A leak that drips on a mattress when it rains. A sewage smell in the front desk lobby. Windows that don\u2019t open.<\/p>\n
These are the conditions inside some of New York City\u2019s homeless shelters outlined in a report released Monday by the city\u2019s oldest shelter operator. The report details how the city\u2019s slow and cumbersome process for repairing its aging fleet of shelters is fueling poor conditions for residents, driving people to sleep on the street \u2014 and costing taxpayers more in the long run.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is tangible for the people living in those environments. They can feel what we think they deserve. How we design our shelters and what money we put into them reflects that commitment,\u201d said Kaitlin Abrams, public policy manager at Volunteers of America – Greater New York<\/a>, who authored the report.<\/p>\n The city\u2019s shelter population remains at record-high levels<\/a> with more people sleeping outdoors<\/a> than in the last 10 years. While the Mamdani administration has promised to create better conditions for homeless New Yorkers, shelter providers say the city needs to come up with a comprehensive plan on how it\u2019s going to fund and fix hundreds of shelters that are in desperate need of repair.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s really a matter of basic improvements taking months, if not years, to get approved and really a lack of flexibility and autonomy for the organizations,\u201d \u200asaid Jeffrey Ginsburg, CEO of Volunteers of America.<\/p>\n \u201cIt may be boring. These might be small details, but they add up to a very inefficient and very ineffective system,\u201d Ginsburg said.<\/p>\n A rendering of how Volunteers of America wants to redesign some common spaces at the Schwartz Men’s shelter on Wards Island after the city approved a renovation project.<\/p>\n Credit: Magnusson Architecture and Planning.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the city\u2019s Department of Homeless Services said the Mamdani administration has already taken meaningful steps to transform the system such as shuttering a massive decrepit shelter<\/a> and embracing the construction of new trauma-informed facilities<\/a> to help people move out faster.<\/p>\n \u201cThis administration inherited a shelter system comprised of many older, often repurposed buildings that, while providing critical capacity, do not offer the dignified and humane spaces New Yorkers experiencing homelessness deserve,\u201d spokesperson Nicholas Jacobelli said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take the conditions at our shelter facilities very seriously \u2014 conducting regular inspections and working closely with providers to address necessary repairs in a timely manner.\u201d<\/p>\n He said the agency shares the same goal as Volunteers of America, to create more welcoming spaces with better conditions and outcomes.<\/p>\n The report says the administration is moving in the right direction but recommends the city create a fund for shelter renovations, transfer ownership of some city-owned shelters to nonprofits and conduct a capital needs assessment.<\/p>\n \u2018Obscenely onerous\u2019<\/p>\n The report, which looked at Volunteers of America\u2019s shelters as a case study, said the city doesn\u2019t have a dedicated pool of money to make fixes at shelters. Providers have to request repairs, and get contractors approved by the city. Even then, repairs are patchwork and don\u2019t fix infrastructure needs, which ultimately costs more over time, the report said.<\/p>\n City officials said they regularly assess capital needs, make repairs in a timely manner and are always trying to find ways to streamline the process. Officials didn\u2019t respond to questions about whether some short-term fixes can cost more long term.<\/p>\n In one example, the city emptied a family shelter due to fire safety concerns that has remained closed for two years. Volunteers of America said as it waits for repairs, city officials hired personnel to make sure a fire doesn\u2019t break out in the vacated building. While replacing fire panels would cost $800,000, hiring staff costs $3 million a year, the organization said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe city is definitely in its own way, and there’s a lot of capital needs that are not met because the processes are so obscenely onerous,\u201d said David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, an advocacy group that routinely inspects shelter sites.<\/p>\n