CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-ny.org

VOCAL-NY RESPONDS TO STATE OF THE STATE: AFFORDABILITY, COMPASSION AND SAFETY FOR WHOM? 

See VOCAL-NY’s 2025 State Legislative Platform Here

NEW YORK — Today, Governor Hochul gave her 2025 State of the State address, laying out priorities like affordability and public safety. In response, VOCAL-NY released the following statement, attributable to Hiawatha Collins, Board Member and Leader with VOCAL-NY:

“Today the Governor spoke about fighting for New Yorkers, but she’s not talking about all New Yorkers. When she talks about who has a right to housing, a right to prosper, and a right to safety, she’s not talking about us: low-income New Yorkers statewide who are impacted by homelessness, HIV, incarceration, and the drug war. We are not who she’s fighting for — we are the people she’s fighting to disappear.  

There was no mention of eliminating the challenges we face, or accountability taken for the failures of her administration to meaningfully address them over the past three years. Hochul’s plans to criminalize homelessness and mental health are not compassionate, no matter how she says it. They are also not effective. She must address the root of these issues – lack of housing, services, and care. 

It is unconscionable to suggest spending hundreds of millions of dollars for police to ride the subway to remove homeless people will solve the crisis, especially when we are constantly told there’s no money to pay for housing-first models like safe haven beds, and rental assistance programs that can keep people safe and housed. An increase in law enforcement on our trains and higher penalties for fare evasion does little to address public safety, as evidenced by the ineffectiveness of hundreds of National Guard troops flooding our subway stations. There was no mention of harm reduction and the robust public health policies needed to curb the overdose crisis, but the increase of criminalization of drug users – which will only contribute to our loved ones continuing to die from preventable deaths at devastating numbers. 

We call on the New York State legislature to courageously counter Governor Hochul’s dangerous vision with the political will and urgency needed to address these crises through measurable funding and evidence-based policy. VOCAL-NY member-leaders from across the state will continue to advocate for solutions listed in our 2025 State Legislative Platform and will be in the hallways of the State Capitol until we win.”

BACKGROUND:

188,000 people a year in our state come back to our communities from prisons and jails, fundamentally destabilized, stigmatized, and uniquely vulnerable. People leaving jails and prisons are at least 129 times more likely to die from a drug overdose the two weeks following their release. And, formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general population. Little is done to ensure people have what they need to thrive upon their return. Instead, tremendous barriers to basic needs have been erected, keeping scarce opportunities for employment, healthcare, and housing out of reach for many. 

Since 2020, over 20,000 New Yorkers have died from a preventable overdose – 19 New Yorkers everyday – which is likely undercounted because of significant lags and underfunding in overdose data. Marginalized communities low-income, older New Yorkers and Black and Brown communities have disproportionately higher rates of overdose. And, overdose remains the leading cause of death for homeless New Yorkers. No corner or community has been spared to this crisis. And, our state lacks a measurable plan with a sustainable infrastructure to address it. 

On any given night in 2024, 158,010 people across our state are experiencing homelessness, including dramatic increases upstate. In July 2024, 130,438 people slept in NYC shelters each night. There is no mechanism to accurately estimate the number of people experiencing homelessness who reside on the streets or in public spaces or people living doubled up or tripled up with family members or friends. Rising evictions, voucher discrimination, real estate greed, and lawmakers scapegoating new arrivals for political gain have deepened the homelessness crisis.

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