Is New York City helping its homeless or hiding them?

2023-03-13T19:17:32-04:00March 6th, 2023|

Al Jazeera

“Making sense of the world, one story at a time. Host Malika Bilal and journalists from Al Jazeera's international bureaus and beyond share their take on the most important stories. This week, The Take features Peter Malvan, Homeless Advocate in the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project."

Game of roams: Homeless New Yorkers say they’re subject to sleepless game amid city sweeps

2022-08-22T04:26:44-04:00August 11th, 2022|

AMNY

“‘Neil’s plight mirrors that of many other homeless New Yorkers, who find themselves harassed, exhausted, and worn down because of Mayor Adams’ Broken Windows effort to get homeless people out of sight. And maybe that’s the point. These sweeps are designed not to help people, but to break spirits. Mayor Adams and Commissioner Jenkins must stop these sweeps and offer people permanent homes,’ Karim Walker said, an outreach worker and organizer with the Safety Net Project.”

Closure of Union Square benefits center leaves vulnerable NYers scrambling

2022-08-08T14:50:54-04:00August 5th, 2022|

Gothamist

“Clients often describe hostile behavior from city benefits workers and say their cases are regularly closed for no reason, a report from the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center found.

2021 Was Deadliest Year on Record for Homeless New Yorkers

2022-03-09T13:29:26-05:00March 8th, 2022|

City Limits

“Every one of these deaths is a tragedy that was likely preventable,” said Peter Malvan, a homeless rights advocate with the Safety Net Project. “Housing is a basic human need, and housing is what homeless New Yorkers need—not constant harassment by city agencies.”

“Those days are over” / “Esos días se terminaron”

2022-03-02T20:13:12-05:00February 24th, 2022|

Manhattan Times

“The MTA rules the mayor plans to rely on are unlawful and discriminate against homeless New Yorkers,” [Peter] Malvan [of the Safety Net Project] said in a statement. “This approach is wrongheaded, and unlawful, and is a frightening path to criminalization. 

Housing in Brief: NYC Mayor Increases Policing of Homelessness on the Subway

2022-03-02T20:10:15-05:00February 24th, 2022|

Next City

"Advocates for people experiencing homelessness quickly denounced the plan, pointing out that the subway is used as respite from the cold and an alternative to dangerous shelters. “Forcing people off the trains into the freezing cold does not help the homeless,” an advocate from the Safety Net Project tweeted."

Brutality Against Homeless New Yorkers in the Name of Law & Order

2022-03-02T20:07:51-05:00February 23rd, 2022|

The Indypendent

"We also speak with speak with Peter Malvan, who spent 32 years living as a homeless New Yorker. During that time, he lived in the subway systems, in shelters and in parks. And from 1991 to 2011, he worked jobs. Peter has now been housed for the past year and a half. He is the Vice President of Midnight Run and a homeless advocate with the Safety Net Project."

Woman Dies After Being Pushed Onto Subway Tracks in Times Square

2022-01-24T14:28:02-05:00January 15th, 2022|

NY Times

“It’s a horrible tragedy, but that shouldn’t be a pretext for intensifying policing, which is where this will likely go,” said Craig Hughes, a supervising social worker at the Urban Justice Center. “The presence of more police doesn’t necessarily mean more safety, and for many homeless people, it means less safety.”

Police to Step Up Patrol of New York Subway, Adams Says

2022-01-24T14:56:46-05:00January 6th, 2022|

NY Times

But Craig Hughes, a supervising social worker at the Urban Justice Center, said that outreach teams would be hampered by a lack of stable and permanent housing for the homeless population. “It’s to a good degree smoke and mirrors,” Mr. Hughes said. “Provide outreach instead of housing, but frame it as something more, and then flood the trains with cops.”

City’s Effort to Move Homeless Back to Group Shelters Contradicts Earlier Health Dept. Guidance, Documents Show

2021-09-13T13:51:20-04:00September 9th, 2021|

City Limits

But those earlier draft plans, obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request by advocates from the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project and shared with City Limits, offer a look at the city Health Department’s initial recommendations for the moves, at odds with how the actual transfers have been carried out since.