Steven Banks, commissioner of NYC's Human Resources Administration and former head of the Legal Aid Society, talks about his department's role in fighting New York City's surge in homelessness.

Banks points to the 2011 state-city decision to cut subsidies for a homeless aid program as a reason for the "surge in homelessness" that Mayor Bill de Blasio "inherited."

He describes the last few years as a "rebuilding" process for programs including rental assistance and supportive housing, which are designed to help people stay in their existing housing or rent housing on the private market.

Banks also says he waited his entire professional life as a legal aid lawyer to have a mayor whose focus was fighting poverty and income inequality, and he believes Mayor de Blasio is staying true to that focus and making a difference.