Mayor’s Program, “Turning the Tide” was announced February 27, 2017

The mayor’s reimagined shelter strategy says it will:

  • Completely eliminate the use of cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;
  • Reduce the current number of shelter sites by 45 percent; and
  • Keep homeless New Yorkers closer to their communities and supports that they need.
  • Completely eliminate the use of cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;
  • Reduce the current number of shelter sites by 45 percent; and
  • Keep homeless New Yorkers closer to their communities and supports that they need.

Estimated Cost: $1.1 Billion over next 3 years

The city does not need the approval of community boards or local elected officials to site shelters.

The administration said that the city is spending $32 million per month for commercial hotels, $2 million for private apartments, also called clusters, and $96 million for traditional shelters.

The city has pledged to stop using cluster sites — small apartments throughout the city — and commercial hotels to house the homeless.
DHS officials testified at a City Council hearing that the spending is a temporary necessity caused by a boost in the hotel population while the agency vacates 3,600 scattered apartments for the homeless.

The average spent on a hotel room will be $174 per night.

The Department of Homeless Services will spend $364 million each year over the next few years housing homeless people in hotels — almost double the cost of previous years, according to some estimates.

According to numbers analyzed by City Comptroller Scott Stringer last year, the city spent roughly $530,000 per day on hotel rooms for the homeless. Spending by the city will now be just shy of $1 million a day.
Performance to Date: