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Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins and Speaker Heastie: Stand up to Governor Cuomo and Finally House Homeless New Yorkers Like Me


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Housing on the agenda (photo: governor's office)


I was born in The Bronx and lived there for most of my life until I lost my housing and became homeless over five years ago. I've missed my home -- The Bronx is where I grew up and where I graduated from high school. My roots and my community are there but like most shelter residents, I was sent to facilities in parts of the city that I was totally unfamiliar with.

Across New York State, 92,000 people are homeless. For a decade, Governor Cuomo has ignored people living in shelters. He’s disparaged people living on the streets. Now the New York State Legislature has the opportunity to undo some of the governor’s harms against us by funding the Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) and the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act (HONDA) in the new state budget that is due by Thursday, April 1.

HAVP is a statewide Section-8 style housing subsidy to help us pay for housing. HONDA is a program to convert financially distressed hotels and commercial spaces to permanent housing for homeless and low-income New Yorkers.

I have come to learn that homelessness is a multibillion-dollar business. It’s the only business I know of where the customer is always wrong. When I first entered the shelter system, I never thought that I would be stuck here for so long. I never imagined I would live through a global pandemic at first in a congregate shelter with 19 other men and then in a shared hotel room where I still could not shelter in place safely.

We are demonized, dehumanized, and demoralized. Every day our bags are rifled through as we re-enter the shelter. We’re controlled by everchanging draconian and arbitrary rules. At times we aren’t allowed to bring our own cleaning supplies in. Despite having a microwave inside our rooms, we aren't allowed to prepare certain meals. Sometimes we can’t bring condiments as basic as salt and onion powder inside the shelter. And even though the shelter only supplies a small bar of soap and toilet paper every other day, some toiletries have been taken from residents.

I’m exhausted and so are the other men that live in the shelter with me. My life feels like it's at a standstill until I can find my own permanent home and regain my autonomy. 

Right now too few resources exist to help homeless New Yorkers escape homelessness.The City’s housing voucher doesn't work because the amount it pays is too low to meet average rents in New York City. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stood inside the train station to connect to wifi because our shelter doesn’t have it, and to apply for any apartment that was available through the city’s affordable housing lottery. 

That’s why I’m fighting for HAVP and HONDA. It finally feels like there’s some hope this year and that our leaders are listening to us. After years of inaction by our state, the State Senate took a meaningful step to help homeless New Yorkers by including funding for HAVP and HONDA in their one-house budget proposal. And Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie assured us last week that he’ll fight for HAVP and funding to convert distressed hotels to housing. Now Speaker Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins must stand up to Governor Cuomo, who has long stood in the way of housing for homeless people. 

I want our government to invest in New York and in solving our homelessness crisis. Even though I miss The Bronx, I’m willing to move anywhere as long as I can get my own affordable apartment and autonomy back. I look forward to doing regular things like cooking and cleaning for myself, learning to cook my favorite Puerto Rican meals, and of course finally getting some restful sleep. I want to take care of my health and get the hip and knee surgery that I’ve long put off because I know I wouldn’t be able to recuperate fully if I was in a shelter. 

Our gover nor has shown himself to be abusive and a bully. And his record on homelessness shows how little he cares about vulnerable people. Homeless New Yorkers are depending on Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins to put our state on track to end homelessness this year.

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Milton Perez is a leader of VOCAL-NY and a member of the Housing Justice for All campaign. On Twitter @VOCALNewYork.

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When the State Budget is Done, the Governor’s Cuts to Public Health Must Be Reversed


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Public health in action (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


One undeniable lesson of the COVID-19 pandemic is that those who shortchange public health put us all at risk. And if there were ever a time to appreciate the value of public health, it is now. Our local health infrastructure in New York City — which has experienced years of federal and state disinvestment — has been tested as never before. Every ounce of its capacity has been activated and we’ve felt every dime it’s been shortchanged.   

That is why we looked at the first draft of Governor Cuomo’s executive budget in disbelief. The budget presented in January included a $50 million annual cut to public health funding in New York City.

Thankfully, the State Senate and Assembly rejected these devastating cuts in their budget proposals. And the governor recently announced $5 billion in additional revenue that could prevent these cuts — and others — from happening when the new state budget is enacted by the April 1 start to the new state fiscal year.

However, the proposal reflects how some leaders continue to take public health for granted. 

Public health is not an ‘event’ that begins and ends with an emergency. It is a daily practice of identifying and addressing the issues that cause preventable suffering. The pandemic’s disproportionate impacts reflected society’s biases and how the health needs of Black and brown communities had too often been overlooked by government.

Further cuts are not just myopic, but also immoral. 

Cuts to public health take sorely needed dollars from Early Intervention programs that serve children with developmental delays. They hit Nurse Family Partnerships that support healthy pregnancies and babies through one-on-one support. Sexual health clinics, tuberculosis detection and treatment, and much more rely on vital funding to survive. Beyond these services, mental health, substance use, and developmental disability providers have all suffered cuts in the past and could again. 

All of these services are public health in action.  

In the best of times they have a lifesaving impact. During COVID-19, many have been put in the service of the emergency response. Sexual health clinics repurposed testing machines to run covid tests. Mental health hotlines admirably handled a surge in calls as stressed, grieving, and anxious New Yorkers turned to them for comfort. Nurses volunteered their services at vaccine hubs and children’s services rapidly moved to virtual programming.  

Now is the time for massive investment in public health. We cannot let history repeat itself; New York City’s economic recovery and the health of our communities depend on this budget. If we don’t commit to investing in public health now, the cost down the road will be far greater.

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Dr. Dave Chokshi is New York City’s Health Commissioner. On Twitter @NYCHealthCommr.

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We Can Prevent Nursing Home Deaths — By Investing in Home Care


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Vulnerable New Yorkers need help (photo: governor's office)


As we reached the first year anniversary of the pandemic earlier this month, there’s no disputing that overcrowded nursing homes were not the safest way to care for New York’s most vulnerable. Over 15,000 New Yorkers who died of COVID-19 contracted the virus in nursing homes and while we know that home care workers were a safer alternative for our seniors and people with disabilities, this option of care was not available to most given New York State’s current underinvestment in the home care industry.

The Legislature has been working to address the shortfalls in our long-term care system that were brought to the forefront by this pandemic. While warranted, much of that attention has been focused on nursing home reforms. But we can’t stop there. There are serious gaps in our home care industry that are just as critical. Home care workers are drastically underpaid, which has led to a shortage in care.

The Fair Pay for Home Care Act, which I co-sponsor in the New York State Senate, would enable more New Yorkers to get the care they need at home by lifting workers, who are predominantly women of color, out of poverty and creating more jobs during a time of widespread unemployment.

Two-thirds of New York’s nursing homes are for-profit, which inevitably prioritizes profit over caregiving. The Cuomo administration’s March 25 2020 covid re-admittance order only supercharged the shortcomings at many of these nursing homes, spreading the virus, in the governor’s own words, like “fire through dry grass.” Twelve months later, between 40% and 50% of COVID-19 deaths in New York state can be traced back to nursing homes.

This agonizing scale of loss was preventable by properly investing in safe alternatives to congregate settings. Home care allows people to stay in the comfort of their own home, connected to existing networks of friends and family, without sacrificing the care they need. 

Seniors who remained in their communities with the help of home care were ten times less likely to contract the virus than those in nursing homes. COVID-19 patients who struggled with long-lasting symptoms frequently recovered quicker when they received home health care after discharge.

Unfortunately, our state currently pays tireless home care workers just $22,000 a year, well below the cost of living across the state. These workers do the backbreaking, 24/7 job of providing individualized care for New Yorkers who can no longer care for themselves. They keep our loved ones safe. This is essential work, yet the entire workforce is characteristically underpaid and overworked.

Home care is also an industry long dominated by women of color. In New York, 91% of home care workers are women, 77% are people of color, and 60% are immigrants. New York’s economic development strategy largely relies on Regional Economic Development Councils that bypass job-starved communities of color. Investing in home care is an opportunity to create jobs in a sector that cares for the communities that need them most.

The solution is simple: By passing the Fair Pay for Home Care Act, we will mandate a $35,000 salary for home care workers, lifting thousands of home care workers out of poverty and bringing thousands more into the home care sector to end the workforce shortage. This raise will save the state money — generating $5.3 billion for the New York State economy by saving public benefits spending while generating increased tax revenues and boosting individual spending power.

As New Yorkers seek reliable choices for long-term care and as our population ages, we need to retain current home care workers and address the state’s widening home care workforce shortage. Investing in home care during this year’s state budget is critical to ensure we keep vulnerable New Yorkers safe while responsibly uplifting our workforce and stimulating our economy. 

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State Senator Gustavo Rivera represents parts of the Bronx and chairs the Senate’s health committee. On Twitter @NYSenatorRivera.

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