Bruce Blakeman, the GOP gubernatorial<\/a> candidate who was\u00a0flanked by his running mate,\u00a0Todd Hood, and Saritha\u00a0Komatireddy, the Republican<\/a> candidate for New York Attorney General, gave a press conference Sunday afternoon on 86th Street and 25th Avenue,\u00a0where they denounced the policies of Governor Kathy Hochul.<\/p>\n “We have places already where we can house them,” said Blakeman. “But we also have to get into a mode where we are solving the homeless problem. We don’t solve the homeless problem, we just create more homelessness.”<\/p>\n Blakeman, the current Nassau County Executive, said homeless individuals who are out of work need job training. He talked about a woman he met in Washington Square Park who had been homeless. Blakeman said she begged the city for job training, but it fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n He also pointed out that not only are there enough treatment centers for anyone with substance abuse, but people with those addictions are simply thrown into a homeless shelter. That leads to more criminal and drug activity, he said.<\/p>\n “Why put that in this beautiful community?” Blakeman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Komatireddy called the homeless crisis a nonpartisan issue by referring to the report<\/a>\u00a0by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, a Democrat, about the growing number of homeless people in the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We need to take the homeless off the streets in a humane way,” she said, adding that the amount of money spent on each homeless person last year went to waste. “We don’t have the means for an outcome. We don’t have the means for who is walking in and then\u00a0kicking them\u00a0out.”<\/p>\n Komatireddy also criticized Attorney General Letitia James for not doing enough about crime, adding that the race for the next Attorney General is about public safety. She also said Democrats should be prosecuted for spending $80,000<\/a> toward each homeless individual.<\/p>\n “We need to hold them accountable,” Komatireddy said. “They need to be audited and investigated, and that’s what I’ll do on day one.”<\/p>\n![\"bensonhurst-voters\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/bensonhurst-voters.JPG;w=960.jpeg\"\/)
\nBensonhurst voters display their support for GOP candidates during a press conference on the homeless crisis on April 26, 2026. Standing right is state Senator Steve Chan. Megan McGibney for BK Reader
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