STATE PROBES SHELTER LIES EXPOSED BY NEWS
Probes if city keeps shelter stats from it, too
STATE OFFICIALS have launched an investigation into whether Mayor de Blasio’s administration has been properly disclosing criminal activity in homeless shelters as required by law, the Daily News has learned.
The state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance “has begun a formal investigation into New York City’s conduct and demands that they immediately provide all information required under the regulations,” agency spokesman Tim Ruffinen said Wednesday.
The probe comes in response to The News’ report that the city has been hiding from the public hundreds of arrests at shelters.
The city Department of Homeless Services must by law report a long list of incidents at shelters, including most arrests, to the state assistance office.
Homeless Services claimed that in December 2016, the state had agreed to its decision to reclassify and reduce the number of categories of “critical incidents” it’s required to report.
The state said Wednesday that is simply not true. “New York City’s claim that (the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance) agreed to reduce reporting is false,” Ruffinen said.
The agency “never agreed that NYC could reduce its reporting under regulations. It is also illogical that (the state office) would do so, given that the latest (office) regulations are expressly designed to increase reporting and enhance the protections and security of shelter residents.”
After The News revealed in February Homeless Services’ reclassification moves, the state office warned the agency it was still required to report all the incidents listed by state regulation “regardless of what DHS classifies them,” according to a Feb. 20 email reviewed by The News.
In response, Homeless Services said it continued to report “all serious incidents that impact on the safety and well-being of clients and staff.”
The News probe showed public reports by Homeless Services on shelter safety last year made no reference to hundreds of arrests at shelters that were cataloged by the agency’s police.
For example, at the BedfordAtlantic Armory men’s shelter in Brooklyn, the city claimed there were zero incidents of clients using, possessing or selling drugs.
But Homeless Services police reports obtained by The News show there were 113 narcotics-related incidents, including 51 drug-related arrests.
Mayor de Blasio disputed The News’ findings.
He insisted the city was meeting all its reporting requirements. “We are very comfortable being transparent about arrests in shelters,” he said.
The questions about hiding shelter arrest data come as de Blasio is vowing to build 90 new shelters across the city. To date, he’s built 11, and in several neighborhoods plans to place the homeless in hotels or open new shelters have met resistance.
Dozens of neighbors held a Midtown news conference citing The News investigation to question the city’s plan to open a 140-bed men’s shelter at the Park Savoy Hotel on W. 58th St.“This does not make me feel very safe, seeing all these statistics that were hidden from the public,” said resident Helen Kim.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called the hiding of shelter arrests “unacceptable. We need transparency on those figures.” Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), chairman of the Oversight and Investigation Committee, asked the Department of Investigation to review how the city reports on shelter safety.