Eric Adams defends DSS head Gary Jenkins after report he withheld asylum seeker violations
TUNE IN | PAST EPISODES
By SARA DORN | AUGUST 15, 2022 05:54 PM ET
New York City Mayor Eric Adams made a public show of support for Department of Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins on Monday following reports that he pressured agency staff to withhold information about shelter violations related to asylum seekers.
“Let’s be clear, he housed over 5,000 of those who were seeking asylums. He has been navigating the complexities that (are) associated with housing in this city. He has been part of the transit initiative that (resulted in) almost 1,800 people no longer living on our subway system (because they were) placed in Safe Havens,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference, referring to the number of asylum seekers he claims have come to New York in recent months, along with initiatives to remove people living in the subway system and place them in shelters. “I have the utmost confidence in him. I thank him for the job that he's doing and that entire team over there. I'm happy he's part of my team.”
Adams was responding to a question from a reporter about an alleged probe by the Department of Investigation into allegations that the Department of Social Services failed to disclose to the Adams administration that migrant families were not placed in shelters as required by law. Adams publicly admitted on July 20 that four families were forced to sleep in the city’s Prevention Assistance and Temporary Housing intake center in the Bronx on the night of July 17, because officials were unable to find room for them in shelters.
https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2022/08/eric-adams-defends-dss-head-gary-jenkins-after-report-he-withheld-asylum-seeker-violations/375870/
