registration Deadline for the Citywide General Election : October 8 O

October 8 is the last day for New Yorkers to register to vote in the citywide general election. New Yorkers T can register to vote by either applying in person at the Board of Elections or by sending in their application via mail to the Board of Elections.

To apply in person at your local Board of Elections office, visit the office located in your home borough. You W

through the NYC Votes website. H To register to vote by mail, visit voting.nyc/register and fill out and print the registration form and send it to the Board of Elections office that is located in your borough. The mailed application must be postmarked on or before October 8, and received by the Board of Elections by October 13.

Vote-By-Mail Ballot Request Deadline : October 26

Due to COVID, all New Yorkers are eligible to vote by mail for the upcoming election. The deadline to request a mail ballot is October 26. There are several ways New Yorkers can request their ballot:

If you are visually impaired or have a disability, you may request an accessible absentee ballot that can be read by a screen reader at nycabsentee.com/accessibility.

Absentee Ballot Return Deadline : November 2

New Yorkers must postmark their ballots or submit completed absentee ballots to their borough Board of Elections office by November 2. New York City voters who mail their ballots must use stamps to send their ballots via the USPS. Voters can track their ballots to confirm that it has been received by the Board of Elections using this website: nycabsentee.com/tracking.

Early Voting Dates : October 23 - 31

Early voting for the New York City general election starts on October 23 and ends on October 31, 2021. New Yorkers who would like to vote early should check their polling location, since it may differ from where to vote on Election Day.

Visit the New York City Board of Elections’s website to find your poll site for early voting: https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

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How to Register to Vote V

To register in New York State and participate in the New York City municipal election, you must be: O A citizen of the United States

A resident of New York State and New York City (any of the five boroughs) for at least 30 days before T Election Day 16 and 17 year olds who live in New York City and are United States citizens, may preregister to vote, but cannot vote until they are 18

Not in prison or on parole for a felony conviction (unless parolee pardoned or restored rights of W citizenship) Not currently be judged incompetent by a court Not claim the right to vote elsewhere O

To check whether you are registered to vote in New York City, visit the New York State Board of Elections H voter registration search website: voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.

Make a Plan to Vote Whether you plan to vote by mail or in-person, early or day-of, it’s important to decide how you are going to vote and make a plan.

For mail-in voting, be sure to meet all the registration, application and submission deadlines to ensure your vote is counted.

In-person voting may take more planning. Once you decide whether you want to vote early or on Election Day, confirm where your polling place is and when it’s open. Remember, early voting locations and schedules may be different than Election Day.

Once you’ve determined when and where you'll vote, make your plan by considering the following questions which might impact when you plan to vote:

What time of day are you going, and are you prepared to wait in line? What type of transportation do you need? Do you need childcare? What’s the weather looking like for the day you plan on voting in person?

Having a plan for when you’ll vote ensures that you’ll get to the polls on time and that your voice will be heard! Stay Informed Over the coming months, there will be lots of opportunities to learn more about the candidates and find ways to engage with the campaigns to get a better understanding of their plans and priorities. To help you stay informed, here are the dates for the official primary election debates, which will be broadcast on television and radio:

May 13: Democratic mayoral candidate debate May 26: Republican mayoral candidate debate June 2: Democratic mayoral candidate debate June 6: Republican mayoral candidate debate 'leading contenders' June 16: Democratic mayoral candidate debate 'leading contenders'

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Ranked Choice Voting O

Ranked Choice Voting is a voting method that will be used citywide for the first time in this year's primary H election. In 2019, 73.5% of New York City voters approved a ballot measure to implement ranked choice voting. Going forward, all municipal citywide, borough president and city council primaries or special elections will use ranked choice voting.

Rank choice voting allows voters to rank their top five candidates in order of preference. The candidate that obtains 50% of the vote wins the primary election and will represent their party as their nominee for the general election race in November. If none of the candidates in the primary race receives 50% of the vote, then the candidate in last place is eliminated. Voters who had ranked that overall last place candidate first have their votes transferred to the candidate they ranked second. This process continues until a single candidate gathers a majority of the vote and is declared the winner.

Ranked choice voting has been shown to make political campaigns less negative, and increase the number of women as well as people of color who run for office. Previously, New York City primaries used a plurality voting method also known as “first-past-the-post,” where voters each select one candidate per office and the candidate with the most votes wins. New York City general elections, as well as state and national election races, will continue to use plurality voting.

To learn more about ranked choice voting, we recommend the following articles and videos:

The City summarized what New Yorkers need to know about ranked choice voting and how it will work and answered reader questions about this new voting method.

NYC’s Campaign Finance Board published a list of frequently asked questions about this new voting method. The FAQ list is available in multiple languages so that more New Yorkers can access this important information.

Ester Fuchs and Nicholas Stabile explain the history of ranked choice voting and detail how ranked choice voting will affect the election in New York City in a recent CityLand article.

Rank the Vote NYC, a nonprofit that championed bringing ranked choice voting to NYC, has lots of educational resources on their website for voters and nonprofit/community organizations.

Minnesota Public Radio created a helpful video explaining ranked choice voting in advance of Minneapolis' implementation of ranked choice voting in 2013.

City & State published an article that details how ranked choice voting will work in New York City for the upcoming primary election.

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List of Acronyms & Glossary N

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ACS: New York City Administration for Children’s Services O R

ADU: Accessory Dwelling Unit R R

AMI: Area Median Income

C C CDCs: Community Development Corporations C

CityFHEPS: City Family Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement

A A DCP: New York City Department of City Planning A DFTA: New York City Department for the Aging DHS: New York City Department of Homeless Services DOH: New York City Department of Health DSS: New York City Department of Social Services DYCD: New York City Department of Youth and Community Development FAR: Floor Area Ratio H+H: New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation HPD: New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development HRA: New York City Human Resources Administration HUD: United States Department of Housing and Urban Development LGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning and inclusive of the other ways for a person to define their sexual orientation or gender identity LIRR: Long Island Rail Road MIH: Mandatory Inclusionary Housing MTA: Metropolitan Transit Authority NYCEDC: New York City Economic Development Corporation NYCHA: New York City Housing Authority NYPD: New York Police Department SRO: Single Room Occupancy

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Glossary: Homelessness and Housing Terms A

S S Affordable housing: Housing that is developed or financed using federal, state or local subsidies to ensure that the cost of a housing unit is priced to be within the financial means of people who meet certain income criteria, set by the federal government. Housing is considered affordable if it costs about one-third or less O of what the people living there earn, also known as Area Median Income (AMI). The 2021 AMI for the New York City region is $107,400 for a three-person family (100% AMI). When we talk about affordable L housing, it is important to ask who (which income levels) the affordable housing is being created for, since

affordable housing is developed for all income levels. G Deeply affordable housing: Housing that is affordable to New Yorkers who are determined to be low- income households, very low income households or extremely low income households. For a family of three, low income is defined as having an annual household income between $53,701 and $85,920 (51- 80% of AMI in 2021). A very low income household, for a family of three, has an annual income between $32,221 and $53,700 (31-50% of AMI in 2021). Housing that is affordable to extremely low-income New Yorkers, have an income that is between 0-30% of AMI which translates into an annual income between $0-$32,220 for a family of three in 2021. Extremely low-income affordable housing: Housing that is affordable to New Yorkers who have an annual income that is 0-30% of AMI. For a family of three in 2021, that amounts to an income that is between $0 and $32,220 a year. For an individual in 2021, that amounts to an income that is between $0 and $25,080 a year. Community land trust: Community land trusts exist where government (or possibly another entity) gives control of a piece of land over to a nonprofit organization that then operates the land as a public good. CLTs often include affordable housing as part of the land usage. Coordinated entry system: A standardized access, assessment and referral process for connecting individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness with housing, emergency shelter and other services that can help them remain in or regain permanent, stable housing. The system allows for coordination of resources across government agencies and nonprofit/ private service providers. Drop-in center: Sites where adults who are experiencing homelessness can rest, receive food or shower/use the restroom, as well as gain access to case management and social services assistance. Drop- in centers do not provide regular, on-going overnight accommodations (i.e. a place to sleep) for people experiencing homelessness. Emergency shelter: Any facility with overnight sleeping accommodations that provides temporary shelter for people experiencing homelessness. Most shelters serve a specific population of people or households and may offer a range of appropriate onsite services. Safe havens are especially low-barrier shelters designed to offer temporary housing to people who have been sleeping rough on the streets. In NYC, there are four local government agencies that provide emergency shelter to New Yorkers in need; each agency focuses on a different group or population: The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) provides shelter services, including safe havens, for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. The Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) provides shelter services for youth and young adults experiencing homelessness. The Human Resources Administration (HRA) provides shelter services to families and individuals who are: - Experiencing homelessness due to domestic/interpersonal violence; or - Experiencing homelessness or housing vulnerability and have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) provides shelter services to families and individuals who are experiencing homelessness due to fires or city-issued vacate orders.

Homeless: A term used to describe the experience of an individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, meaning that they: (i) have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not meant for human habitation; (ii) are living in a publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements; or (iii) are exiting an institution where they have resided for 90 days or less and who resided in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation immediately before entering that institution.

Housing first: A proven homeless assistance approach that prioritizes providing permanent housing (including rental assistance vouchers, supportive housing, or other forms of affordable housing) to people experiencing homelessness, without preconditions or barriers to accessing housing that are dependent on sobriety, income, service interventions or case management.

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Performance-based contracting/results-driven contracting: A type of government procurement (i.e. A contract) that focuses on aligning data, outcomes, performance tracking and overall management with the achievement of a specific goal detailed in the service contract agreement. This type of procurement S strategy has been shown to be an effective tool for improving the outcomes of homeless services contracts. S Permanent housing: Housing that is accessed via the open market and allows a tenant or occupant to stay for the term of a lease agreement or an ownership agreement. (See also: affordable housing, supportive O

housing.) Types of permanent housing that can be legalized, and developed to help increase affordable L housing options for low-income New Yorkers, include:

Accessory dwelling units (ADUs): An additional residential building that occupies the same lot as a G primary residence; examples: guest house, detached garage with a rented apartment above. Basement apartment units: An additional residential unit in the basement of an existing housing unit. Citizens Housing and Planning Council estimates that there are between 10,000 and 38,000 basement spaces that could become new safe and legal rental housing with minimal cost and effort without pursuing amendments to the zoning resolution. Conversion and infill development: The process of developing vacant or under-used land parcels within existing plots of land to create more housing units. For example, New York City-owned properties, such as emergency shelters, can be redeveloped into affordable housing. New development on those sites for low-income housing does not require any discretionary action by the City Planning Commission or Board of Standards and Appeals. Rapid rehousing: An intervention designed to help individuals and families that don't need intensive and ongoing support services to quickly exit homelessness and return to permanent housing through targeted low- or no-barrier financial assistance and community-based social services. Rapid rehousing follows the principles of the housing first approach. Rental assistance voucher/subsidy: Government-funded programs that provide low-income individuals with money to be used towards rent in an independent apartment. Eligible households lease apartments in a neighborhood of their choice and usually pay 30% of their adjusted income towards the rent. The government subsidy covers the difference between the tenant contribution and the actual rent of the unit, up to a specified limit, and is paid directly to the landlord. The largest rental assistance voucher program in the United States is the federally funded Housing Choice Voucher program, which is also known as the Section 8 rental assistance program. In New York City, there are three city-operated rental assistance programs used to help New Yorkers afford their rent: CityFHEPS, FHEPS, and SOTA. Right to shelter: The legal obligation of all jurisdictions within New York State, including New York City, to provide a bed for every person who is experiencing homelessness and needs one. In New York City, if the city’s emergency shelters are full, people cannot be turned away, which is why the city also uses commercial hotels to provide emergency shelter to New Yorkers in need. Safe haven: See emergency shelter. Social housing: Social housing is a type of affordable housing that has been de-commodified, typically through government intervention. While the government is typically involved with initially developing a social housing project by giving control of land over to a nonprofit entity, ongoing control of the building is held by the tenant community/association. Rent is in line with what is needed to operate the building without a profit margin.

Street homelessness services/outreach: Specialized services targeted towards individuals who are sleeping rough on the streets or other places not intended for human habitation. These services look to help transition a person from the streets into an emergency shelter or housing and can include case management, health care and assistance obtaining public benefits.

Supportive housing: A type of permanent affordable housing that also provides intensive person-centered services, including case management, health services and other social services. (See permanent housing). Supportive housing services people experiencing mental illness, substance use conditions and/or chronic health conditions who have a history of homelessness. While intensive services are offered as a feature, residents are not explicitly required to use the services. Residents typically contribute 30% of their income towards rent.

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Additional Resources R

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Housing and Homelessness Policy Plans from

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New York City Organizations: O

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E E In addition to RxHome's recommendations, a number of nonprofit and advocacy organizations have E released policy recommendations for the next set of New York City elected officials around housing and

homelessness. We’re listing them here, in order of release, for New Yorkers to reference while making

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United 4 Housing: Affordable Housing Recommendations for New York City’s Next Mayor Released Nov 2020 Enterprise Project Parachute Eviction Prevention Recommendations Released Jan 2021 Right to a Roof Coalition: Demands for an Integrated Housing Plan to End Homelessness and Promote Racial Equity Released Feb 2021 Human.NYC #HumanPlan Released March 2021 The People’s Plan NYC: Housing Platform Released March 2021 Supportive Housing Network of New York: Reinvest, Recover, Revitalize: Supportive Housing Solutions for a Better New York Released April 2021 NYU Furman Center 302.6: How New York’s Next Mayor Can Shape Land Use and Planning Released Feb-April 2021 (6 parts) Citizens Housing Planning Council: A New Lens for NYC's Housing Plan Rolling

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RxHome Questionnaire Sent to Campaigns C

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Preventing and Ending Homelessness R 1. What is your plan for ending and preventing homelessness in New York City?

2. As Mayor, would you commit to ending homelessness and implementing a Housing First approach? In your response, please explain how you define Housing First.

4. What is the role of emergency shelter in helping New Yorkers at risk of or experiencing homelessness? 5. Right now, most households and individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City have to spend 90 days in a city shelter before becoming eligible for City rental assistance. In your administration, who would be eligible for City rental assistance, and how would these New Yorkers access City rental assistance?

7. Beyond the housing and social service landscape, which sectors would your administration engage to help prevent and end homelessness? What role can those other sectors play in your administration’s work to prevent and end homelessness? Affordable Housing for Low-Income New Yorkers 8. How would you expand access to affordable housing in New York City for low-income New Yorkers? Government Operations and Leadership

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E E Acknowledgements E

We would like to thank: the mayoral campaigns for their time meeting with us and

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responding to the candidate questionnaire; the RxHome Board members for their support: M

E E Chichi Anyoku, Marisa Tugultschinow, Monsignor Donald Sakano, Rosanne Haggerty, and E Sarah Lux-Lee; the people and organizations with whom we shared thoughtful

conversations on housing policy in NYC: the New York Housing Conference, Citizens

G G Housing and Planning Commission, Community Solutions, The Door, Partnership for Faith G

Based Affordable Housing Development, Prof. Ester Fuchs, Dr. Kelly Doran, Anastasia

D D Vournas, the Health & Housing Consortium, HOMEworks, Human.NYC, Dr. Deborah D

Padgett, VOCAL-NY, Neighbors Together, Housing Justice For All, Homeless Services

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United, Open Hearts Initiative, New Destiny Housing, Coalition for Homeless Youth, E

L L Citizens’ Committee for Children, Coalition for the Homeless, Homes for the Homeless, L Marc Dones and Shams DaBaron; RxHome’s funders for supporting our work; our former colleagues in city government for their continued commitment to this city during the

pandemic; Margy Levinson for her dedication to our mission and messaging; RxHome’s

W W supporters, who are committed to creating a New York City where homelessness is a rare, W

brief and one time experience; and our fearless organizing team at RxHome for their

O O unlimited positivity and tireless work to ensure that everything RxHome does empowers O New Yorkers to work together to create a city where everyone has a place to call home: Asia

Thomas, Jordan Renouf, Keyla Marte, Griffin Patterson, Caneese Betances, Jacob Arevalo,

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Jaylen Collins, Patience McFarlane, Steffani Rouse, and Xyaire Ford. N

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Written and compiled by Zayba Abdulla, Erin Kelly and Caitlin LaCroix (May 2021)

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RXHOME IS BUILDING THE PUBLIC DEMAND AND POLITICAL WILL TO END HOMELESSNESS IN NYC. JOIN US BY SIGNING OUR PETITION AT RXHOME.NYC + FOLLOW US @RXHOMENYC