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���������� Note: The recent plea that NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio made to city landlords is not a new scheme; similar calls under the same program were offered by his predecessor Mayor Bloomberg in an attempt to reduce the city’s homeless population. But this operation has been highly criticized in the past as an unsustainable plan to afford housing opportunities to persons experiencing homelessness. Landlords who do take the sign-on bonus are said to evict current tenants—primarily those that are already vulnerable to income and job insecurity—to take the higher rates paid by the city. ��The plan has also had the effect of ghettoizing persons with homelessness experiences into particular buildings and areas, which can lead to stigmatization and targeting by businesses. Advocates are urging the administration to take more proactive measures toward integration and building of sustainable housing plans, particularly for NYC families.

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De Blasio Offers Cash to NYC Landlords in Robocalls Urging Them to Take in Homeless��

���������� Daily News; Lisa L. Colangelo, Jennifer Fermino, 3/20/2015

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Brother, can you spare an apartment?

Mayor de Blasio, desperate to��, is making robocalls to Big Apple landlords asking them to house families from the shelter system.

Landlords aren’t expected to be bleeding hearts — those who take up the mayor’s offer will receive a $1,000 signing bonus in addition to the city funds that will pay the family’s rent, the mayor says in the 45-second taped call.

“Hi, this is Mayor Bill de Blasio,” the robocall begins.

“As a landlord, you have an opportunity to fill vacancies in your building and receive a $1,000 bonus from the City of ����������.”

Mayor de Blasio is robocalling landlords offering money to house the city’s homeless.

One Queens resident ��who received the robocall recorded it and posted it on her Facebook page.

“Did anyone else receive this phone call from Bill de Blasio today asking you to shelter homeless families in your house?” Christina Wilkinson of Ridgewood said.

One of her friends sarcastically said she was “lucky” to have the mayor call.

“How many homeless people is Bill de Blasio sheltering in HIS house?” another friend wrote.

De Blasio has revived a program similar that under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg that ended in 2011.

The money for participating landlords is being distributed through the city’s new Living in Communities Rental Assistance program, which aims to move families out of the strained shelter system and into homes.

Many of the families who qualify for the program have full-time jobs, but still can’t afford the costs of moving and rent. Others in the program are escaping from domestic violence or have other special needs that have left them struggling.

The families are expected to contribute 30% of their income to rent. The amount of assistance from the city depends on the family size, and can range from $1,268 for a family of two to $2,530 for a family of 10.

For assisting homeless, landlords would get an $1,000 bonus.

City Hall said the calls — which end with de Blasio telling interested parties to “please press 1” for more info — are intended to reassure landlords that the mayor is serious about the program.

“This call from the mayor is part of our ongoing conversations and outreach to landlords,” a City Hall spokeswoman said.

“We want to remind landlords with vacant units that these programs are available, a safe business opportunity for them, and a way to help our city combat a huge affordability crisis.”

The city had a similar rent subsidy program under Michael Bloomberg’s administration, but when that ended in 2011, landlords were stuck with thousands of tenants who couldn’t pay their rent.

When the previous program ended in 2011, landlords were stuck with thousands of tenants who couldn’t pay their rent.

“We are ready to work with you,” de Blasio says in the call.

The robocalls come at a time when the city’s homeless shelters are housing about 60,000 people a night.

Many of those are families with kids.

As the��, a report from the Coalition for the Homeless, a private nonprofit, found 42,000 kids slept in homeless shelters last year.

That sad figure includes one in 17 of ����������’s African-American children.

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