New York City Report Cites Acute Shortage of Housing for AIDS Patients

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There are over 2,000 people with AIDS in commercial single-room occupancy hotels not appropriate for people who are ill
By Lisa L. Colangelo

Daily News, New York

RISMEDIA, Jan. 19 ? (KRT) ? New York City needs 2,400 more housing units for people with HIV/AIDS immediately to avert a major public health crisis, says a long-awaited report.

The report, which also calls for 15,000 new HIV/AIDS housing units by 2010, was posted on the city Health Department’s Web site late Friday after pressure from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

Gotbaum had scheduled a press conference for today to rip the city for allegedly sitting on the report for more than a year.

“It comes as no surprise that the Bloomberg administration hastily put out its HIV/AIDS housing report less than 48 hours before I was to stand alongside elected officials and advocates to demand its release,” Gotbaum said.

“The administration sat on this report and hoped no one would notice as the HIV/AIDS housing crisis became more severe.”

But city health officials insisted they didn’t sit on the findings, saying the report was completed only recently by the Hudson Planning Group with the help of local advocates.

In a prepared statement, the Health Department said the report has some good recommendations but also lacks “specific, practical program suggestions and cost estimates.”

“Furthermore, the report did not use sound methods to determine critically important housing-need projections,” it said.

Report researcher Ginny Schubert said the study credits the city for its commitment to housing people with HIV/AIDS but also points to added needs.

“There are over 2,000 people with AIDS in commercial single-room occupancy hotels not appropriate for people who are ill,” she said. “Those people tend to be the people most in need of supportive services.”

? 2005, Daily News, New York. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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