In November, the Bloomberg administration tried to swiftly implement a controversial policy requiring single homeless adults to prove they have nowhere else to stay before the city gives them shelter. The new rules would have reduced the shelter population by about 10 percent and save the city $4 million a year, according to the Department of Homeless Services. (In the fall, the city's shelter population reached an all-time high of 40,000 people, the Times reports!) But yesterday a State Supreme Court judge blocked the new rules. Bloomberg is having a hard time dealing with it. more ›

Given that those of us who didn't have passage on a giant ark were all supposed to be dead by now, restaurants are scrambling to open their doors to a hungry, sunlight-deprived populace. Unless you HAVE to eat a ready-made meal at Whole Foods (to those people: you have a problem), there's probably a joint nearby that will do the trick. more ›

This winter the Brooklyn Animal Foster Network was overwhelmed after rescuing more dogs than normal during the season (Penelope wasn't the only one left in the snow), including six puppies pulled from "a damp, cramped, feces-covered cellar." Bryn (pictured) is a 4-month-old pup that they rescued, but she's now on life support with double pneumonia, racking up more unexpected expenses for the shelter. They write: more ›

There comes a time for every lonely woman when she must face the most defining decision of her life: considering whether or not to buy a cat, and possibly embracing cat lady-status. Retired waitress Barbara Pinchbeck, 70, had already owned several cats over the year, but she decided to take the plunge one more time and adopt a friendly feline from a Westchester animal shelter. But instead of a cuddly indifferent life-partner, she claims she got a vicious, evil bitch: "It was snarling, hissing and bearing its fangs. It leaped 6 feet in the air and landed on my hand. It bit through my two fingers," Pinchbeck told the News. more ›

The competition for jobs in NYC is about to get even tougher, now that desperate homeless people are expected to get out there and work if they sleep at city shelters. The new Commissioner for Homeless Services, Seth Diamond, tells the Daily News, "The broad culture change is an expectation of work the day you get in shelter until the day you exit. The greeting will be, 'You are not staying here all day. You are going out. You will be assigned an activity.' " Party's over, homeless people! It's unclear what "activity" Diamond's talking about, but maybe he can put them to work finishing some of these stalled condo projects... so they can have homes? more ›

A 2-year-old pit bull on death row has managed to dodge the lethal injection he was sentenced to after biting a father and daughter in the Bronx. Snoop has been under the watch of the city's Animal Care & Control at a shelter since January, and his secret weapon to staying alive is lawyer Rachel Hirschfeld. more ›

Robert Hess, who was appointed NYC Commissioner of Homeless Services in 2006, announced his resignation today. He told the NY Times, "I committed to the mayor to serve the second term, and I did that. I think it’s the right timing for the administration." However, the Times notes that he "is the latest high-ranking figure to leave the Bloomberg administration, in what aides to the mayor have privately described as a deliberate house cleaning intended to bring fresh faces into City Hall and clear out weak performers." The number of people living in shelters is now 36,000, up from 31,000 in 2006, and the city is now moving to charge some of the working homeless rent for living in shelters. more ›

As more families move into homeless shelters, the city keeps trying to get them to leave shelters sooner. In the past two years, the number of homeless families in shelters has surged by more than 50 percent to 8,600, while the length of their average shelter stay has fallen from 10.5 months to eight. Shelters impose strict deadlines, and the city actually gives less money to nonprofits that run shelters where residents take too long to leave, the Times reports. Some say the city is forcing families back onto the streets too soon. "[E]verybody is pushing families out really fast, with no education and no preparation," said Ralph da Costa Nuñez, of Homes for the Homeless. "We send families out, and we know we're going to see them again." more ›

Last year homelessness in the NY school system was on the rise, but at 19 schools slated for closure because of poor performance, rates were especially high. "Lots of students think of this school as a home, but for some, it's more of a first home than a second home," said English teacher Christine Rowland. With their schools poised for shutdown, will homeless kids be out on the street again? more ›

Authorities commandeered 35 felines from a Brooklyn cat lady today. The woman, who lived in a one-bedroom apartment, said the population grew exponentially after two initial cats started breeding. According to ASPCA spokesman Tim Rickey, veterinarians are assessing the 25 adult cats and 10 kittens she handed over. Most appear to be in good health and will soon be available for adoption. The feline enthusiast was allowed to keep just two cats and was required to have them spayed and neutered, according to the AP. She has not been charged with a crime, and ABC says officials are calling the woman an "overwhelmed caregiver." They urged anyone in a similar situation to contact the ASPCA. more ›

The wheelchair-bound man suspected in a gruesome slaying in an East Village shelter stabbed his disabled victim more than 20 times, according to the Daily News. After being teased about the size of his manhood, investigators believe that 51-year-old Felipe Rivera-Cruz stabbed 24-year-old Ronal Garcia four times in the chest, knocking the victim out of his wheelchair. Once on the ground, Cruz is accused of cutting the defenseless victim in the back and side in "excess of a dozen" more times with a folding knife, according to the criminal complaint. more ›

Two wheelchair-bound residents of an East Village shelter got into a deadly argument early yesterday morning. Witnesses say that 24-year-old Ronal Garcia was killed after being stabbed repeatedly by 51-year-old suspect Felipe Rivera-Cruz after the pair exchanged insults. more ›

Yesterday, the New York City Housing Authority revoked over 3,000 Section 8 vouchers, citing "Congress, a lower-than-usual attrition rate in the program and unprecedented demand." This means that thousands of families may try to enter the city's already overflowing shelters. more ›

Because the cost of housing homeless families in shelters is so high, the Bloomberg administration has been quietly funding a $500,000-a-year program to buy one-way plane tickets for indigent individuals if they agree to stay away. Well, the program was quiet until it was featured in today's Times, so who knows how many New Yorkers will now start posing as transients for one-way tickets to Burning Man. So far the city has paid for more than 550 families to leave since 2007. more ›

The NY Times reports that the Department of Homeless Services is enacting a new policy giving shelters more power to evict homeless families: "Homeless families can be kicked out of city shelters for repeatedly breaking rules like staying out past curfew or for refusing apartments offered to them." While DHS Commissioner Robert Hess claims it'll be used only in "egregious situations," pointing out some families use the shelters as permanent housing, Legal Aid's attorney in chief Steven Banks said, "With all of the problems that the state has and all of the problems that the city has right now, in the midst of this economic downturn, it’s shocking that the state and the city are prepared to invest the resources to put innocent children and their families out of safety-net shelters onto the streets." But one shelter operator said, "There’s not a caseworker alive that wants to realize that threat, and as an agency, we don’t want to move people to the streets. That’s not what we’re in business to do. But if you enter the shelter, if you know there’s a threat of being put out of the shelter, you’ll be more likely to follow the rules." more ›

The Guggenheim Museum and Google invite you to build something, somewhere. The alliteratively-named duo has launched the Design It: Shelter Competition, which asks contestants to design a virtual shelter using Google’s SketchUp 3D-modeling software and place it anywhere on the globe using Google Earth. The competition draws its inspiration from the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture—students there design shelters as part of their training—but instead of winning a master’s degree, the prize for Design It contestants is a paid trip to New York City complete with free software swag and private museum tours. more ›

After publishing that quintessential degentrification story about a new luxury condo in Crown Heights being converted to a homeless shelter, the Daily News reports that after reading the article, at least four homeless people "flocked" to the building yesterday. more ›

The number of homeless families with children entering New York City shelters has risen dramatically in recent months, hitting an all-time high in November, when 9,720 families were reported in the municipal shelter system. According to figures released by the Department of Homeless Services, 1,343 new families were accepted into the shelter system last month, a 43% increase over the 935 who moved into shelters in November 2007. more ›

It's a doggy redux: Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who upset PETA and the Humane Society for buying a purebred German Shepherd puppy from a breeder, tells ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he's also going to get a dog from the pound. Biden explained he and his wife wanted to two dogs, so they'd be companions, "We're going to have more than one puppy...I've had German Shepherds since I was a kid and I've trained them and shown them in the past. So I wanted a German Shepherd and we're going to get a pound dog, which my wife wants, who is hopefully a Golden [Retriever]." Thrilled, PETA is sending the Bidens and their dogs some presents, like soy pig ears and "coupons that he can give the pup that are good for tummy rubs and long walks." Biden also told Stephanopoulos, "The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in. There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking." You can see the interview tomorrow morning on This Week. more ›

Vice President-elect Joe Biden may have picked up a German shepherd puppy, partially sating the public's desire to know what kind of pets the incoming administration will have, but even a cute dog can be controversial. PETA is upset because the puppy apparently came from an animal breeder...and "If it weren't bad enough that Biden chose to buy from a breeder, we are now trying to confirm the accuracy of a report that was sent to us alleging that he bought his dog from a known puppy mill operator!" The Humane Society is also upset Biden bought a dog from a breeder "since he has been a leader on animal-protection issues and has championed a number of important animal-welfare reforms in the Senate," but Biden's spokesperson said, "He is an advocate for rescuing animals, as shown by his rescue of the Biden's current cat, Daisy, from a local shelter." more ›

Yesterday morning, a man fatally shot his pregnant wife at a Bronx homeless shelter on Walton Avenue. The Daily News reports that Imanie Evan-Sawyer, 7 months pregnant, was trying to protect her 15-year-old son when husband Michael Sawyer was aiming his gun. Sawyer hit his wife as the teen ran across the street to the Bronx Supreme Court, yelling, "He has my mommy hostage! He's going to shoot my mom!" After shooting Evan-Sawyer, Sawyer shot himself in the head. Paramedics were unable to save the baby and one shelter resident said the couple was always fighting. more ›