After an investigation found homeless families are living in shelters plagued by rampant fire, health and safety code violations, the Department of Homeless Services commissioner insisted Tuesday the worst problems have been fixed.
A scathing Department of Investigation probe released last week found 621 code violations at 25 shelters, including a dead rat festering in an apartment with four kids, despite the city paying rent that is sometimes triple the going rate.
“Anything that needed to be immediately repaired was immediately repaired,” Homeless Services Commissioner Gilbert Taylor said Tuesday.
He said that all the violations that pose a threat to residents’ lives or safety have been fixed, and the other serious problems will be dealt with “imminently.”
Taylor said the city has closed down two of the 25 shelters targeted by investigators, Mike’s House and Mike’s House Annex in the Bronx, both run by Aguila Inc.
But fixing all the troubles uncovered at the shelters would cost $12.5 million, according to Taylor. He said his department is hiring 19 news inspectors and is creating a new regulatory unit to check that safe conditions are maintained at shelters.
