Over the years, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has come to be viewed by many New Yorkers as a pliant tool of the Bloomberg administration. But with an end to the Bloomberg era on the horizon, Quinn—a likely mayoral candidate—is eager to show some daylight between her and the billionaire plutocrat. To that end, the City Council will slap the Bloomberg administration with a lawsuit over a controversial policy requiring single homeless adults to prove they have nowhere else to stay before the city gives them shelter. more ›

The city's Department of Homeless Services has recently begun enforcing a rule that is forcing 22 churches to stop serving as homeless shelters. The long-ignored rule states that religious-based shelters operate a minimum of five days a week. Many of these churches had long slipped under the radar and housed those in need three days a week. Arnold Cohen, president of the Partnership for the Homeless, who recently had to break the news to churches told the News, "We will see hundreds of people who will not have a place to sleep. It's antithetical to what the mayor talks about." The city is expected to once again this winter use the Code Blue system, an emergency-preparedness system that prompts city workers to take extra precautions to protect homeless people living on the streets. Right now we are at Level Two in Code Blue with temperatures outside currently at 17ºF after the wind chill factor. more ›