Cuomo agrees to build more supportive housing

Ryan Hutchins

Governor Andrew Cuomo has agreed to develop a new initiative to build supportive housing for the homeless — an effort likely to have a statewide focus.

The effort would include signing a new memorandum of understanding with the city that would replace the current so-called “New York/New York III” agreement, set to expire next year. That agreement, which took affect in 2005, sets the goal of creating about 9,000 supportive units for households where a member suffers from severe mental illness, substance-use disorders, HIV/AIDS or other medical conditions.

Building affordable homes that offer support to vulnerable populations is also a goal articulated in Mayor Bill de Blasio's ambitious housing plan. That document says the 2005 agreement, and the two that came before it, were “groundbreaking collaborative commitments,” but that more must be done.

The mayor's office did not respond to requests for comment on the governor's plan.

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/real-estate/2014/06/8546682/cuomo-agrees-build-more-supportive-housing