NYC’s Homeless Crisis Might Grow Under Trump Administration, Advocates Warn
(DNAINFO) Amy Zimmer | February 28, 2017 — Cuts to Section 8 vouchers, affordable housing tax breaks and supportive housing could hurt New Yorkers.
Homeless advocates are bracing for changes to funding under the Trump administration as the city’s homeless population hits record highs, with roughly 60,000 New Yorkers in the shelter system.
The White House was expected to send federal departments a budget framework proposal on Monday that contained increases in defense spending but cuts to other areas, according to reports. Those changes could hobble affordable housing and rental assistance programs, adding tens of thousands of additional New Yorkers to the homeless rolls.
“There’s a tremendous amount at risk,” said Laura Mascuch, of the Supportive Housing Network of New York.
Nearly 60 percent of New Yorkers don’t have enough emergency savings to cover at least three months’ worth of household expenses like food, housing and rent — putting them at extreme risk of homelessness in case of job loss or illness, according to a recent report from the Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development.
Among the changes that the Trump Administration’s budget could bring include a cut to corporate taxes, which could threaten the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, which helps fund the construction of new affordable housing, Mascuch said.
The budget cuts could also cause havoc for the city’s Section 8 voucher program, which is currently funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
There are approximately 140,000 Section 8 vouchers in NYC — about 90,000 of which are overseen by the New York City Housing Authority — and the rest of which are administered by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the state’s Division of Housing and Community Renewal.