A New York Daily News Letter to the Editor by Dan Lehman
HELP USA President & CEO Dan Lehman states, “It’s time to move beyond ‘right to shelter’ toward ‘right to housing,’” in this letter published in the New York Daily News on December 9, 2025.
To the Editor:
A Proven Recipe For Ending Homelessness (op-ed by Dr. Jeffrey Ginsburg, Nov. 27) highlights how the country’s success in reducing chronic homelessness among veterans can guide New York City’s response to homelessness.
The question: “Where is the money coming from?”
The answer: “We are already spending it.”
Tonight, nearly 86,000 people will sleep in the City’s Department of Homeless Services contracted shelters, nearly double the total 15 years ago and including more than 30,000 children.
Last year, the City spent nearly 3.8 billion dollars on DHS-contracted shelters and related services. It is a staggering amount for a stopgap system at a time when the need for permanent housing has never been greater.
New York City’s right-to-shelter mandate is unique. But the time is now to move beyond “right to shelter” and toward “right to housing.”
It is true that a meaningful shift in resources from temporary shelter to permanent housing is a major undertaking requiring new construction, rental assistance, and ongoing supportive services for those who need them.
It is also true that the surest way to fail is not to try, and that we should not accept more than one in every 100 New Yorkers spending tonight in temporary shelters.
