Homeless Ask NYC Mayoral Candidates How They'd Handle Crisis

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY – The UWS Open Hearts Initiative and an advocate called Da Homeless Hero hosted a forum Thursday to let homeless people ask mayoral candidates how they handle the crisis in the city.

Shams DaBaron – known as 'Da Homeless Hero" for his activism –is a resident of The Lucerne hotel. He and the UWS Open Hearts Initiative have become community leaders in the battle to keep homeless residents in a temporary shelter at the Upper West Side hotel.

Candidates present at the forum were Maya Wiley, Kathryn Garcia, Scott Stringer, Shaun Donovan, Dianne Morales, Joycelyn Taylor, Eric Adams, Raymond McGuire, Carlos Menchaca and Loree Sutton.

In welcoming mayoral candidates, DaBaron, 51, said he was grateful to them for taking time to speak directly to people impacted by homelessness.

"To dignify those of us who are directly impacted by homelessness, by being present to listen to us, to hear our questions, to make us a part of the conversation – today you're not talking over us, you're talking about us, you're talking with us," he said. "That says something so powerful."

Questions for the candidates were pre-recorded by New Yorkers who are currently experiencing homelessness, living in temporary shelter or formerly experienced homelessness.

To start off the forum, Fannie Lou Diane, who is experiencing homelessness, asked the candidates how they viewed the connection between systematic racism and the current housing and homelessness crisis. She asked the candidates to detail their plans of action on what they'll do to tackle both.

"Homelessness is an eviction crisis, and eviction crisis is an affordability crisis and affordability crisis is also a jobs without justice crisis and that's what systemic racism is," said candidate and attorney Maya Wiley.

In response, DaBaron asked the candidates what they'd specifically do to change the way the system is run in order to end the systemic racism.

"The one commitment I'd make to you is that we break the pipeline to homelessness and the pipeline to prison," said candidate and former sanitation commissionerKathryn Garcia.

New Yorkers impacted by homelessness also asked the candidates what the future looks like for people who live in the streets or subways or who are currently living in a hotel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Homeless people are not strangers, they are family members who have fallen on hard times," said candidate and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams. "We need to treat people with the dignity while you're there and transition you to permanent housing."

Other questions included how the candidates intend to move away from the current shelter model and create more humane living conditions, whether the candidates would commit to raise the eligibility of housing vouchers, and how to improve the transition process from shelters to permanent housing.

"Today is a milestone in our history because these candidates that came out, what they really did was they gave us a seat at the table," DaBaron said at the end of the forum.