It is 14 degrees in New York right now, where the high on Tuesday hit 28 degrees and it’s predicted to stay the same for the rest of the week. This is not a day to be outside, as anyone who had to walk to the subway can attest. It’s especially not a day to have to try to sleep outside, which is what made the timing so awkward for the Bloomberg administration to defend its rules requiring single people who want to stay in homeless shelters to prove they’ve got nowhere else to go. A judge struck down the rules last year, but the administration is fighting that decision in appeals court. Michael Bloomberg said on Tuesday it was “not unreasonable to make sure” that people seeking shelter actually need it,” the Daily News reports.
But Christine Quinn took the opportunity to put some distance between herself and her presumed 2013 backer, railing on the administration for “unilaterally” making policy that didn’t work, Capital New York reports. “Clearly the problem is not getting solved,” she said, and asserted that the next mayor would “have to conduct a ‘soup-to-nuts’ review of homeless programs and services.” Meanwhile, “I’m not happy if the number of people in the shelters is down significantly and then they’re sleeping in the street or in the subways at night.” On a night like this, that’s a dangerous proposition.
