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NYPOST: THE WORLD'S HOMELESS SHELTER Mon Jan 13, 2:09 AM ET New York City's "park-your-butt-down, free-housing-for-the-homeless" policy is attracting attention: On any given night lately, more than 16 percent of the city's shelter dwellers are from out of town - some, from out of the country. And why not? Folks who march themselves into a homeless "intake center" are entitled by force of law to a taxpayer-funded apartment, virtually no questions asked - in the borough, if not the neighborhood, of the supplicant's choice. How sweet a deal is that? Until last year, non-New Yorkers averaged just 5 percent to 6 percent of those seeking shelter at the Emergency Assistance Unit. But for the first 10 months of 2002, the out-of-towners numbered more than 16 percent. What happened? Who knows? But here's a guess: The Giuliani administration made applicants for tax-funded housing jump through hoops to get into the system. No more. Now the courts have reasserted themselves - that is, consent decrees dating to the Koch years are being enforced. The "right to shelter" has returned. And so have hordes of apartment-seeking people who may (or may not) be poor, and who may (or may not) have somewhere else to go. Not a great somewhere else. But somewhere else. Now, of course, the word is out. New York taxpayers are being played for world-class suckers by seekers of free shelter from around the nation - and the world. Last week, Mayor Bloomberg recognized the problem: "I think we have a moral obligation to take care of our citizens. I don't think we have one [for], nor can we afford to take care of, people from other states." "You have to get realistic here. We only have so much money . . . . It should be spent on people who come from New York and if, unfortunately, they are in trouble . . . But picking up the burdens for everybody else, no, and we've got to convince the courts of that." There you go, Mr. Mayor. You are contemplating laying off cops - and maybe teachers, too - while simultaneously running a shelter system for the world? Time to go back to court. Time to get some sanity back in the craziest shelter scheme on the planet. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...omeless_shelter

you can either talk about the article or the problem of homeless in general and what should be done and how we can do it realisticly

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If God is the answer, it must have been a very stupid question.

Cool, next time I'm in new york, I'll do this instead of booking an expensive hotel. If only I would have known sooner!

Its really appaling that people who can afford places to stay or live are taking advantage of reasources which there already aren't enough of.

Speaking of wasting reasources, does it bother anyone else that the u.s sends out billions of dollars worth of food and other goods to foreign countrys, but I can probably find 10 homeless people in less than 10 minutes walking?

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Originally posted by Nadi Speaking of wasting reasources, does it bother anyone else that the u.s sends out billions of dollars worth of food and other goods to foreign countrys, but I can probably find 10 homeless people in less than 10 minutes walking?

I guess not ... Nobody gives 2 shits about us spending money on foreign aid but apparentely it's a big deal if we open our mouths to say anything.