The Big Apple It is still a city in which race and income affect disproportionately and unequally the allocation of services and the implementation of shelter units, as well as the City’s management of so-called environmental ‘goods’ such as parks and environmental ‘bads’, such as waste transfer stations. Services have been far from being distributed equitably in the different Municipal administrations.
This is how he reported it the Municipal Comptroller’s Office, Brad Lander, after conducting an audit, in which serious failures in “fair participation” (a standard that dates back to 1990) and unequal placement of shelters and services were evident, and in which they found that the City is also failing in the disclosure and lack of supervision of the processes, which goes against the municipal evaluation required for the location of facilities, including drug treatment centers to waste transfer stations.
The Comptroller’s report warns that the Municipal Administration, has not fulfilled the constitutional mandate of distributing services and facilities fairly throughout the Big Apple, and at the same time is not acting in a transparent manner. Communities do not know data on the number of facilities in their neighborhoods.
The report shows that while facilities such as police stations, fire stations and early childhood centers have fair distribution, others, such as homeless shelters, waste transfer sites, parks and social services facilities with treatment programs for substance abuse and mental health centers, are concentrated only in some communities.
“New York City’s well-being depends on a wide range of services municipal councils that should be equitably located, but our office found that it does not meet its ‘Fair Participation’”assured the Comptroller Lander, insisting that the disparities are due to issues of poverty and race. “As we address issues from housing affordability to climate change while building a compassionate and inclusive city, the city’s location decisions cannot be driven by politics that are not from my backyard.” and planning that embraces the path of least resistance, which solidifies and deepens issues of race and economic disparities.”
The Brooklyn Borough President, Antonio Reynoso, He assured that the City’s lack of planning for the public good is the root of the housing and health crises in the Big Apple, which must be remedied.
“By locating city services and accommodations, such as parks and libraries, according to a guiding vision anchored in equity, we can begin to eliminate the stark inequalities that harm low-income communities and communities of color,” said the politician Latin. “I applaud Comptroller Lander for hold the city responsible of New York for fair share principles that the City has not applied, even though they have been written in our City Charter for more than three decades.”
Justin Wood, director de Políticas de New York Lawyers for the Public Interestcalled for the local Administration to use the findings of the audit carried out by the Comptroller’s Office to reverse the failures it has had in terms of location of services.
“The Comptroller’s conclusion that environmental ‘assets’ such as parks and environmental ‘evils’ like waste transfer stations are far from being equitably distributed in New York City is disappointing,” said the advocate, who urged the City Administration to promote measures to help correct the disproportion. “Mayor Adams and the City Council have immediate opportunities to correct these ongoing injustices. For example, we should quickly build composting and recycling facilities across the city to reduce the amount of trash being trucked in and out of the most environmentally overburdened communities.”
Eddie Bautistaexecutive director of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliancedescribed the audit body’s findings as “outrageous,” and in particular knowing that waste transfer stations are concentrated in low-income communities and that the City’s own Waste Equity audit has found that 75% of the processing The City’s average daily waste is concentrated in four community districts where Latinos and Blacks live.
“For more than 30 years, and with five different New York City mayors, NYC-EJA, our members and I have fought for a fairer and more sustainable solid waste management system that does not disproportionately harm Black and Latino New Yorkers,” said the activist. “We have been promised a reduction in this capacity and the subsequent negative health impacts associated with voluminous waste-related truck traffic and yet this insidious expression of environmental racism persists. “Environmental justice delayed is justice denied.”
The report presented by the Municipal Comptroller’s Office noted that according to the City Charter, an annual Citywide Statement of Needs (SON) “must identify all new and significantly expanded municipal facilities proposed by agencies for the next two fiscal years.” However, auditors found that the agencies did not adequately consider that some neighborhoods have a disproportionate number of shelter facilities, and 67 of them (40%) were in community districts that already had a high concentration of shelter beds for the population they lived in the district. “Only one (0.5%) included an evaluation of the installation’s impact on the neighborhood,” the report noted.
Mayor Adams’ Administration did not comment on the report.
Report data
According to the City Charter, an annual Citywide Statement of Needs (SON) must identify all new and significantly expanded municipal facilities proposed by agencies for the next two fiscal years. DHS did not list any of the 166 shelter sites by municipality and community district DHS only listed 6 sites as “to be determined” Some neighborhoods have 100 times more shelter beds than others Three out of four neighborhoods without shelters are predominantly white The stations of waste transfer, parks and social services are also distributed unequally The Comptroller’s Office calls on the Municipal Administration to address the racial and economic disparities documented in the report Greater transparency and accountability are needed
2023-11-15 17:52:31
#Report #details #failures #shelter #facilities #services #NYC #Diario
