Senate Bill S6542

                                 BILL NUMBER:  S6542

 TITLE OF BILL :

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to homeless shelters for adults

 PURPOSE:

The purpose of this bill is to prohibit any shelter for single adults
to be located within five hundred feet of any school, including, but
not limited to any public school in any city with a population of one
million or more.

 SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill amends Section 21-312 of the administrative code of the city
of New York by adding a new subdivision f. The bill will prohibit any
shelter for single adults to be located within five hundred feet of
any school, including, but not limited to any public school in any
city with a population of one million or more.

 EXISTING LAW:

This is a new law.

              

 JUSTIFICATION:

In recent years there has been an extraordinary increase in the number
of New Yorkers living in homeless shelters and the impact of this
growing shelter population has been particularly acute in New York
City where a shelter census conducted dated January 31, 2010 showed a
record number of 39,256 people living in municipal shelters. It is
essential for New York's public policies to treat shelter residents
with compassion and to appropriately meet their need for housing but
many concerns have been raised about the process used to locate
shelters and the use of inappropriate sites as shelter locations.

For many concerned community residents, the prospect of a homeless
shelter for single adults being located immediately adjacent to a
public school raises serious concerns about the potential impact upon
the safety and well-being of the vulnerable children who attend the
school: This is of particular concern in light of the lack of
information currently available regarding the criminal and/or mental
health history of shelter residents in New York's largest
municipality.

In the west Bronx, as in other parts of New York City, the lack of a
reasonable limit on the proximity of single adult shelters to schools
has led to community protests and increased opposition to homeless
shelters in general. By establishing a reasonable statutory standard,
this legislation protects the interests of the community residents and
lessens the opposition to homeless shelters.

 LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

A.9481 (2013-2014) referred to Cities 05/01/14

A.6298 (2011-2012) Referred to Cities

A.1100 (2012-2013) Referred to Cities 01/09/2013

A.1100 (2012-2013) Enacting Clause Stricken 12/06/2013

 FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 EFFECTIVE DATE:

This act shall take effect immediately.