Showing posts with label budget cuts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget cuts. Show all posts

Friday, April 18, 2014

Questions about Full-Page NYTimes Open Letter to Pope About Homeless QUILTBAG Youth Services

Was the Controversial Full-Page New York Times Ad Shaming Catholic Pope Francis A Complete Waste of Money ?

Carl Siciliano photo Carl-Siciliano-BEST-Credit-Mike-Ruiz_zpsb0099167.jpg

The cost of an open "plea to Pope Francis on behalf of troubled gay youths needing housing, healthcare and other basic necessities" printed as a full-page advertisement in last Sunday's edition of The New York Times may have been an expensive waste of money, according to a post published yesterday on the blog of San Francisco activist Michael Petrelis.

The open letter, penned by Carl Siciliano, pictured above, the executive director of a Manhattan shelter for homeless QUILTBAG youth, the Ali Forney Center, was estimated to cost approximately $150,000 to be printed by The New York Times, and the cost was paid for by chichi furniture makers Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, the blogger Mr. Petrelis wrote.

Once a highly visible activist when he lived in New York, Mr. Petrelis periodically follows New York politics and activism, blogging from San Francisco about these issues on the World Wide Web. When Mr. Petrelis first approached Mr. Siciliano about the cost of the advertisement, Mr. Siciliano was evasive, directing Mr. Petrelis to the furniture makers, who paid for the advertisement.

2014 04 13 Ali Forney Center - Open Letter to the Pope (Pope Francis) - Full Page Advertisement in The New...

Mr. Petrelis sought to open up a dialogue with Mr. Siciliano over the possible misuse of $150,000 in donor money to pay for a one-time, full-page advertisement, but Mr. Siciliano ended communication with Mr. Petrelis after issuing a denial, forcing Mr. Petrelis to blog about the issue and, later, circulating a link to his blog post to several New York City activists, including some journalists. Mr. Petrelis's e-mail was subsequently forwarded amongst New York activists. "In my view, the funds were wasted on a PR stunt that did nothing of direct benefit to Ali Forney Center clients, but sure bought a lot of gushing media and blogger coverage," Mr. Petrelis wrote on his blog, adding, "I say that money could have been put to much better use paying for motel vouchers or subsidizing apartments for homeless New York City gay youths."

In trying to hold Mr. Siciliano accountable for the possible misuse of $150,000 in donor funds for a one-time public relations "stunt," Mr. Petrelis and other activists noted that Mr. Siciliano and his donors have arguably wasted a large sum of money hoisting shame or blame onto the Catholic pope in Rome for conditions in New York City over which the pope has no real responsibility.

Pope Francis photo Pope-Francis_zps30d6faa6.jpg

Over three months ago, a class action of homeless New York City youths filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn federal court. The Legal Aid Society, acting as counsel to the plaintiffs, sued New York City, demanding the full resources to finally and fully provide shelter to all homeless youths in New York City, as required by law. When New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his first preliminary budget, his administration promised to "eventually spend $12 million a year to fund programs for homeless youth, including queer youth," Gay City News reported. But the $12 million isn't enough to full fund the provision of shelter to the estimated 3,800 homeless youths in New York City. At $12 million, the spending comes out to less than $3,160 per year per homeless youth -- which comes out to about the cost of one month's rent for the average New York apartment. At that funding, the promised budget allocation isn't enough for rent, much less sufficient for healthcare and other basic services, which Mr. Siciliano was trying to shame the Catholic Church into providing.

Mayor de Blasio's proposed $12 million budget allocation is woefully insufficient to fully provide shelter for homeless youths, even though the federal and state laws require the city to make this provision to any homeless youths ages 16 to 20, who request shelter, according to the Legal Aid Society's class action lawsuit. Even though the population of homeless youths are estimated to number about 3,800, the New York City budget only makes 253 shelter beds available for homeless youths.

In the wake of the de Blasio administration's failed homeless youth policy comes the Ali Forney Center donors funding what was basically an attack ad against Pope Francis, even though it's the city's legal responsibility to fully provide shelter to all homeless youths. It's not known why Mr. Siciliano, the Ali Forney Center, and their donors would try to muddy responsibility from rolling up to the mayor, unless Mr. Siciliano was trying to score political points by providing political cover to the mayor's failed policy in exchange for a greater allocation of the mayor's nominal expansion of homeless youth funding, a predicament predicted under a de Blasio city budget that is being squeezed by high expectations after nearly a decade of unmet economic needs under the former Bloomberg-Quinn administration. Rather than admit the reality of the economic pressures on the New York City budget, the mayor spun an token, yet wholly insufficient, increase in homeless youth funding as a "win" -- even though it doesn't fully address the issue, as required by law.

Let's hope that Mr. Petrelis's blog posting, and the circulation of his e-mail among New York activists and journalists, will help restore the focus of homeless youth responsibility back on City Hall -- and not on Vatican City.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

de Blasio, Cuomo Playing Tit-for-Tat Politics With Homeless

PUBLISHED : TUES, 25 MAR 2014, 08:49 PM
UPDATED : THURS, 27 MAR 2014, 09:04 AM

Mayor de Blasio shaming Gov. Cuomo over state homeless budget request ; meanwhile, Mayor de Blasio ignoring homeless youths class action lawsuit

Andrew Cuomo Bill de Blasio photo andrew-cuomo-bill-de-blasio_zps07f38878.jpg

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is deeply involved in brokering the backroom deals that will produce the state's budget. Since there's been a very public conflict between the governor and the mayor over the mayor's stalled request to increase taxes for the most wealthy New Yorkers and the mayor's plan to close charter schools, both of which the governor has opposed, the mayor appears to be seeking political retribution against the governor by making it look like the governor is, in turn, stalling on the city's request for a change in the state's budget in respect of homeless resources.

Mayor de Blasio is seeking "permission to use state funds for rental subsidies," Capital New York is reporting, and it's not clear why the mayor submitted his request so late into the state's budget process.

"As everyone knows, the budget is due in less than a week so we can assume the city's proposal will be for next year, because at this point it's too late to take up anything significant this year," the governor's spokesperson Melissa DeRosa was quoted as having said, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

“According to the governor’s office, the city’s efforts on its homelessness prevention plan paled in comparison to its push for prekindergarten financing : Mr. de Blasio’s preliminary proposal was less than two pages and omitted crucial details, and the city never scheduled a meeting," The New York Times is reporting, adding that, "The mayor’s office said Cuomo administration officials did not respond to a request for a meeting from an official in the Department of Homeless Services. The governor’s office said the request was merely a text message to an assistant to the deputy secretary for human services.”

While Mayor de Blasio has managed to crash Gov. Cuomo's intricate backroom budget dealmaking, Gov. Cuomo has had to play down the latest public flashpoint between the two. "Anything we can do, I would want to do," Gov. Cuomo said during a press conference, according to Politicker. But, Gov. Cuomo said, "It’s late in the day to put something in the actual budget because the budget train has basically left the station,” he added, sounding irritated, “So, to start a new proposal, it’s too late.”

As Mayor de Blasio is shaming Gov. Cuomo over the unlikelihood that the state will grant the city's homeless budget amendment, Mayor de Blasio has yet to settle in his own right the class action lawsuit filed by homeless youths, who are denied shelter by New York City, a violation of law. If the mayor were truly committed to help people in homeless shelters, then the mayor would settle the homeless youths' lawsuit.

Recent revelations further show that New York City systematically denies housing social workers to people, who seek shelter in its homeless program. By denying housing social workers, the city government does not become obligated to finding permanent housing for people in and out of its homeless shelter system, one of the largest reasons that people in homeless shelters face a catch-22.

  • UPDATE : Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo reopened the door Wednesday to Mayor Bill de Blasio's bid to secure state funds to combat homelessness, with a Cuomo administration source saying the governor is "trying to actively resolve" the issue. (Cuomo relents on NYC homeless aid request * Newsday)

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

AIDS Activists Storm Boehner's Office

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Naked Truth about AIDS Budget Cuts

AIDS activists entered the office of Speaker of the House John Boehner and demanded no budget cuts to domestic or global AIDS programs. Protesters also called for a Robin Hood Tax on Wall Street trades.


Video streaming by Ustream

Activists chanted, "Boehner, Boehner don't be a d-ck, budget cuts will make us sick."

“The naked truth is that if President Obama and Congressional leaders like Speaker Boehner allow these budget cuts to lifesaving programs, global health programs will lose $689 million, while domestic AIDS programs will lose $538 million,” said Eustacia Smith from ACT UP New York, according to the group's press release. (Queerty).

United States of America HIV & AIDS Statistics

From Avert.org :

1.2 million people are living with HIV in the United States of America, with a fifth unaware of their status. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 1,129,127 people in the USA have been diagnosed with AIDS.

During 2010 : (i) 47,129 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the 46 states which report diagnoses ; and (ii) 33,015 people throughout the USA were diagnosed with AIDS.

The activists today took the radical step of stripping naked to draw attention to the negative consequences that healthcare cuts will create for Americans. The "Fiscal Cliff" of automatic budget cuts will reduce billions of dollars from healthcare and other social services and safety net programs, which would severely impact people living with HIV and AIDS, activists say. A Robin Hood Tax would create new sources of revenue for the government to fund health, social services, and safety net programs.

Seven Risk Arrest in a Naked Protest in Speaker Boehner’s Longworth Office

Washington, DC: Tuesday, November 27, a few days before World AIDS Day, seven AIDS activists entered House Speaker Boehner’s Office and stripped naked demanding a meeting with the Congressmember. The activists from Queerocracy, ACT UP NY, and ACT UP Philadelphia painted slogans on their bodies instead of holding signs: “AIDS Cuts Kill” and “Fund PEPFAR, Fund Ryan White, Fund Global Fund, Fund Medicaid, Fund HOPWA.”

“When you strip away the rhetoric of the fiscal cliff and the grand bargain, you see that these terms are a way to thinly veil draconian budget cuts that will leave millions around the world with absolutely nothing,” said Cassidy Gardner from Queerocracy.

Police arrested three activists for indecent exposure : Cassidy Gardner - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; Megan Mulholland - 23 yrs old, from NYC, Community Organizer for Queerocracy ; and Jennifer Flynn - 40 yrs old, from Rhode Island, from Health GAP. The ACT UP NY website reported that the three arrested individuals were later released.

Read more : AIDS Activists Expose Themselves And The Naked Truth About AIDS Budget Cuts