Three city councilmen are calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to fire Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Steven Banks over the agency’s failures to address homelessness that have been laid bare by the coronavirus crisis.
“The nightly subway shutdowns have shed light on Commissioner Banks’ failure to address the homeless situation,” said Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) in a new letter to the mayor.
“For years Commissioner Banks declined to provide outreach to the homeless men and women living in the subways. That’s a disgrace,” Ulrich said.
Staten Island Republican Joe Borelli and Queens Democrat Robert Holden also signed the letter. They say Banks refused to addresses the problem of homeless people riding the rails for years, creating unsanitary conditions that ultimately led to the spread of the virus underground.
“Clearly, Commissioner Banks should have taken a more aggressive outreach approach on the subways a long time ago to convince people to accept help,” Holden said.
Last week Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered the removal of all passengers from the subway system between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. as it shut down for a deep cleaning. Since the order took effect two days ago, nearly 360 people sleeping on the trains agreed to go to a shelter. Over 250 refused help.
Banks “chose to let this problem fester for his entire six-year tenure, and only a global pandemic could finally open his eyes. His time is up,” Holden added.
The councilmen also accuse Banks of using the city’s Right to Shelter Law, which guarantees New Yorkers a place to sleep indoors at night, to build “massive warehouse-style shelters” that were unsafe before the pandemic and acted as petri dishes for the disease during the outbreak.
Over 700 shelter residents have tested positive for the bug and 69 have died, according to DHS.
“It’s about time the rubber met the road on de Blasio, Commissioner Banks and their backwards homelessness policies,” said Borelli.
“They’ve had six years and chose to fight every community, rather than make progress,” he said.
City Hall spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein defended Banks.
“Commissioner Banks has dedicated his career to helping the less fortunate and under his expertise we’ve helped move more than 2,500 people off the street and helped more than 140,000 New Yorkers secure permanent housing.
“We’re lucky he’s in charge, rather than those who pretend to have compassion for the homeless until they’re housed in their neighborhood,” Goldstein said.