In the Real Estate Collapse, is there Homelessness?

There is much said about homelessness, but many think that the Bloomberg Administration is doing their best to conceal it. Bloomberg keeps protesting that he is not running for President, but the lady may be protesting too much.

The Department of Homeless Services (DHS) conducts an annual survey of the homeless in the city, known as the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE).
The annual survey helps to reach out to the homeless. Volunteers will be offering people a way into the shelter system, and other programs available to them. HOPE 2008 serves as a gauge to determine if measures currently in effect are working to help the homeless.

Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert Hess said "It’s unacceptable for so many of our fellow New Yorkers to be living on the streets." The department recruited volunteers, who received a special HOPE 2008 T-shirt. HOPE 2008 employed the same methodology used in previous counts. Volunteer teams canvassed all areas identified to likely have street homeless individuals. In addition, a random sample of those areas not identified as likely to have street homeless individuals also will be canvassed.

"Decoys," or trained individuals posing as homeless individuals, are planted as a quality assurance measure. This shadow count helps to gauge the accuracy of the total estimate and allows adjustment of the final count estimate accordingly. This is the fourth year HOPE has included a shadow count.

The count is part of the city program called "Uniting for Solutions Beyond Shelter." HOPE is critical to helping evaluate the effectiveness of current strategies to overcome street homelessness as well as developing appropriate housing resources for the most vulnerable New Yorkers currently living without shelter. The count of homeless out on the street is in addition to those New Yorkers who already sleep in shelters. In an average night, 35,000 people are in city homeless shelters, according to the non-profit organization, the Coalition for the Homeless. According to a Coalition spokesperson, they give out 1,000 meals a night, free, to the homeless and the needy. The homelessness problem is made more difficult by an average 8-percent increase in rents over the last 3 years, and declines in median income.

Now if only we could have some more public housing, or as they call it these days "subsidized housing." This post brought to you by those ultra-fab fashionistas at T-Shirt Queen and I Love Harlem Apparel. Peace and Love y'all.

Afrocentric is In at the T-Shirt Queen

Nice is know that Afrocentric is back in at the t-shirt queen. She is selling the new items at the I Love Harlem store. The new shirt, for Black History month is here, the Malcolm X t-shirt. Note that you can get the Malcolm X shirt, the I Love Harlem Shirt and the Apollo Theater shirt, as well as other items in bulk (low prices for over 100 pieces) at the T-shirt Queen Store.

Another sad theme that shall make it to t-shirts soon, is the threatened imminent shut down of such landmarks as West 125th St, the Record Shack, see the link. Other possible themes for soon to come t-shirts are: The Cotton Club, Bobby's Happy House, and the Adam Clayton Powell statue by the Harlem State Office Building.

The Tee Shirt Queen Means Business

Now, the T-shirt Queen was on web tv at http://blip.tv/file/576910, I Love Harlem Show, or actually, with Debbie Howell on the Fashion Fever show on Blip.tv.

Baton Rouge Restaurant- Great Harlem Hangout

Baton Rouge Restaurant, on 458 West 145th St is a great place to hang out in Harlem, and not cheap but a reasonable place to dine. Even better is to have a party there. I know because I have been there twice at Christmas Parties. Chitra D. had her I Love Harlem stuff and T-Shirt Queen stuff there as well.

The food is a lightly spicy mix of lots of shrimp and other seafood, with some pork, beef, and chicken as well. Plenty of wine and whiskey too.

Also, it's a great place to here a retro black soul 70s sound. I don't know if it was Shee Grove or what, but when the band went into its 1978 flashback routine, it was pretty heavy. You know, Prince, Michael Jackson ( I do know that I want ya) was a real trip.

pix at http://mobayrestaurant.com/batonrouge/map.htm

Do you like the Kalahari?

Do you like the Kalahari? That is, not the desert in South West Africa, now called Namibia. This is the Kalahari Condos, a bit off Fifth ave, on 116th St. I really have to go down there to see them, I've already seen so many pictures of them on the Internet.

I'm more worried what will happen on 125th St. With the bankruptcy of Levitz Furniture, I see a bad omen for the future building at 125th st and Park, of Vornado realty's huge "630,000 square feet" office building at that site.

Note, the pix is from Wirednewyork.com

And check out the t-shirt queen and I love Harlem apparel, please.