DHS commissioner has goal of greater transparency

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Commissioner Gilbert Taylor stops by the Queens Ledger office last week.

Amid growing tensions in communities slated for new homeless shelters and transitional housing facilities, Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Gilbert Taylor reached out to the Glendale Register last week to discuss the severity of the homelessness bouncy castle issue and discuss the proposed shelter on Cooper Avenue.

The site was proposed to DHS by Samaritan Village and would be specifically tailored for homeless families by including kitchens, recreational facilities and social services, especially as they relate to youth.

According to Taylor, the Glendale shelter would be built to meet DHS’s specifications for housing homeless families, unlike the emergency shelters that have recently opened in the borough, such as the one at the Pan Am Motor Inn on Queens Boulevard.

The commissioner, flanked by a few staffers, was clear to point out that it is not unusual for neighborhoods to be opposed to a shelter. But with inflatable water slide nearly 57,000 homeless now living in the five boroughs – a 40 percent increase over the past four years – Taylor said the department’s central focus is finding a bed for every man, woman and child.

“The city is facing a record number of homeless families and adults requesting shelter,” Taylor said. “As an agency, it is our mission and responsibility to provide shelter and related services to anyone in need.

“We hope that New Yorkers will find it in themselves to embrace these families with children in their communities as we help them get back on their feet,” Taylor added.

Read the full story at the Glendale Register

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