Flophouses Proliferate Despite Investigations, Complaints, Emergency Task Force

New York City's homeless services are straining under the large vulnerable population looking for help — and illegal flophouses often fill the gap. Called three-quarter houses, these centers are often filled by homeless people seeking to avoid shelters or the streets. However, the city barely regulates businesses and critics say many of them are abusive.

New York Times reporter Kim Barker's investigation outlined the widespread abuses of an estimated 600 illegal flophouses in New York City. Barker described three-quarter house operators cramming many people into rundown apartments, mandating outpatient treatments, and getting kickbacks from medical centers for unnecessary, Medicaid-covered treatments.

The City Council convened a task force to investigate these abuses after Barker's story, but seven months later, only 84 of the estimated 600 buildings have been inspected. 

WNYC host Sean Carlson gets the update from reporter Kim Barker.