#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #USA #NewYork #NY #NewYorkCity #NYC #thecity #THECITY #News #Journal #Update - THE CITY Scoop: City Hospital System Takes on Migrant Emergency — With Blank Check From Mayor

 

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Dear New Yorkers, Mayor Eric Adams last fall gave the city’s public hospital system control of emergency relief operations for asylum seekers, according to a newly revealed internal city memo. The move bypassed standard oversight procedures for government contracts while spending more than $92 million on hotel rooms; Health and Hospitals spending is overseen by that system’s board of directors, not the city comptroller. Advocates from the Coalition for the Homeless told THE CITY they had previously raised concerns about oversight of the facilities, dubbed Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, or HERRCS, by the mayor. Traditional city shelters are subject to state supervision as well as legal settlements. The hospital-run HERRCS are not. Meanwhile, migrants interviewed by THE CITY at the Manhattan hotels say they’re grateful for getting hooked up with health care as well as housing. "Things have been good here. They give the children good things so they can be healthy," said Jaritsa Chicaiza, 20, who has lived at a hotel with her husband and 3-year-old son for two months since traveling from Ecuador. "Here they give us all the help we need." Read more here. Some other items of note: Under a new preliminary agreement, home gas bills in New York City and Westchester would increase by 20% over three years — and electric bills 12%. The hikes are supposed to pay for changes Con Ed says it will make to infrastructure to adhere to the state’s ambitious climate goals. Converting office buildings to residential apartments has emerged as a key strategy for City Hall to adapt New York to a COVID-era world. But office owners and real estate experts say the costs, red tape and obstacles like long-term current commercial leases are prohibitive to making a switch. Have you done your taxes yet? Before you do, know that there are a lot of ways to get free help filing your return in the five boroughs. Here’s our guide on how to get a hand with all the paperwork — with advice from experts on how to prepare. Tonight at 7 p.m. THE CITY and BRIC Media will co-host a panel discussion of solutions for unhoused New Yorkers struggling with mental illness. The free event will be livestreamed on YouTube here. See how New York City is doing with our newsroom’s economic recovery tracker. For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 vaccinations, testing rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 3/10. So close, yet so far. Spring-like warmth is just down the road in parts of Western NJ. Here in NYC, we'll stay socked in with damp weather today. Highs will reach the upper 40s with mostly cloudy skies and some drizzle. The vibes are struggling. THE KICKER: The Department of Sanitation once had its signs and posters made in an in-house screen-printing studio. After that work was outsourced to vinyl-cutting machines, no one bothered to throw away the original designs. That’s good news for the agency’s new artist in residence, who’s archiving all those old images —  and a lot of other history from the DSNY repair shop in Woodside, Queens. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday. Love, THE CITY P.S. If you liked something about today's newsletter, or didn't, let us know at zshah@thecity.nyc Always free. Always NYC. Support our journalism today.

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