USA: THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING REFUGE IN NEW YORK CITY'S SHELTERS HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH
Record ID:
648394
USA: THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING REFUGE IN NEW YORK CITY'S SHELTERS HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH
- Title: USA: THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE SEEKING REFUGE IN NEW YORK CITY'S SHELTERS HAS REACHED AN ALL TIME HIGH
- Date: 17th December 2001
- Summary: (W1)NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 17, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV/SV OF HOMELESS MAN NEAR TIMES SQUARE (3 SHOTS) 0.19 2. LV OF HOLY APOSTLES CHURCH AND SOUP KITCHEN 0.23 3. SLV PEOPLE WAITING OUTSIDE OF HOLY APOSTLES 0.29 4. SLV STEVEN BRYAN, RECENTLY HOMELESS, WALKING ALONG THE STREET 0.36 5. MCU (English) BRYAN SAYING: "Since that time, I'm homeless now. Before then, I had money. I was paying for a room uptown. And now, I don't have a room anymore and we've been trying to get back on our feet." 0.50 6. SV/CU OF VOLUNTEERS AT HOLY APOSTLES SOUP KITCHEN SERVING FOOD (2 SHOTS) 1.10 7. SV/CU PATRICK MARKEE, POLICY ANALYST, COALITION FOR THE HOMELESS, AT COMPUTER (2 SHOTS) 1.19 8. MCU (English) MARKEE SAYING: "Simply put, there are more homeless people sleeping in New York City shelters now than at any point in New York City's history. More than 29,000 homeless children and adults bed down in shelters and welfare hotels each night." 1.33 9. TV/SLV/SV OF PEOPLE EATING AT THE SOUP KITCHEN AT HOLY APOSTLES (5 SHOTS) 2.03 10. MCU (English) FATHER BILL GREENLAW, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE HOLY APOSTLES SOUP KITCHEN SAYING: "After 9/11, we saw a dramatic increase in the number of people who are here. New faces, everyday. And the anecdotal evidence of talking with these people is that we're talking about messengers, we're talking about food service workers. We're talking about janitors, people in the underground economy if you will, those who are paid off the books. We're talking about undocumented people. None of those people have in a sense the record or the wherewithall to establish who they are with relief agencies who are willing to help. They are the invisible, the non-existent people if you will." 2.41 11. MCU HOMELESS MAN EATING AT SOUP KITCHEN 2.52 12. MCU (English) JOEL BERG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK CITY COALITION AGAINST HUNGER, SAYING: "After September 11th, it's only increased the number of working families. People who are working hard, playing by the rules, trying at one, two, or three jobs to pay the rent, to pay for food. Now many of those folks have lost their jobs or had their income dramatically dropped. So people at the edge of hunger are now going hungry." 3.14 13. POSTER DEPICTING RISE I NEW YORK CITY HUNGER SINCE SEPTEMBER 3.23 14. MCU (English) RON GUPTA, RECENTLY HOMELESS, SAYING: "Tragic. That's all in a word. We've got to pay the bills keep coming. Bills don't stop because theta World Trade Centre broke down. They keep coming." 3.36 15. SLV/LV HOMELESS SLEEPING ON BENCHES (3 SHOTS) 3.53 16. MCU (English) BRYAN SAYING: "It seems like they are more excuse me emphasize on the Fire Department. They deserve it. They were heroes. I agree with them. And the police, they did it. But there were a lot of other people that did a lot of other things too. And it wasn't just them. They were uniformed guys. What about people like me? And other people like me? We don't see any benefits and we aren't going to see any benefits. I mean, I got destroyed at that time too. And there's a lot of people like me. And its not just me." 4.24 17. SV/SLV BRYAN WALKING OUT OF HOLY APOSTLES AND DOWN THE STREET (2 SHOTS) 4.47 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 1st January 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAE1DDA2Y8SCJC0QQRXJTPXFIMV
- Story Text: The number of people seeking refuge in New York City's
shelters has reached an all time high, according to the
Coalition for the Homeless.
For the first time in two decades, panhandlers, street
sleepers and longer soup kitchen lines resurfaced noticeably
in New York when the economy stalled this year, but the World
Trade Center attacks have forced even more working families to
seek charity.
Steven Bryan was a vendor in the World Trade Center area.
He used to sell watches to thousands of people who worked in
the World Trade Center. Many of them, he says are now dead.
But on September 11th, his life took a turn for the worse.
Bryan said, "Since that time, I'm homeless now. Before
then, I had money. I was paying for a room uptown. And now, I
don't have a room anymore and we've been trying to get back on
our feet."
People sleeping in railroad stations, subways and on
sidewalks have become a more common city sight again, but
advocates for the poor say a less-visible group of victims --
mostly service workers who live paycheque to paycheque -- lost
their jobs Sept. 11 and struggle to feed their families.
Patrick Markee, policy analyst at the New York Coalition
for the Homeless said, "Simply put, there are more homeless
people sleeping in New York City shelters now than at any
point in New York City's history. More than 29,000 homeless
children and adults bed down in shelters and welfare hotels
each night."
Father Bill Greenlaw, Executive Director of the Holy
Apostle's Soup Kitchen, said that they have seen a dramatic
increase of people since September the 11th. Greenlaw said,
"The anecdotal evidence of talking with these people is that
we're talking about messengers, we're talking about food
service workers. We're talking about janitors, people in the
underground economy if you will, those who are paid off the
books. We're talking about undocumented people."
He added, "They are the invisible, the non-existent people
if you will."
Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City
Coalition Against Hunger, said, "After September 11th, it's
only increased the number of working families. People who are
working hard, playing by the rules, trying at one, two, or
three jobs to pay the rent, to pay for food. Now many of those
folks have lost their jobs or had their income dramatically
dropped. So people at the edge of hunger are now going
hungry,"
A record number of people -- more than 29,000 -- were
spending the night in shelters in New York, the largest U.S.
city, according to a November report by the Coalition for the
Homeless, another non-profit advocacy group.
Other advocates for the poor said city, state and federal
agencies would need to create jobs in the effort to rebuild
the financial district to avoid thousands more low income New
Yorkers from being pushed back into poverty, homelessness and
hunger.
Berg said those seeking free hot meals included maids,
restaurant workers, messengers, drivers, delivery people and
airport baggage handlers whose jobs disappeared with the
hijacked plane attacks that destroyed the twin 110-story
towers in lower Manhattan.
Ron Gupta says he was an accountant for an undisclosed
firm in the World Trade Center. He said his situation since
the 11th is, "Tragic. That's all in a word. We've got to pay
the bills keep coming. Bills don't stop because theta World
Trade Center broke down. They keep coming."
The United States has accused Saudi-born Islamic militant
Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network of carrying out four
hijacked plane attacks in New York, Washington and
Pennsylvania that killed more than 3,000 people. The attacks
on the U.S. financial and military centres pushed the economy
into steeper decline.
In October, a total of 29,498 single adults and families
spent the night in New York City welfare hotels and shelters
-- the most in city history, the Coalition for the Homeless
said. The figure had risen about 8,000 from October 1998, and
was above the previous record of 28,737 in March 1987.
Advocates for the poor said outgoing Mayor Rudolph
Giuliani must share the blame for the increase in those
seeking city shelter. Giuliani, carrying out changes in
welfare policy that were made nation-wide in the late 1990s,
pushed too many people off welfare rolls and food stamps into
low-wage, insecure jobs, they said.
The Coalition for the Homeless said the eight-year
Giuliani administration had spent too much on welfare hotels
and privately-owned apartments and that money should be
redirected.
It urged new mayor Michael Bloomberg to provide more
emergency grants, for instance, to help families at risk of
eviction and legal aid to help low-income tenants in disputes
with landlords. The new administration, which takes office
Jan. 1, should also examine new ways of providing more
affordable housing, it said.
Giuliani, who has clashed with the group over his "quality
of life" policies that saw police prosecute street people more
vigorously and herd them into city shelters, acknowledged the
number of homeless people had increased.
A number of homeless people who used the hallways, subway
stations and shopping centres of the World Trade Center to
beg, sleep or pass the time, disappeared when the towers fell.
According to the United Homeless Organization, it has
developed a list of 50 people reported missing.
Bryan said that all the attention and relief is focused on
the families of Firemen, Policemen, and rescue workers who
lost their lives. He's what Father Greenlaw described as one
of the invisible ones and he wonders, "What about people like
me? And other people like me? We don't see any benefits and we
aren't going to see any benefits. I mean, I got destroyed at
that time too. And there's a lot of people like me. And its
not just me."
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