Opinion: NYC Can’t Solve Its Housing Crisis Without Addressing Voucher Discrimination

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“Opening the Section 8 waitlist was huge, but it only addressed part of the problem—the city must invest more resources in addressing discrimination against voucher holders by increasing funding for the City Commission on Human Rights.”

NYC Commission on Human Rights

A poster aimed at curbing housing discrimination.

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When the waitlist for Section 8, otherwise known as the Housing Choice Voucher, opened up earlier this month, over half a million households (633,808 to be exact) applied to get on the waitlist.

The overwhelming number of applicants highlights the deep need for income support that is provided by a rental assistance voucher. Section 8 vouchers are a lifeline for many families, which is why more than twice as many households than the number of available waitlist slots applied within the first 24 hours alone. In his press release announcing the re-opening of the Section 8 waitlist, the mayor said, “Addressing our city’s housing crisis means using every tool our city has, and that’s exactly what we are doing.”

However, Mayor Adams is certainly not using every tool at the city’s disposal; the ongoing understaffing of the City Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) is allowing discrimination against voucher holders to continue under-enforced, and is keeping people stuck in homelessness. 

According to research by the Furman Center, nearly 50 percent of NYCHA Section 8 voucher recipients lost their vouchers because they were unable to find housing. One of the largest barriers to accessing housing with a voucher is source of income (SOI) discrimination. This occurs when a landlord refuses to rent to people based on how they will pay their rent.

SOI remains a significant barrier for voucher recipients seeking housing because the CCHR, the government body responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws in New York City, is underfunded and understaffed. After years of budget cuts, vacancy reductions, and resignations from overstretched workers, only 17 staff attorneys are left to enforce the rights of over 8 million New Yorkers, compared to nearly 50 in 2018. 

The overwhelming number of applications to the Section 8 waitlist shows the immense need that exists for rental assistance vouchers. The city reopened the waitlist for Section 8, but is undercutting the effectiveness of the very same vouchers by not investing sufficient resources in the capacity of CCHR.

The city touted the additional $3 million it budgeted in fiscal year 2024 for SOI enforcement outside of CCHR, however the administration never spent the money. What’s worse, in fiscal year 2025, the mayor failed to include any funding to increase capacity at CCHR, despite voucher holders, advocates, and City Council calling for an $18 million investment in the Commission. 

Nationwide, 65 percent of voucher holders are Black and Latinx, and 78 percent are female-headed households. People reporting source of income discrimination often experience discrimination based on multiple identities—race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability status, and more.

New York City has one of the most robust human rights laws in the country, with over 25 protected categories. With the Fair Chance for Housing Act going into effect in January, CCHR will also be responsible for protecting New Yorkers with criminal records from housing discrimination. And yet, despite the increasing responsibilities given to the Commission, it continues to be understaffed and underfunded. 

Additionally, staff attorneys at CCHR are underpaid. Starting salaries for staff attorneys are thousands of dollars below that of attorneys at legal services nonprofits, as well as other city agencies. If the city values the work of the Commission, then it must invest in the work of the commission—salaries must be raised to competitive levels, or CCHR will not be able to attract or retain talent. 

Staffing levels at CCHR have a real and felt effect on New Yorkers’ experience of reporting discrimination to the Commission. With only 17 staff attorneys, New Yorkers who are willing to invest the time and effort into pursuing litigation through CCHR have to wait an average of three and a half months for intake with an attorney.

“I have a fully functioning Section 8 voucher, but I couldn’t obtain housing for more than three years. The city must relieve the pressure of the unjust and discriminatory systems that keep us homeless by adequately funding CCHR’s law enforcement bureau to hire enough staff. Without enough staff, there won’t be enforcement, and the lack of monitoring and accountability will allow illegal discrimination across the city to continue unpunished,” said Charisma White, a leader with Neighbors Together. 

The Commission on Human Rights’ budget is less than 0.01 percent of the city’s total budget, yet despite being a drop in the bucket compared to other spending areas, the mayor continues to subject CCHR to budget cuts. CCHR was also subject to a 2-to-1 hiring freeze, meaning that the Commission had to wait until two staff members left before being allowed to fill one position. Under the 2-to-1 hiring freeze model, the Commission will always come up short and be unable to address its staffing shortage. Even under a 1-to-1 hiring freeze, CCHR will remain short-staffed and the people of New York will suffer. 

The mayor continues to tout his efforts to address the homelessness crisis, but actions speak louder than words. It’s time for Mayor Eric Adams to stop short-shrifting his own proclaimed fixes, and take a holistic approach. 

Yes, opening the Section 8 waitlist was huge, but it only addressed part of the problem—the city must invest more resources in addressing discrimination against voucher holders by increasing funding for the City Commission on Human Rights. Investing in CCHR means protecting tenants, workers, and all vulnerable New Yorkers—without a well functioning CCHR, our city cannot be equitable.

Amy Blumsack is the director of organizing and policy at Neighbors Together.

Israel lets 19 kids leave Gaza who are sick or wounded, first medical evacuation in nearly 2 months

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By MOHAMMAD JAHJOUH, WAFAA SHURAFA and KAREEM CHEHAYEB

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli authorities say 68 people — 19 sick or wounded children plus their companions — have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt in the first medical evacuation since early May, when the territory’s sole travel crossing was shut down after Israel captured it.

The nearly nine-month Israel-Hamas war has devastated Gaza’s health sector and forced most of its hospitals to shut down. Health officials say thousands of people need medical treatment abroad, including hundreds of urgent cases.

The Israeli military body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, known by its acronym COGAT, said Thursday that the evacuation was carried out in coordination with officials from the United States, Egypt and the international community.

The children and their companions left Gaza via the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing, and the patients were to travel to Egypt and farther abroad for medical treatment.

Family members bade a tearful goodbye to the kids at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis. Many of the families appeared anxious — most relatives had to stay behind, and even those allowed to accompany the patients did not know their final destination.

Nour Abu Zahri wept as he kissed his young daughter goodbye. The girl has severe burns on her head from an Israeli airstrike. He said he didn’t get clearance to leave Gaza with her, although her mother did.

“It’s been almost 10 months, and there is no solution for the hospitals here,” he said.

Kamela Abukweik burst into tears after her son got on the bus heading to the crossing with her mother. Neither she nor her husband were cleared to leave.

“He has tumors spread all over his body and we don’t know what the reason is. And he constantly has a fever,” she said. “I still don’t know where he is going.”

The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only one available for people to travel in or out, shut down after Israeli forces captured it during their operation in the city early last month. Egypt has refused to reopen its side of the crossing until the Gaza side is returned to Palestinian control.

Six of the children were transferred to Nasser Hospital from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City earlier this week. Five have cancer and one suffers from metabolic syndrome. That evacuation was organized by the World Health Organization, which could not immediately be reached for comment.

At a press conference at Nasser Hospital on Thursday, Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, the head of Gaza’s hospitals, said the evacuation was being conducted in coordination with the WHO and three American charities.

Zaqout said over 25,000 patients in Gaza require treatment abroad, including some 980 children with cancer, a quarter of whom need “urgent and immediate evacuation.”

He said the cases included in Thursday’s evacuation are “a drop in the ocean” and that the complicated route through Kerem Shalom and into Egypt cannot serve as an alternative to the Rafah crossing.

Zaqout said 21 children had originally been scheduled to leave Thursday, but one arrived at the hospital too late to make the departure. It was not immediately clear what prevented the other child from joining the evacuation.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Gisha, an Israeli human rights organization, petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to create a “permanent mechanism” to allow people needing medical treatment to evacuate Gaza.

Adi Lustigman, an attorney with Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said that before May 7, when the Israeli military launched their ground operation in Rafah and took control of the crossing, approximately 50 Palestinian patients per day crossed into Egypt for medical treatment abroad.

The fact that fewer than 70 people left the territory Thursday “after two months the crossing has been closed is beyond tragic,” said Tania Hary executive director of Gisha. “Our sense of it is that it’s just unsustainable in terms of a response.”

She called on the Israeli military to reopen Rafah Crossing and allow patients to exit the Erez Crossing in the northern part of the territory, which had previously been the main crossing for Palestinians entering Israel.

Israel’s Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the petition Monday.

In a post on the social media platform X, the World Health Organization regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Hanan Balkhy, welcomed news of the children’s evacuation, but noted that “more than 10,000 patients still require medical care outside the Strip. Of the 13,872 people who have applied for medical evacuation since 7 October, only 35% have been evacuated.”

“Medical evacuation corridors must be urgently established for the sustained, organized, safe, and timely passage of critically ill patients from Gaza via all possible routes,” she said.

Israel’s offensive against Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has killed over 37,700 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its count. Thousands of women and children are among the dead.

The war began with Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Canada, and European Union.

On Thursday, the Israeli military ordered new evacuations from Gaza City neighborhoods that were heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war. The latest orders apply to Shijaiyah and other neighborhoods where residents reported heavy bombing on Thursday.

First responders with Gaza’s Civil Defense said airstrikes hit five homes, killing at least three people and wounding another six. It said rescuers were still digging through the rubble for survivors.

Gaza City was heavily bombed in the opening weeks of the war. Israel ordered the evacuation of all of northern Gaza, including the territory’s largest city, later that month. Hundreds of thousands of people have remained in the north, even as Israeli troops have surrounded and largely isolated it.

Shijaiyah residents in a messaging group shared video showing large numbers of people fleeing the neighborhood on foot with their belongings in their arms.

International criticism has been growing over Israel’s campaign against Hamas as Palestinians face severe and widespread hunger. The eight-month war has largely cut off the flow of food, medicine and basic goods to Gaza, and people there are now totally dependent on aid. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.

___

Shurafa reported from Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel contributed.

___

Ramsey County commissioners approve raises for themselves, though 3 plan to depart before they kick in

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Ramsey County commissioners voted themselves a pay raise at a meeting earlier this week — adding 3% for board members and 5% for the chair effective 2025.

The raise — described as a cost-of-living increase — moves commissioner salaries from $101,280 to $104,077 and the chair from $104,477 to $109,338. In addition, each commissioner will be awarded an annual allowance of $7,200 to cover work-related expenses.

Not all of the seven-member board will see that money, as three departures are imminent. Commissioners Victoria Reinhardt and Nicole Frethem have chosen not to run for re-election this November, and Board Chair Trista Martinson will step down this summer to run Ramsey and Washington counties’ waste-to-energy facility. Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire will be on the ballot for re-election.

The county board has sought to keep their pay increases in step with those awarded to the county’s largest labor units, which would have added up to a 2.25% increase for most members. The county board chose to forgo a .5% increase in 2021 during the economic uncertainty of the pandemic, so they included an additional .5% increase for next year in order to reach “parity with general wage increases given to employees since 2020,” according to the salary ordinance approved by the board Tuesday.

The board chair’s salary increased 5% “in order to compensate the role of the county board chair more equitably for the additional duties and responsibilities of the elected position.”

In a discussion before the vote, Frethem noted that the county’s home rule charter directs the board to set their own salaries. She said the job of a commissioner involves long hours and commitments.

“It’s not a part-time job,” Frethem said during the board meeting Tuesday. She also noted the need for competitive pay to attract quality candidates to the board.

Commissioner Rena Moran agreed.

“I’m on 27 different committees,” Moran said. “I’m starting early and going home late.”

Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt noted that the commitment of a member of the board — if done right — is much more than part-time.

“We don’t want someone coming in here who views this as a part-time job,” Reinhardt.

Still, the prospect of setting one’s own salary has struck some observers as politically unsavory.

“You’re proposing $21,000-plus in collective salary increases,” said Greg Copeland, a former candidate for state office, during a public hearing on the question on June 18. “You don’t have to actually raise your salaries. You can actually cut your salaries.”

In 2022, the League of Minnesota Cities conducted a study of commissioner salaries across the state and found a wide range, with much higher salaries for the most populous counties in the Twin Cities metro compared to more rural areas. The base salary for the Washington County commissioners at the time was about $72,000. In Carver and Anoka counties, it was $75,000. In Hennepin County, it was nearly $114,000. In Ramsey County, it was just over $97,000.

With a population of less than 6,000 people, Lincoln County, located near the South Dakota border, paid its county commissioners $16,000.

Before the vote, Chair Trista Martinson said that county officials should consider a fresh salary study ahead of next year’s vote on the matter.

The vote approving the raises was 6-0 with Rafael Ortega absent.

Frederick Melo contributed to this report.

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Gophers guard Cam Christie selected by L.A. Clippers in NBA draft

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It took a bit longer than expected, but Cam Christie heard his name called in the NBA draft in New York City on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Clippers selected the Gophers freshman guard in the second round with the 46th overall pick.

Christie was at ESPN studios with his parents for the draft show and he shook hands with NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum as he put on a Clippers hat.

Christie of Arlington Heights, Ill., will be going to the same city as his older brother Max, who was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers with the 35th pick in 2022. The Christie parents, Katrina and Max Sr., will be able to go to the same spot to watch their boys play home games in the NBA.

“It means a lot. It’s super cool to be NBA brothers,” Cam said on ESPN. “It’s really dope. I thank him a lot for everything he has taught me. I’m super excited to get out there and start competing against him.”

Christie was considered fifth on ESPN’s list of “best available” players at the start of the second round and moved to the top that list for a while as picks further down that list came off the board.

“I think Cam Christie is a better prospect coming out of school than Max Christie was,” ESPN analyst Jonathan Givony said on air. “I had him ranked 14 spots higher on my big board than the Clippers actually took him. … He might be the best pull-up shooter in this draft. … I went to watch him workout here in New York. My eyes popped out at this kid’s talent. It’s going to be a big-time steal for (Clippers president) Lawrence Frank and the Clippers. It’s going to take him a year or two to get his body right and improve on the defensive end, but this guy has incredible upside.”

On Wednesday, Christie wasn’t able to be the Gophers’ first first-round pick since Kris Humphries in 2004, but he is the first Gopher player taken in the draft since center Daniel Oturu of St. Paul was selected by the Timberwolves with the 33rd pick in the 2020 draft.

Christie improved throughout his single season of college basketball. He moved into the starting lineup during the winter and became an all-Big Ten freshman team honoree, putting up 11.3 points per game and 39% 3-point shooting across 33 games.

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