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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. is calling on the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS) commissioner to stop moving homeless families into facilities not approved through a contract with the City.

“It has come to my attention that Basic Housing is currently moving homes families into 1564 St. Peter’s Avenue, Bronx, which is not an approved location under its current contract, as renewed, with DHS,” Thompson wrote in a letter to Commissioner Robert V. Hess.

You can read the full letter at www.comptroller.nyc.gov.

“It is my further understanding that DHS is paying Basic Housing for these services,” he wrote. “If this is indeed the case, the Department is also in violation of the City Charter and I insist that your agency immediately cease making further payments and recover the contract funds previously misspent by DHS.”

Thompson recently issued an audit – which can be viewed at http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/bureaus/audit/PDF_FILES/ME09_088A.pdf - of Basic Housing’s compliance with its contract to operate a Neighborhood Based Cluster Transitional Residence program at eight defined shelters in the Bronx and Manhattan.

“I… insist that DHS confine the placement of homeless families to the eight locations detailed in the contract,” Thompson wrote.

During his tenure, Thompson has expressed a number of concerns about the oversight and upkeep of facilities housing homeless families. Most recently, in July he wrote to Hess amid another audit that uncovered unsafe conditions at seven buildings that house homeless families - Aladdin Hotel in Manhattan and six Pilgrim Icahn cluster site buildings in the Bronx.

Thompson advised the Commissioner of potentially hazardous conditions and code violations at the Aladdin Hotel and Pilgrim Icahn buildings. “The conditions in which these families lived were completely deplorable, and so I immediately brought them to the attention of the Department of Homeless Services,” Thompson said. “It is totally unacceptable that families in need are living in unsafe and unsanitary conditions under the City’s watch.”

Thompson is conducting an audit of DHS’ controls over payments to service providers. Given the hazardous conditions that his auditors found, he immediately notified DHS so that it could address his concerns and ensure the safety of the families. During site visits, Thompson’s auditors found a number of issues at each location.

At Aladdin Hotel, which houses homeless families without children, auditors observed hallway smoke detectors that were not working, missing fire extinguishers, gas tanks stored in the basement, roof doors that did not close, water-damaged hallway walls, missing and broken hallway lighting fixtures, exposed wiring, broken stair rails, and bathrooms in need of repairs.

Conditions at Pilgrim Icahn cluster site buildings, which houses homeless families with children, were even worse. Auditors there saw apartments with rodent droppings and infested with roaches, bathrooms with leaking pipes, stained and chipped tubs, no shower head, water-damaged apartment and hallway walls with mold, bubbling and cracked plaster, a dirty mattress provided to a client, and roof doors with no emergency exit alarm locks, and improperly held open.

“We believe the above-noted conditions warrant immediate investigation and recommend that your department inspect Pilgrim Icahn cluster site buildings without delay to ensure that homeless families and their children are provided safe and sanitary shelter,” Thompson wrote.

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