HOMELESSNESS

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COVID-19 has upended the lives of countless New Yorkers, exposing and exacerbating the devastating reality of homelessness in our city. One million New Yorkers are unemployed, thousands have been released from Rikers Island and other jails, and thousands more have been relocated from city shelters. Whether homed or experiencing homelessness, all Manhattanites deserve safe communities.

To be a part of the solution to homelessness, Lucy will:

  • Immediately establish a pathway to connect New Yorkers experiencing homelessness with services and housing, rather than the courts. Lucy will implement Manhattan HOPE borough-wide, expanding its reach beyond drug offenses, with a focus on peer navigators and community-based programs.

  • Partner with program shelters to provide housing and wraparound services to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness as well as substance use and mental health challenges.

  • Fight to make public housing available to those with previous justice involvement. Lucy will join social justice organizations working to eliminate outdated rules that prevent people with a criminal record from reuniting with their loved ones in public housing, often leaving them with nowhere to go.

  • Provide resources and training to district attorney staff handling cases involving homelessness. Even with robust alternatives, people experiencing homelessness will at times be arrested and brought before the District Attorney’s Office. Lucy will involve social workers from the earliest steps of case assessment, train all staff in trauma-informed best practices, and only prosecute cases that have no reasonable alternative resolution.

  • Identify long-term solutions that employ a housing-first approach and collaborative leadership that prioritizes keeping all New Yorkers safe. Lucy will seek community input and advocate for an inter-agency response focused on permanent housing to break the cycle of homelessness-to-shelter-to-jail.

  • Fight to maintain a public health approach to homelessness so that we can address the current crisis while treating all New Yorkers with dignity.