Archinect - News

White House announces All In initiative on homelessness nationwide

2022-12-23T15:15:00-05:00

In an effort to combat the crisis of homelessness nationwide, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced its new All In: The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and Homelessness aimed at the "bold but achievable goal" of reducing the country’s unhoused population by 25% by the year 2025.

The plan expands on a slate of "proven" evidence-based strategies (including, most especially, the so-called "Housing First" model) and will allow states to set their own goals within the timeframe and use the White House’s blueprint as a guideline.

"My plan offers a roadmap for not only getting people into housing but also ensuring that they have access to the support, services, and income that allow them to thrive," President Biden said at the announcement. "It is a plan that is grounded in the best evidence and aims to improve equity and strengthen collaboration at all levels."

According to the White House and the D...

NYC Mayor Eric Adams pushes plan to convert underutilized hotels to shelter unhoused New Yorkers

2022-05-02T15:31:00-04:00

In an effort to confront the city’s ongoing homeless crisis, Mayor Eric Adams stood alongside elected officials and union members to support a plan that would clear the streets and subways, and put a near-record number of unhoused New Yorkers into underutilized hotels.

Adams is supporting state bill S.4937/A.6262, which would make it easier for the city to convert underutilized hotels into affordable housing. According to city officials, this work would come at two-thirds the cost of new construction and could create 25,000 beds.

Mayor Adams has been active in his handling of New York’s homelessness issue recently, which was evident in his controversial push to clear hundreds of homeless encampments. This was followed by his administration’s proposed $171 million investment in homeless services that would help fund specialized shelters.

Previously on Archinect: New York City to prevent homeless people from sheltering in subway stations and trains

As reported by Gothamist, the money to carry out the bill is available through $100 million from the Housing Our Neighbors with Dignity Act, which was passed last year to pay for hotel-to-apartment conversions. An additional $5 billion that was set aside in Adams’ budget for capital funding to build more ...

New Yorkers can’t wait any longer for the installation of long-promised public toilets

2022-03-31T16:42:00-04:00

As public bathrooms continue to be one of the rarest commodities in the city, the Adams administration has not provided a timeline or any details for the installation of 15 automatic sidewalk toilets unused for more than a decade. But only five of the toilets have been installed and the city has struggled to find suitable new spots. For years, the others remained mothballed in a Queens warehouse but city officials declined to detail where they are currently located.

The toilets are a holdover of the Bloomberg administration, which signed a franchising agreement with Cemusa (later JC Decaux) in 2006 that was supposed to provide 20 such facilities at a cost of around $500,000 apiece. Recently, the city declared it will not force dining establishments to offer their restrooms to the public after an update to pertaining sections of its building code.

The issue has as much to do with providing what many recognize to be vital pieces of public infrastructure as it does with serving the city’s roughly 45,000-strong homeless population, which has been the target of recent Adams administration efforts to restore a sense of safety in the wake of an alarming two-year spike in crime. Critics, for their part, see it as part of a larger effort to “criminalize” homelessness, charging that the lack of facilities denies everyone a “basic human need.”

“It is not only a sanitation issue but also a public safety and civil rights issue,” Councilmember Sandy Nurse ...

New Philadelphia park will be designed for, and together with, homeless people

2021-03-22T16:28:00-04:00

Plans are underway to start building in 2022 a pocket park where people experiencing homelessness will not only be welcome but will also be asked to design and build aspects of the space. It’s the only project of its kind in Philadelphia, say design professionals involved in the project.

Supported by a grant from the William Penn Foundation, Philadelphia's largest homeless shelter, the Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission, aims to plan and build the small pocket park near its facility on North Pearl Street.