Steve Banks Says Solutions to Homelessness Require More Housing and Mental Health Services in New York Times Article

Special counsel Steve Banks was quoted in The New York Times in a story on expert reactions to New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ newly announced plan to involuntarily hospitalize people deemed too mentally ill to care for themselves. In the article, “New York’s Plan to Address Crisis of Mentally Ill Faces High Hurdles,” Steve said that more housing and mental health assistance are needed.

“Homelessness is driven by the gap between rents and income and the lack of affordable housing, and mental health challenges for both housed and unhoused people are driven by the lack of enough community-based mental health services,” says Steve, who served as social services commissioner under former Mayor Bill de Blasio. City, state and federal governments all “need to do more to address these interrelated crises in order for New Yorkers to see a difference on the streets, on public transportation, and in the shelter census,” he notes.

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