Cindy Rodriguez

Frank Mauro, executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, talks about the cuts to the New York State budget. Plus, Cindy Rodriguez, WNYC reporter, discusses the cuts to mental health and human services included in the most recent extender bill.

New York, NY —

One of the city's oldest and largest foster care agencies is suing the Administration for Children's Services to try to stop it from ending its contract. The lawsuit claims the recent bidding process for foster care services was unfair and arbitrary.

Little Flower Children and Family ...

New York, NY —

Starting this fall, working homeless families will be expected to pay a fee to stay in a city shelter. The money will go into an interest-bearing savings account, and when families leave the shelter, they'll get the money back.

State Sen. Daniel Squadron sponsored legislation to ...

New York, NY —

A panel appointed by the police commissioner is recommending NYPD officers receive new training on how to handle sexual assault cases. The panel was appointed in February after a group of advocates began complaining that sexual assault victims were having a hard time getting police ...

An estimated 200,000 domestic workers in New York are one step closer to receiving labor protections and benefits.

The State Senate has passed a version of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. The bill gives full-time nannies, housekeepers and caregivers for the elderly seven paid sick days, five vacation days ...

New York, NY —

Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are situated on 80 acres of prime Manhattan real estate and late last year, the attempt to make it luxury housing failed. The owners, Tishman Speyer and Black Rock Realty, defaulted on the biggest real estate deal in American ...

Hundreds of tourists were left stranded Thursday night after the city closed down the youth hostel in Harlem where they were staying.

The Department of Buildings has received dozens of complaints about the L-Hostel, alleging rooms are packed with too many people.

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer represents the Upper West ...

New York, NY —

Housing subsidies for homeless families are about to get less generous. Homeless advocates are skeptical about the change and so are brokers who rent apartments to low-income families. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez has more.

REPORTER: Right now the city covers most of the rent for homeless families ...

New York, NY —

Some city council members expressed skepticism today about the city's plan to charge certain homeless families rent for staying in homeless shelters.

The initiative is not meant as a way to help close the city's budget gap -- at a council hearing, city officials testified that ...

New York, NY —

The city's Administration for Children's Services says it's raising the quality of subsidized childcare programs for kids under five. The agency says now families can expect more classroom staff, on-site social workers, eight-hour days all year long, and frequent progress reports. The programs serve mostly ...

New York, NY —

Homeless advocates have been complaining for years about illegal boarding homes described as dangerous firetraps. Yesterday the city agreed to a rule that will prohibit shelters from referring homeless people to these places. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: It's mostly homeless men who stay in these ...

New York, NY —

A new city rule will prohibit shelters from referring homeless men and women to illegal boarding homes. Advocates have been complaining about the problem for years.

Lindsay Davis from the Coalition for the Homeless helped document the conditions inside houses where, she says, up to 24 ...

New York, NY —

The New York City Housing Authority is running out of money to fund more than 10,000 housing vouchers for low-income families.

The housing authority revoked close to 2,600 Section Eight vouchers last December, but those vouchers weren't actually in use yet. Instead, most families slated to ...

New York, NY —

The city has brokered a deal to keep hundreds of East Harlem apartments affordable.

The 229-unit Lexington Court had fallen into disrepair, and rather than fix it, the owner put it up for sale. With the help of $5 million in city subsidies and tax exempt ...

New York, NY —

New York City has started a time-banking initiative that allows people to barter their talents, time, and energy. Members will be able to pick up someone's prescriptions, for example, in exchange for an hour of Spanish lessons. Each hour of service that members provide gets ...

New York, NY —

Homeless immigrants without legal status can often linger in city shelters for years. That's because they don't qualify for many of the housing subsidies that are used to move people out, leaving them in an indefinite limbo. But there are modest successes. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez ...

A New York federal appeals court recently ruled that the Social Security Administration was cutting off people's benefits without sufficient proof that they had violated parole or probation.

New York, NY —

A New York federal appeals court recently ruled that the Social Security Administration was cutting off people's benefits without sufficient proof that they had violated parole or probation. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: A provision in the 1996 welfare reform bill allows for the Social Security ...

New York, NY —

City Comptroller John Liu says the city's Department of Homeless Services continues to make handshake agreements with hotel and apartment building owners to provide emergency shelter, despite a promise years ago to formalize those arrangements.

An audit found that in 2008, Homeless Services paid out $153 ...

New York, NY —

Shelter providers are warning that state budget cuts would decimate city shelters for single adults at a time when street homelessness just shot up.

City officials estimate the cuts at $65 million, a quarter of the budget for adult shelters. Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Hess calls ...