News & Press2020-07-09T12:46:59-04:00

News & Press

Our various campaigns which promote the preservation of the social safety net have gained a lot of press coverage.

Read news and press highlights about our current campaigns below.

Exit Unknown: Where Do People Go After Leaving NYC Homeless Shelters?

May 14th, 2024|

City Limits

"Housing specialists, or staff that help shelter residents apply for housing, can also be hard to get in touch with, advocates say. “[Shelter residents] don't feel like they're getting the help they need for housing and so they just get up and leave,” said Safety Net Project’s Frazier."

Adams Unfair Homelesnesss And Migrant Policy

March 20th, 2024|

NY Daily News

"Since taking office in January 2022, hallmarks of Mayor Adams’ administration have involved creating a panic around crime, scapegoating NYC’s most vulnerable populations, and slashing social services despite a projected budget surplus." -Marika Dias, Director, SNP

Scenes From Closing Day at a Bronx Benefits Center

February 22nd, 2024|

City Limits

“They’ve been closing—or as they say, relocating centers to other centers—and so they are leaving people with no other options and forcing them to do things remotely or online or by phone,” said [Adriana] Mendoza of the Safety Net Project.

NYC Closing Down Bronx Public Benefits Office As Processing Delays Persist

February 15th, 2024|

Gothamist

"Maria Wallas, 53, said she used the Mount Eden office when she needed help applying for SNAP. She also volunteers for the Safety Net Project. “These centers benefit the people in the community so they can get the assistance that they need,” she said. “Who suffers [when they close]? I suffer. Everybody that lives around here suffers.”

Why Are You Making It So Difficult? NYC Cash Aid Applicants Face Denial Surge

January 29th, 2024|

City Limits

“It's more accessible, people don't have to leave their home,” said Charisma White of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, a benefits recipient who helped push for 2019 legislation requiring quarterly reports on application denials. “But if you're going to use that service, you have to make sure it's working at top notch standards.”

Adams Admin Confirms Inaction on Council’s Rental Voucher Expansion

January 5th, 2024|

City Limits

"Park’s comments frustrated advocates who pushed for the passage of the full Council package. “I know that I cannot pick and choose which laws I adhere to,” said Patricia Glover, a member of the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Activists. “If I run a red light I’m going to have to pay a fine.”

Full Package of Rental Voucher Laws Not On Mayor’s Agenda, Despite Veto Override

November 16th, 2023|

City Limits

The impending showdown is frustrating for Patricia Glover, a member of the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Activists, and a CityFHEPs voucher holder. She spent 18 months in shelter before moving into an apartment with her voucher in March 2022. “That could be so long and drawn out that people are going to fall by the wayside,” she said. 

It’s Getting Harder to Be Poor in New York

October 4th, 2023|

NY Times

“Ramos, who was assisted by the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said she was relieved when her food stamps arrived in late September, the day after The New York Times asked city officials to comment on her case.”

Eric Adams Thinks His Critics Are Fools and Buffoons. Nothing Personal.

October 3rd, 2023|

NY Times

“Charisma White, a volunteer at Safety Net Activists [part of SNP at the Urban Justice Center]...recently asked Mr. Adams as he was leaving a public appearance why he has vetoed a package of bills that would make it easier for at-risk New Yorkers to receive housing vouchers. “He needs to listen to the people that are living here,” Ms. White said."

NYC Failing to Process Most Food Stamp, Cash Benefit Applications on Time

September 18th, 2023|

City Limits

"A recertification delay can lead to a lapse in benefits—a dangerous situation for recipients like Diana Ramos, a leader with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. Ramos has Type 2 diabetes and has yet to receive her SNAP for September...“I’m deathly afraid of my sugar bottoming out, and ending up in the hospital,” she told City Limits.

Council Bill Would Require Monthly Reports On Street Homeless Sweeps

August 3rd, 2023|

City Limits

"Karim Walker, an outreach and organizing specialist with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, is particularly interested to see the cost data...'That’s still money that could be going into funding housing vouchers, getting folks into permanent housing,' he said.

Breaking: Homicide Still Illegal in NYC

May 12th, 2023|

Out Front Media

"Forcing people off the trains into the freezing cold does not help the homeless,” Peter Malvan, an organizer with the group the Safety Net Project said last year. “Policing does not get people safely housed.”

Is New York City helping its homeless or hiding them?

March 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."

New Yorkers to City Council: Mayor Adams’ Directive on Involuntary Removal Is Inhumane and Dangerous

February 7th, 2023|

CUPR

“While Mayor Adams has billed this as a mental health directive, it is clear who the intended targets are: the city’s street homeless...these forced hospitalizations are another part of his plans to police our homeless neighbors out of sight without properly addressing their material needs...” testified Karim Walker with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.

New bills would expand NYC housing vouchers

January 27th, 2023|

Manhattan Times News

"Karim Walker of the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center testified that landlords and brokers refuse to rent to prospective tenants with the vouchers, 'even though the money is basically guaranteed.'"

The Battle Continues | Food Insecurity

January 26th, 2023|

Broadway Stages

“'In some cases, the parents are not eating in order to ensure that whatever money there is for food is going to the children,' Adriana Mendoza, a benefits supervisor for the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center."

Mayor Adams Identifies the 78 Shelter to House Migrants

January 22nd, 2023|

NewsBreak

"Craig Hughes a social worker with the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center said: 'Sheltering people in a tent with hundreds of cots crammed together during a pandemic, just as winter approaches, is a particularly frightening path for the city to take...'"

City Council eyes expanding CityFHEPS housing benefit program to help vulnerable New Yorkers find permanent housing

January 18th, 2023|

AM NY

"Karim Walker, an organizer with the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center who is a recipient of a CityFHEPS voucher, called the program “nothing short of a godsend.” Walker said the program’s biggest issues are the 90-day wait period, the process of moving someone to safe housing, and income discrimination."

NYC budget cuts could worsen food crisis for hungry families

January 13th, 2023|

Gothamist

"Adriana Mendoza is a benefits supervisor for the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, which works with about 2,000 low-income households. She said when the city does not process the food stamp applications on time, the families must scramble to borrow money or sell valuables to feed themselves. "

City Limits’ Most-Read Housing Stories in 2022

December 28th, 2022|

City Limits

City Limits Most Read 2022 Housing Story: "NYC’s New Housing Voucher Rules Will Drastically Expand Income Eligibility for Renewals" - “It’s a really, really, really big win,” Sarah Wilson, an organizer with the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, said of the October rule change."

How a Hotel Was Converted into Housing for Formerly Homeless People

December 11th, 2022|

New York Times

“We’re at the highest number of homeless people in New York City since the dawn of modern homelessness in the late 1970s,” said Craig Hughes, a senior social worker at the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center, a nonprofit law firm for the indigent.

NYC Pilots ‘Housing First’ Plan for Handful of Homeless Adults

November 15th, 2022|

City Limits

"The 80 units “are a positive option for 80 people,” said Kathleen Cash, a homeless and benefits advocate with the organization Safety Net Project. “But there are some 2,600 vacant supportive housing units, more than when this administration began, and there are serious actions the city can take— that it has power over—to fill those units. They’ve simply refused to do so.”

Arguments Begin in Lawsuit Against NYC Over Homeless Move from Hotel to Shelters

November 15th, 2022|

Gothamist

"The lawsuit against New York City...was brought by the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center...and claims that roughly 39 homeless New Yorkers lost thousands of dollars worth of personal belongings and wages when de Blasio announced in June 2021 that he planned to move homeless people out of hotel rooms and back into dormitory style facilities..."

Mayor Adams overhauls NYC’s embattled rental assistance program, but holds on to shelter rule slammed by advocates

November 14th, 2022|

NY Daily News

"Kathleen Cash, a homeless advocate with the Safety Net Project, said the pilot is a “positive step,” but questioned the mayor’s argument for more research. “No one needs more research or ‘pilot projects’ to show that ‘housing-first’ works — the available research is comprehensive and readily available,” she said."

40% of NYC Food Stamp Applicants Left Waiting for Benefits, Data Shows

November 10th, 2022|

City Limits

“Families are struggling to put food on the table especially with rising costs of inflation and instead of the city meeting this crisis, it has become harder for people to access the SNAP benefits they are entitled to,” [Adriana] Mendoza [benefits supervisor at the Safety Net Project] said.

2,600 supportive housing units in NYC remain vacant despite new developments

November 7th, 2022|

6sqft

“Early on, the administration committed to ‘streamlining’ placements into supportive housing,” the Safety Net Project [of UJC] tweeted. “Instead, it’s been the same old: layers of bureaucracy & refusal to change the discriminatory, opaque and unaccountable ‘matching’ & ‘interview’ processes.”

Advocates express concerns over National Guard presence at NYC shelters

October 27th, 2022|

Gothamist

"Craig Hughes, a social worker with the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, criticized the Adams’ administration for relying on the National Guard to deal with a humanitarian crisis. 'Adding an arm of the military to the municipal shelters is yet another frightening move by the Adams administration, which has spent the past 10 months putting police front-and-center in response to the City's homelessness crisis,' Hughes said."

Less Than 10% of Tenants Facing Eviction Actually GOt a Lawyer Last Month, Undermining “Right to Counsel” Law

October 27th, 2022|

The City

"Marika Dias, managing director at the safety net project at the Urban Justice Center, says “it is absolutely possible” that tenants do not know of their right to an attorney, “and particularly right now.” Dias confirmed that outdated materials on Right to Counsel are currently posted around several city courts."

First Look at NYC’s 1,000-Cot Barracks for Asylum Seekers

October 19th, 2022|

City Limits

"Craig Hughes, a social worker and organizer with the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, criticized the new facilities as something of a shadow shelter system and a 'creative and inhumane way to get around the right to shelter.'"

Why New York Is Resorting to Tents to House Surge of Migrants

September 22nd, 2022|

New York Times

Kathleen Cash, an advocate at the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, called the pictures of what the centers might look like “devastating.” “Opening short-term municipal refugee camps through a separate city bureaucracy — while the mayor has repeatedly failed to honor the right to shelter, and has announced plans to ‘reassess’ it — is the kind of approach many feared this administration would take,” she said.

The NYPD Now Decides What Homeless Encampments Get Swept

September 21st, 2022|

City Limits

“This decision is directly in line with his belief in widely discredited broken windows theories of public safety, which have hit poor and working-class Black and Latinx New Yorkers hardest,” said Karim Walker, an organizer and outreach worker with the Safety Net Project [of the Urban Justice Center]. “These sweeps are designed to break spirits and get people out of sight.

What Would NYC Look Like Without Right to Shelter? Bleak, Say the People Who’ve Needed It

September 20th, 2022|

City Limits

Given the persistent crisis, what New York City really needs is a right to housing, said Karim Walker, an organizer [with the Safety Net Project] who spent years staying in public spaces, in DHS men’s shelters and in SafeHavens—facilities with fewer restrictions than the broader shelter network—before getting an apartment through a housing lottery.

Bill to Require Mental Health Staff at Family Shelters Spurs Worry Over ‘Unintended Effects’

September 15th, 2022|

City Limits

“But other advocates argued the resources the legislation looks to provide, while well-intended, would be better used to shore up mental healthcare options for families in shelter outside the facilities they’re staying in. ‘We think a better option for the city is to fund dedicated lines for additional mental health support off-site,’ said Helen Strom, homeless and benefits director at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project.”

NYC Evictions Creep Up As Housing Courts Get Busier

August 11th, 2022|

Law360

“Tenant advocates, meanwhile, say recent increases in both filings and warrant issuances are concerning in light of a shortage of available attorneys to represent low-income families in housing court.....Marika Dias, director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said her organization has been able to increase its staffing somewhat in recent months, but is still struggling to keep up with demand....‘It's very difficult to get in front of the shortage,’ she said.”

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

August 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.”

City forced to house homeless families in offices for first time since 2014

July 27th, 2022|

Crain's NY

“‘We haven’t seen that number since April 2021,” said Craig Hughes, senior social worker for policy and client advocacy at [Safety Net Project of] the Urban Justice Center. “If this continues at pace, we’re likely to hit 50,000 this weekend in those beds, and that’s a frightening mark.””

Here’s How NYC’s $101 Billion Budget Addresses Homelessness

June 14th, 2022|

Gothamist

‘We hear from our clients that this is a direct result of closing those programs and they are ending up back on the street,’ said Kathleen Cash, who helps connect homeless clients with benefits and services at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project."

City looks to end pandemic-era protections for older and some medically vulnerable homeless people

June 2nd, 2022|

Gotham Gazette

“In addition to removing protections for older adults, the information we've received indicates this is going to affect at least hundreds and probably thousands of people with a wide range of chronic health conditions,” said Helen Strom, director of benefits and homeless advocacy at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project."

Same shift, different days: Advocates accuse city of homeless encampment sweep bias for redeploying NYPD officers and DHS agents over and over again

May 15th, 2022|

AMNY

Social worker with the Safety Net Project [of the Urban Justice Center] Craig Hughes who often spends time speaking with the homeless is concerned about the fact the same officers and DHS workers are spotted at Manhattan encampments, feeling that when DHS arrives at a site flanked by the NYPD it makes them an extension of law enforcement.

The City Touts Progress on Street Homeless Outreach. Critics Say It’s More of the Same

May 5th, 2022|

City Limits

“If their argument is that they’ve somehow made sweeps better—our team has been on many sweeps, and this is the exact same process the last administration did,” said Craig Hughes, a social worker with the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, who also compared the policy to the “broken windows” policing style of Rudy Giuliani’s administration in the 1990s.

Couple thought to be homeless killed on subway tracks: NYPD

April 29th, 2022|

Gothamist

“People have found themselves chased from the subways, from the sidewalks, and from the parks, further to the margins and further from support,” said Helen Strom, with the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, in a statement.

Amid crackdown on homeless people in the subway and encampments, city to close shelter in Financial District

April 25th, 2022|

Gothamist

"'Really concerning to see the city move to close one of these locations at the same time people on the street are repeatedly telling the city that they don't feel safe in the congregate shelter system and that we need more locations like that,' said Helen Strom, director of benefits and homeless advocacy at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project."

Mayor Proposes 1,400 Shelter Beds to Move Homeless People Off Streets

April 24th, 2022|

New York Times

"Craig Hughes, a senior social worker with the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center who advocates on behalf of the city’s homeless population, said that what his clients really needed were private rooms as well as permanent housing placements they could access without going through the shelter system."

Mayor Proposes 1,400 Shelter Beds to Move Homeless People Off Streets

April 24th, 2022|

NYTimes

“Craig Hughes, a senior social worker with the Urban Justice Center who advocates on behalf of the city’s homeless population, said that what his clients really needed were private rooms as well as permanent housing placements they could access without going through the shelter system."

Mayor Proposes 1,400 Shelter Beds to Move Homeless People Off Streets

April 24th, 2022|

NYTimes

“‘Really concerning to see the city move to close one of these locations at the same time people on the street are repeatedly telling the city that they don't feel safe in the congregate shelter system and that we need more locations like that,’ said Helen Strom, director of benefits and homeless advocacy at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project.”

New York’s Encampments Aren’t Going Anywhere

April 21st, 2022|

NY City Lens

“Per internal city documents obtained by the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, the city conducted 4,859 sweeps from May 2021 through October 2021. That stretch, toward the end of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, broke a years-long pattern of a hundred sweeps or fewer a month.”

Choose people and housing over crackdowns

April 14th, 2022|

NY Daily News

In 2017, organizing by NYC tenants won a groundbreaking right to counsel in eviction proceedings that has had stunning success: With tenants now entitled to representation, 84% of tenants with lawyers are able to stay in their homes. Now, in the name of returning to business as usual, this essential right is being trampled by the courts...[and] the result will be displacement and a rapid growth in homelessness.

The Cruel Theater of Encampment Sweeps

April 1st, 2022|

Curbed

“The Adams administration claims that it was storing property for the residents of these demolished camps, but Urban Justice Center witnesses at clearances say that outreach workers were telling residents they didn’t have any way to store their belongings."

New York City to Remove Around 150 Homeless Encampments

March 29th, 2022|

Wall Street Journal

“'Sweeps really only chase people from place to place, resulting in destabilization and criminalization,' said Helen Strom, benefits and homeless advocacy director at the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, in a statement Tuesday. 'If Mayor Adams were serious about resolving street homelessness, he would stop repeating the same inhumane, failed policing strategies of the past.'”

Adams Says Encampments of Homeless People Will Be Cleared

March 25th, 2022|

New York Times

“Craig Hughes, a supervising social worker at the [Safety Net Project of the] Urban Justice Center, said the mayor’s plan was an escalation of a longstanding city approach that 'has always been an effort to hide homelessness rather than to get people housed' and that invariably 'leaves people more precarious than they were beforehand.'"

Enough units to house all NYC’s homeless are sitting vacant: survey

March 21st, 2022|

NY Post

“A “bureaucratic nightmare” has left 2,500 city-funded apartments for homeless New Yorkers who need mental health care and other social services open — enough units to house every person living on the streets or in the subways, The Post has learned...Getting an applicant into supportive housing is a bureaucratic nightmare,” added Kathleen Cash, an advocate at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project.”

2021 Was Deadliest Year on Record for Homeless New Yorkers

March 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”

February 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

February 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

February 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."

New York City will begin removing homeless people from subways at night

February 18th, 2022|

Guardian

“Forcing people off the trains into the freezing cold does not help the homeless. Policing does not get people safely housed,” said Peter Malvan, a homeless advocate with the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, in a statement. “This approach is wrongheaded, unlawful and is a frightening path to criminalization.”

What Is to Be Done? Experts Discuss Subway Crime, Death, Homelessness

January 26th, 2022|

StreetsBlog

“Not only are more units urgently needed, but the Supportive Housing Network of New York recently revealed that an estimated 10 percent of the stock is vacant, according to Craig Hughes, a senior social worker with the Safety Net Project of Urban Justice Center. Those vacancies may be due to what’s called “creaming” — when providers and landlords reject someone on the grounds that the person will be too much of a burden.”

Woman Dies After Being Pushed Onto Subway Tracks in Times Square

January 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

January 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.”

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

January 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.”

NYC Council Considers Bill to Probe Why Homeless Are Denied Supportive Housing

November 29th, 2021|

City Limits

Department of Social Services (DSS) records, obtained through Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests by the advocacy group Safety Net Project, illustrate the charge. Supportive housing is, by definition, designed for people with mental illness, but on dozens of occasions over the first 10 months of 2020, providers cited an applicant’s “lack of insight” into their mental health needs as the reason for rejecting them.

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

September 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.

Boost to Skimpy Low-Income Housing Vouchers Leaves Formerly Homeless at Risk of Return to Shelters

August 23rd, 2021|

The City

Two days before the bill went to a planned May 26 vote committee vote, a fourth version of the measure appeared, without any mention of income qualifications. That gave HRA the power to continue imposing its own income cap. Advocates [including our Safety Net Project] noticed the change in the city’s online bill tracker and immediately pressed Levin to restore the missing line lifting the income limits as well as a time limit on aid, to no avail.

Eviction Crisis Will Put NYC’s Right To Counsel To The Test

August 22nd, 2021|

Law 360

Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project, a legal assistance program operated by the Urban Justice Center, said that with the pandemic-induced housing emergency and a backlog of 18,000 evictions cases pre-pandemic, the city will have to pour more money into civil legal aid services to be able to deliver on its promise — and follow its own law.

After Outcry, NYC Opens Emergency Housing Vouchers to More Homeless New Yorkers

August 18th, 2021|

City Limits

“It’s positive the city made this change. It only took community outcry, intervention from the federal government, and the reality of facing a potential lawsuit for discriminating against people with disabilities,” said Craig Hughes, a supervising social worker at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project.

Supreme Court Blocks Enforcement Of NY Anti-Eviction Law

August 12th, 2021|

Law 360

Tenants should also keep in mind that eviction is a multistep process that has been drawn out in the pandemic, added Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. "There are still steps that landlords need to take under the law," Dias told Law360. "There's still the fact that courts are not physically reopened or functioning at capacity, and a tremendous number of cases have accrued in the system. So this doesn't mean that landlords are going to be able to evict tenants en masse right away, but it is nonetheless an incredibly harmful decision for New York tenants."

State Vows to Distribute Fed Emergency Rental Money

August 11th, 2021|

Politics NY

Khadija Hussain, a housing benefits advocate at the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that, “There needs to be more languages added to the application options online, and the helpline.” 

He Has Asthma and Cancer. But He Still Was Moved to a Crowded Shelter.

August 5th, 2021|

New York Times

The Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, which has been advocating for some of the people being transferred, said that the city told the nonprofit that Mr. Garrett was sent to a group shelter because the system would not hold a hotel bed for more than 48 hours. But Peter Malvan, an advocate with the organization, said that the city was still obligated to honor the exemption Mr. Garrett had received from being sent to a group shelter, and that it had failed to do so.

In Manhattan, Daily Sweeps Target Homeless New Yorkers

August 2nd, 2021|

New York Times

The city has increased its number of cleanups during the pandemic. In 2020, from March 1 to Dec. 12, the city performed 1,077 cleanups, compared with 543 during the same period in 2019, according to figures the city released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center.

NYC Locks Out Many Homeless Applicants From New Federal Rent Assistance, Advocates Say

July 27th, 2021|

City Limits

“In the exact same scenario with the local rental subsidy, however, DSS is using a standard that someone’s supportive housing application doesn’t impact their ability to live in the community,” added Craig Hushes, a social work supervisor at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project. “The city’s approach to distributing the EHV vouchers is disability discrimination on its face.”

N.Y.C. Halts Plan to Move Homeless People From Hotels After Legal Filing

July 9th, 2021|

New York Times

Helen Strom, the supervisor of benefits and homeless advocacy for the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center... said the people at the hotel who were being wrongfully denied accommodation included women with pulmonary disease, chronic asthma and seizure disorders. “They are right now in flagrant violation of the law,” she said. “The mayor is focused on evicting people from Midtown and wealthy neighborhoods, and he cares about that over people’s safety.”

Thousands Being Sent Back to Homeless Shelters in Return to Pre-Pandemic Status Quo

June 28th, 2021|

City Limits

After Ernest contacted advocates from the groups Neighbors Together and the Safety Net Project, a branch of the Urban Justice Center, organizers arrived to halt the move because residents did not receive the 48-hour written notice required by law. Safety Net advocates have made similar visits to shelters elsewhere in the city ahead of abrupt transfers to unknown locations and have distributed Know Your Rights materials to shelter residents.

4 Ways the Next Mayor and City Council Must Do Better on Street and Subway Homelessness

April 27th, 2021|

Gotham Gazette

The Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center acquired the reasons for the rejections via the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). The results were appalling, and showed the extent to which the Department of Social Services (DSS) and Department of Homeless Services (DHS) take a hands-off approach to the supportive housing application process. People were rejected because of their mental illness, the very reason supportive housing would likely have been a great fit in the first place.

David Rockwell Wants Us to Never Forget Their Faces

March 18th, 2021|

CURBED

For the past year, Peter Malvan has been working with Midnight Run, the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, and other groups to help the city’s unhoused. This has been especially challenging during COVID, with people fearing that the crowded conditions in the shelters would spread infection. “I’m disabled, but I like to keep busy,” he says. “I used to go to offices for in-person meetings. When virtual meetings happened, that got interesting because my phone doesn’t always work. I didn’t get paid, but I worked.”

MTA sticks to its guns regarding policies restricting homelessness in subways despite lawsuit

February 16th, 2021|

AM NY

A lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority alleges that rules adopted by the agency to clear stations and trains of homeless men and women are discriminatory, namely by restricting people from remaining in stations for over an hour at a time. Urban Justice Center (Safety Net Project) and Picture the Homeless file the Article 78 petition in New York County Supreme Court on Thursday and the MTA is not backing down

Advocates for Homeless Sue N.Y.C. Subway System Over Covid Rules

February 12th, 2021|

New York Times

 But the rules exempt so many activities from the one-hour limit — including public speaking, campaigning, leafleting, artistic performances and collecting money for religious or political causes — as to make it “clearly apparent” that their real purpose is to exclude homeless people from the subways, the suit says. The lawsuit was filed by the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project on behalf of Picture the Homeless and a homeless man named Barry Simon.

Lawsuit: The MTA Is Using The Pandemic To Exclude Homeless From The Subways

February 12th, 2021|

Gothamist

"The rules are not about 'safeguarding public health' and ensuring that essential workers are 'able to maintain social distancing,' but rather are about permanently excluding homeless persons from the subway system," the lawsuit states.The complaint was filed by the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, Picture the Homeless, and Barry Simon, a disabled homeless shelter resident who has been ejected from subway stations because of the new rules.

New York’s New Eviction Moratorium Protections Are Not Automatic. Here’s What You Need to Do

January 7th, 2021|

The City

Marika Dias, director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said: “It’s obviously going to be helpful to a lot of tenants. But it’s not a real eviction moratorium, which would be a blanket protection… . It requires tenants to take a step to access the protection, which always makes it likely folks will slip through the cracks.”

New NYC Eviction Cases Start To Move As State Teases Action

December 23rd, 2020|

Law 360

But Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, called it "entirely unjust and shameful" that the courts have begun issuing default judgments in these cases. Tenants have run into trouble when they try to answer their petitions by phone, as the courts have instructed them to do, she said.

NYC Marshals Carry Out First Evictions Since Pandemic Onset

November 25th, 2020|

Law 360

"Without a comprehensive eviction moratorium, tenants are now being put out onto the streets, in the middle of a pandemic and heading into the winter," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. "This is simply cruel."

First Tenant Evicted in NYC since the Pandemic Started. Here’s What It Means

November 24th, 2020|

The City

Marika Dias, a tenant attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said: “We really have reached a moment where it’s clear that the lack of political action does not just have hypothetical consequences, but it has the very real consequences that people are being put out of their homes in the middle of a pandemic.

NYers Are Getting Evicted During the Pandemic. Lawmakers Must Act Now.

November 24th, 2020|

City Limits

There are now more than 200,000 families across New York State in eviction court. Since Cuomo opened the door to new eviction cases in June, over 33,000 cases have been filed. With a million-plus New York tenants behind on their rent, this number will continue to rise.‘ - Marika Dias

Big Response, Huge Need: NYC’s Welfare System Amid COVID-19

November 23rd, 2020|

City Limits

"Indeed, for those who strike out online, HRA offers a telephone Infoline... In August the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center reported that in an informal audit of 98 calls to the hotline, 58 percent were dropped. “In addition to dropped calls, we also documented significant issues with language access, uninformed workers, and confusing menus,” the report contended. “Overall, the Infoline was found to be ineffective.”

NY Gov. Orders Eviction Default Buffer In Wake Of Atty Pleas

November 5th, 2020|

Law 360

"Leaving it up to individual judges to decide behind closed doors when they are considering a landlord's request for a default judgment is... bound to lead to a range of inconsistent results," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.

NYC Tenant Attys Urge State, Courts To Prevent Default Spike

October 30th, 2020|

Law 360

"You've lost your case simply by virtue of the fact that you didn't file an answer," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. "That's not irreversible, but that's not a strong position to be in. You have to show both that your case has merit and that you have an excusable reason for the default."

Nearly 10K NYC Eviction Notices Filed This Summer, a 74% Drop

October 2nd, 2020|

City Limits

"And so what the governor’s done is not issue a universal eviction moratorium. It’s not really even a general moratorium,” said Marika Dias, Director of the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project and Steering Committee member of the Right to Counsel NYC Coalition.

NY Gov. Expands Eviction Defense Law, Not Moratorium

September 29th, 2020|

Law 360

"I think what the governor's press team tells us is what the governor's intentions were," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. "Ultimately, it will be up to the courts to decide the scope of the language of the [order] and what it covers."

New MTA Rules Are Criticized As ‘Anti-Homeless’

September 24th, 2020|

NYC Streets Blog

“The MTA is opportunistically using the pandemic to make long-sought anti-homeless measures permanent, right at a time when the city’s homeless population is most vulnerable,” said Helen Strom from the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.

CDC Eviction Rule Likely To Have Limited Reach In NYC

September 14th, 2020|

Law 360

"We are basically telling folks they should not submit a declaration without getting legal advice first," said Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City. "For most people, the declaration makes admissions without the moratorium actually offering them much benefit right now."

Mixed Reception For Trump CDC’s Eviction Ban

September 2nd, 2020|

Law 360

Marika Dias, attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, noted that evictions in the state typically take longer than four months to resolve, likely pushing pandemic-related disputes past the Dec. 31 threshold.

NY Courts Say State Has 1 Month To Act On Eviction Hold

September 1st, 2020|

Law 360

"Currently, in New York City alone, there are over 14,000 households with pending eviction warrants who are in imminent danger of displacement," Marika Dias, managing director of the Urban Justice Center's Safety Net Project, said in a Tuesday statement to Law360.

As New York Hurtles Toward an Eviction Crisis, These Are the Tenants Most at Risk

August 19th, 2020|

Curbed NY

Marika Dias, the managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, stresses it’s a small but critical change that gives those tenants a last-ditch effort to defend their homes, but it’s still a Band-Aid on a gaping wound. “That’s a much better situation than what we were going to see unfold,” says Dias. “That said, people are not going to suddenly have their job or their health restored come October 1. The situation demands a political solution.”

NY Courts Say Eviction Pause Continues, For Now

August 10th, 2020|

Law 360

"Cuomo's order gives permission for the courts to maintain a pause on eviction cases moving forward, but he's not requiring them to," said Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. "So we could see a situation where the courts decide that even though they have permission to pause, they don't have to. Cuomo has taken no steps to prevent that."

Can NYC Reopen Its Housing Courts Safely?

August 3rd, 2020|

Commercial Observer

“There are questions about how to conduct something as complex as a trial, where people need to be able to cross-examine and raise objections of someone giving testimony, when they aren’t in the physical presence of the witness,” said Marika Dias, the managing director of the Safety Net project at the Urban Justice Center.

NYC courts could face wave of post-pandemic eviction cases

July 12th, 2020|

Daily News

Marika Dias, director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, said it was critical that tenants know that while evictions are slowly starting to be filed, the process for considering the case and obtaining an order to leave an apartment remains on pause.

Brooklyn To Resume Some Pre-Pandemic Housing Trials

July 9th, 2020|

Law 360

Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, urged the court to reverse course "immediately." "NYC housing court's indication that they intend to move forward with eviction trials is dangerous and shows a complete disregard for the lives of tenants, their families and the community at large," she said. "It is also entirely at odds with the directive from New York state's chief administrative judge, which explicitly suspends all eviction cases statewide until further notice."

State of NYC Housing on All of It w/ Alison Stewart

July 6th, 2020|

Alison Stewart - NPR

Marika Dias, tenant attorney and director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, explains what tenants should know about the new Tenant Safe Harbor Act, and why many are still pushing for rent during the pandemic to be cancelled altogether.

The Effort to Move Every Homeless New Yorker Into a Hotel

June 26th, 2020|

Next City

The Homeless Can’t Stay Home campaign launched in March. While its founding organizations, including Human.NYC, VOCAL NY and the Safety Net Project, a division of the Urban Justice Center, push for the city to take on a coordinated effort to move unsheltered people into hotel rooms, the campaign has also raised $128,000 through a GoFundMe, which has allowed them to house about 28 people in hotel rooms.

As Moratoriums Start to Lift, Preparing for an Eviction Wave

June 25th, 2020|

Shelter Force

“We’re really trying to make sure that tenants have access to information,” says Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. The Urban Justice Center is one of more than 25 tenant advocacy groups that are part of the Right to Counsel Coalition in New York City.

NY Atty Confusion, Concern Around New Virus Eviction Rule

May 13th, 2020|

Law 360

"What Cuomo is proposing beginning June 20 is not a moratorium but is prohibiting certain types of cases," Marika Dias, managing director of the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center, told Law360. "What that means in practice is that it's going to shift the onus onto the tenants to make sure they fit into that category."

Cuomo’s New Order Opens the Door to Evictions

May 12th, 2020|

City Limits

By SNP's E.D. Marika Dias:
By opening the door to all these new eviction cases and evictions, the new executive order will quickly take us back to overcrowded housing courts and families facing homelessness—both of which are guaranteed to endanger individual and public health. Cuomo didn’t extend the moratorium, he ended it, outrageously putting all of us at risk.

New Version of Cuomo’s Evictions Ban Seen as Weaker

May 12th, 2020|

City Limits

Marika Dias, managing director of the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project, says there are two key categories of tenants that are not covered under the new eviction moratorium: tenants who were being evicted for anything that doesn’t relate to nonpayment of rent (also known as holdover cases) and tenants unable to show that they have faced a financial impact due to COVID-19.

City’s homeless-hotel plan still has holes, advocates say

April 29th, 2020|

Queens Daily Eagle

“While these are certainly steps in the right direction, they are nowhere near what the city could and should be doing right now,” said Craig Hughes, a supervising social worker at the Urban Justice Center Safety Net Project.

Hotels as COVID Convalescent Homes: Challenges for Patients, Staff

April 27th, 2020|

City Limits

Advocates for the homeless like VOCAL-NY, Human.nyc, and the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center have spoken out about their concerns regarding the need for greater assistance to New Yorkers who are homeless and have been able to access the city’s hotel program.

Council bill would house homeless in hotels

April 21st, 2020|

The Real Deal

"Moving homeless New Yorkers immediately out of crowded shelters, off the streets, and into single hotel rooms with private bathrooms is the best way to protect the community from contracting and spreading Covid-19, and further overwhelming our hospitals,” Peter Malvan, an advocate with Safety Net Activists at the Urban Justice Center, said in a statement.

Advocates urge de Blasio, Cuomo to put homeless in unused hotels

April 7th, 2020|

The Telegraph

Advocates and elected officials, including New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, are urging Mayor de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to house up to 30,000 homeless individuals in unused hotel rooms to help them engage in social distancing and limit the spread of COVID-19.

New York City Has Done Almost Nothing to Protect 70,000 People in its Homeless Shelters From Coronavirus Spread

April 2nd, 2020|

The Intercept

Johanna Garcia is doing her best to keep her family and others safe during the coronavirus pandemic. She washes her hands a lot; she cleans constantly; she goes on social distance walks with her kids, 10-month-old Logan and 4-year-old Abigail. But there’s only so much she can do while living at one of New York City’s approximately 450 homeless shelters.

New York City Has Done Almost Nothing to Protect 70,000 People in its Homeless Shelters From Coronavirus Spread

April 1st, 2020|

Recently, the city has been conducting sweeps, but that’s not much of a solution either. “They move to another block or they’re likely arrested,” said Craig Hughes, a social work supervisor with the Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that “Unless individual housing units are available, do not clear encampments during community spread of Covid-19.”

Advocates Demand Help for Vulnerable Prisoners, Homeless Folks

March 23rd, 2020|

Gay City News

VOCAL-NY, Communities United for Police Reform, Neighbors Together, human.nyc, Picture the Homeless, and Safety Net Activists at the Urban Justice Center offered specific recommendations in an open letter to Cuomo and de Blasio: Immediately provide services to folks living on the street

Opinion: Youth Homeless Are Falling Through Cracks in COVID-19 Response

March 23rd, 2020|

City Limits

By all reputable predictions, we are only at an early phase of the COVID-19 crisis. Organizations that run shelters, food pantries, and drop-in centers are already facing a confluence of city neglect, staffing crises and exposure to the virus, and as a consequence are steadily limiting and temporarily shuttering services. Runaway and homeless youth (RHY) and programs tailored to serve them, in short supply prior to COVID-19, are facing an unprecedented emergency.

Here’s Why the Homeless Are Enraged by Bloomberg’s Campaign

February 25th, 2020|

The Daily Beast

Maria T. Walles, 49, will never forget the years she spent worrying about where she and her family would sleep on any given night in New York City. Sometimes Walles, her husband, and her 3-year-old daughter stayed in a family shelter. Sometimes they were denied. On those nights, they’d have to leave her toddler daughter with a friend or family member, then split up to go to separate women’s and men’s shelters.

A Guide to Your Rights in Homeless Shelters

February 19th, 2020|

City Limits

"The Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, the Safety Net Activists, the Center for Urban Pedagogy and design studio 13 milliseconds this week released a pamphlet outlining the rights that homeless individuals and families have in New York City. It covers everything from privacy to diet, voting to disabilities, public benefits to income savings; explains supportive housing and vouchers; talks about how to get a fair hearing and how to seek permanent affordable housing."

Press Release: From Shelter to Apartment

February 18th, 2020|

From Shelter to Apartment is a guide design to assist homeless New Yorkers navigating the city’s (DHS) shelter system and finding affordable housing, developed in collaboration with the Safety Net Project of the Urban Justice Center, the Safety Net Activists, the Center for Urban Pedagogy, and design studio 13 milliseconds.

Amid Youth Homeless Crisis, NYC Has Ramped up Shelter Capacity

February 6th, 2020|

City Limits

“They should immediately provide homeless youth relying on DYCD programs access to local rental subsidies like CityFHEPS, including those young people who only access drop-in sites, as well as priority access to NYCHA and Section 8 vouchers,” says Craig Hughes, a social work supervisor at the Urban Justice Center’s Safety Net Project who is writing a doctoral dissertation on the city’s history of youth homelessness."

SNAP Snapped: City closes food stamp assistance center

July 2nd, 2019|

Manhattan Times

On June 28, the HRA stopped offering assistance for SNAP benefits at its St. Nicholas Center. The center served about 90 individuals per day. In recent weeks, the Safety Net Project spearheaded an effort to keep the center from closing. We organized petition letters and rallied community advocate walks.

Charge City Making It Tougher to Sign Up for Food Stamps

July 1st, 2019|

The Chief Leader

Kiana Davis, a benefits advocate at SNP, discusses the de Blasio administration's use of misleading data to support their closing of an East Harlem snap center. “We think the city has made some misleading statements justifying the closure,” she said during a phone interview. “And we find their statistics highly problematic.”

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