Steven Banks' winning formula
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has won admiration for his shrewd political angling. But his administration’s recent gambit in the proxy war over homeless services must be recognized as blatantly opportunistic and detrimental to indigent New Yorkers. And the de Blasio administration, which too often finds itself playing defense, should take note of Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks' winning response.
Last week, a mother and two of her children were stabbed to death at a Staten Island motel where they were receiving temporary housing assistance. Shortly after the news broke, the de Blasio administration called a press conference where the mayor announced the relocation of all remaining families at the motel, as well as new safety measures for emergency shelter hotels.
Instead of expressing solidarity and presenting itself as a partner in the wake of three horrific deaths, the Cuomo administration pounced for political gain. Despite being briefed on the city’s response earlier in the day, Sharon Devine, then the executive deputy commissioner of the state Office for Temporary and Disability Assistance, sent Banks a condescending and curt letter (which her office then leaked to the media), calling the violence “simply unacceptable,” “demand(ing) … immediate action” and “directing” the city to take measures it had already announced.
Devine also assumed that the murdered mother “should have been housed in a domestic violence shelter” because the suspect was her boyfriend. Never mind the fact that the city had never been notified of violence in their relationship and had processed the mother using standard protocols that address domestic violence concerns.
Banks did not take the criticism sitting down. The HRA commissioner immediately responded in kind with his own letter, clearing up the timeline of events, debunking the state’s domestic violence shelter theory and enumerating the ways in which state inaction has stalled progress on homeless services. Banks questioned the state’s repeated refusals to increase a family rental subsidy that would help victims of domestic violence (and hasn’t been increased since 2003). He dared the state to provide a list of available apartments that could be rented with the meager $1,050 subsidy that it currently provides. He chastised the state for its inability to approve city plans for spending $220 million in homeless services funds, which were set aside last April.
And then a few days later – almost on cue – state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli released a scathing audit of the Office of Temporary Disability and Assistance, highlighting the unsafe and unsanitary conditions at shelters the agency oversees. An agency spokesperson attempted to frame the report as outdated, but the damage had been done. Cuomo said that he agreed with the report’s findings and quietly reassigned Devine to the Worker’s Compensation Board. It would appear that Devine’s days of “demanding” and “directing” action on homelessness are over.
This battle was about more than scapegoating an OTDA commissioner. It was about the Cuomo administration’s eagerness to score political points even as it struggles to keep its own house in order. It was about the state’s habitual us-versus-them mentality at a time when cooperation – like on a NY/NY IV agreement and coordinated responses to shelter safety concerns – is desperately needed.
But the kerfuffle also highlights the political savvy of Steven Banks. The HRA commissioner won this round of tit-for-tat for the same reason his star is rising within the de Blasio administration: He has street cred; he’s a policy wonk with decades of on-the-ground legal experience. As he showed in his letter to the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, he has the expertise and front-line knowledge to make nuanced arguments about the ramifications of policy, as opposed to the state’s simplistic argument that the crisis is an issue of management.
Banks has also proven himself deft at carving out an ever-growing role in the city’s response to homelessness, one that may become even more prominent if the city Department of Homeless Services merges with HRA, as many observers predict. This expanding role, combined with the installation of a relatively unknown and untested deputy mayor of health and human services, Herminia Palacio, will make him the de Blasio administration’s most credible – and effective – negotiator with the state.
It would be wise for the city to continue to lean on Banks’ expertise. And wiser still for the de Blasio administration to take a page from the Banks playbook in its never-ending feud with the governor’s office. It's time for the city to "demand" that the state be a partner, not a roadblock, in providing services for its most distressed citizens.