Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Steve Banks

Steve Banks

  • City Continues Expansion of Online Access to Public Benefits

    36965187101 44c6065886 c

    Online access is key (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    With New York City still in the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing shift to a more digital world, the city’s Human Resources Administration is continuing its efforts to expand online access to services for low-income New Yorkers.

    The shift is meant to improve delivery of services and, more importantly, provide people with flexibility and convenience in accessing benefits, “which means not taking time from work or family,” said Steven Banks, former

    ...
  • Steven Banks on 'Welfare' Reform, Fighting Homelessness, and the De Blasio Record

    de Blasio homelessness steve banks

    Steven Banks, left, with Mayor de Blasio (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    As the de Blasio administration comes to a close, the mayor and his top commissioners have been reflecting on their legacies. Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly said over the years that his biggest failure was on homelessness, acknowledging that he did not fully grasp the degree of the problems involved and the necessary solutions. He has said in recent weeks that he believes the administration started to really get things moving in the right direction as his

    ...
  • Max Politics Podcast: Commissioner Steve Banks on the De Blasio Administration's Social Services Record

    50196001981 2cbba03531 c

    NYC Social Services Commissioner Steven Banks (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    December 20, 2021 - Max Politics Podcast: Commissioner Steve Banks on the De Blasio Administration's Social Services Record

    Steve Banks, who has led major social services and homelessness efforts under Mayor Bill de Blasio for the entire eight-year administration, joined the show to discuss the reforms he's ushered in and the administration's record on public benefits, homelessness, and more.

    Listen to the

    ...
  • De Blasio's Shelter Plan Moves Ahead

    3 may first lady intake

    Mayor de Blasio at a homeless shelter (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    “We’ve opened shelters in communities that have never had shelters before,” New York City Social Services Commissioner Steve Banks said in October, at an online event hosted by New York Law School that took place amid controversy over Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to move homeless men from the Lucerne Hotel on the Upper West Side after uproar from some local residents.

    Banks alluded to the de Blasio administration’s “Turning the Tide” initiative, a plan to

    ...
  • City Sees Crush of Public Assistance Applications as Coronavirus Recession Takes Hold

    New Yorkers seek assistance

    New Yorkers wait on line for food (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    As New York City shut down amid the coronavirus outbreak, and hundreds of thousands of people lost their jobs and livelihoods, the city saw a massive increase in applications for food stamps and cash assistance.

    According to new data from the city’s Human Resources Administration and Department of Social Services, applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly referred to as food stamps, and for cash assistance have surged since the

    ...
  • Max & Murphy Podcast: The City's Fight Against Homelessness

    bellevue intake wbai600

    Steve Banks, right, with the Mayor and First Lady (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    September 18, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: The City's Fight Against Homelessness

    dss commissioner banks wbai 150Steve Banks, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services and Mayor de Blasio's homelessness czar, joined the show to discuss the city's fight against

    ...
  • Proposed Changes to ‘Public Charge’ and Access to City Benefits: What To Know

    24128710992 658f50cdcf z

    (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    New Yorkers know that it is the city government’s job to make sure that they’re taken care of. We fill potholes, pick up the trash, clean the streets, clear the drains, prune the trees - you name it.

    But that’s not all we do. And while we faced many challenges as a city and as a nation in 2018, New Yorkers continue to step up and help their neighbors in need.

    Through our public health facilities, tens of thousands of dedicated professionals help their fellow New Yorkers put food on the table, help

    ...
  • City Increasingly Paying Back Rent to Keep Tenants from Homelessness

    de Blasio homelessness

    De Blasio discusses homelessness (photo: Edwin J. Torres/Mayor's Office)


    In the effort to fight a steady, decades-long rise in homelessness, the de Blasio administration has significantly increased the city’s rental assistance programs over the past four years. A variety of programs including vouchers for those seeking to reenter stable housing from shelter, the effort also entails paying back rent for those at risk of losing their apartments.

    Known as “rent arrears” payments, the de Blasio administration has dedicated

    ...
  • 10 Key Data Points from Social Services Budget Hearing

    Corey Johnson hearing

    City Council Member Corey Johnson (photo: William Alatriste)


    The City Council General Welfare Committee conducted a budget hearing Monday to evaluate the programs, expenditures, and needs of the Human Resource Administration (HRA) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS). Steven Banks, Commissioner of the Department of Social Services (DSS), which oversees both HRA and DHS, provided testimony for the two agencies before taking questions from concerned Council members.

    Though HRA provides a wide variety of services -- including job training

    ...
  • Opposing Shelters Won’t End the Housing Crisis

    Crowley Maspeth shelter

    Council Member Crowley opposes a shelter in Maspeth (photo via Twitter)


    On Wednesday night I attended my community board meeting on a proposed homeless shelter in Maspeth, Queens. The city Commissioner of Social Services, Steve Banks, was there, along with hundreds of residents who are against the shelter. I was one of just a handful of homeless and housing rights advocates in the audience.

    Though I was horrified by the residents who chose to

    ...
  • Mixed Bag in Latest Government Efforts Fighting Homelessness, Providers Say

    coalition for the homeless protest


    On Thursday, June 23, the two leaders of Coalition for the Homeless, Mary Brosnahan and Shelly Nortz, talked with Ben Max of Gotham Gazette and Jarrett Murphy of City Limits about where things stand in terms of city and state efforts to curb homelessness. The discussion centered around the recent end of legislative session in Albany and the fate of nearly $2 billion in state money dedicated, but not released, for homelessness prevention and affordable housing. City efforts to improve homelessness prevention, shelter conditions,

    ...