Quantcast

The DNAinfo archives brought to you by WNYC.
Read the press release here.

Homeless Families Spend Night at Bronx Intake Center

By Eddie Small | October 6, 2014 8:26am
 Five families spent Monday night at a Bronx intake center, according to DHS.
Five families spent Monday night at a Bronx intake center, according to DHS.
View Full Caption
DNAinfo/Eddie Small

CONCOURSE — A group of homeless families spent the night at a Bronx intake center last week while city officials tried to find a place for them to stay.

On Monday, five families stayed overnight at the Department of Homeless Services' Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing office in The Bronx at 151 E. 151st St., where families with children are required to apply for shelter. DHS described this situation as uncommon.

"We are reviewing a rare occurrence when five families did stay overnight at our intake center while we processed their late arrival applications," a DHS spokesman said in a statement.

"These families were thoroughly assisted and provided with a safe environment at the facility and were placed in appropriate shelter hours later."

Lynn Lewis, executive director of Picture The Homeless, said that this was not surprising and a sign that the city needed to start looking into using vacant rent stabilized apartment buildings as options for housing the homeless.

"It might be the time to discuss the city taking those properties considering the level of the housing crisis and how much money the city is spending on shelter," Lewis said in an email. "Not to mention the human cost to those households impacted by homelessness."