Billups, who says she fled an abusive ex-boyfriend a year ago and has been living in a homeless shelter, was relying on the much sought-after rental assistance voucher to move into a safe apartment in a new neighborhood. She recalled her ex-boyfriend repeatedly breaking into her apartment, stalking her and threatening to kill her.
“I did everything these people asked me to do, and they turn around and kick me while I'm down,” she said last week, speaking by cell phone from a hospital where her teen daughter, who was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, was recovering from a suicide attempt. “I believe I was re-victimized by the system. My daughter, she is just so distressed. I'm so drained, I can't eat. They just mashed my foundation out from under me.”
In November, NYCHA told Billups and all the others that an unexpected budget shortfall meant the authority did not have enough money to fund their vouchers, which are designed to pay two-thirds of a recipient’s rent for a private apartment. (NYCHA was administering the funding, but not providing the housing.) A letter dated Dec. 30 went on to say that voucher holders’ benefit would be restored “should Section 8 funding become available.”
Housing limbo
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer contends NYCHA was aware of its budget constraints as early as May and should not have awarded vouchers it couldn't fund. Now he is pushing NYCHA and relevant city agencies to find a fix – and soon.
“It's unbelievable,” says Stringer. “We've gotten no response from the mayor's office. I sent a letter to the deputy mayors, signed by 26 elected officials, and we've gotten no response. There was no mention of this crisis in the State of the City address. I wish I could report movement or progress or some strategy that has been implemented. But none exists.”
The city’s federal representatives are also calling for a solution. In a letter to Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson, U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez, Sen. Charles Schumer and others exhorted city officials to aid “some of our City’s most vulnerable residents.”
Officials hardly seem eager to face the problem, however. Calls by City Limits to the Department of Homeless Services were referred to the Human Resources Administration, which handles welfare, and then to NYCHA. A spokesman for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development – which manages a different pool of Section 8 vouchers – released a one sentence statement: “This is an important issue that affects some of the neediest New Yorkers, and we are working with our sister agencies to address it.”
