NY lawmakers: Housing for homeless in disrepair

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - New York state lawmakers say some of the housing used by New York City to shelter the homeless isn't much better than living on the streets.

The report details the living conditions for the city's homeless who are housed in hotels, motels and private apartment buildings. Several state senators call it "deplorable." The senators with the state Independent Democratic Conference say they found that 78 percent of hotels used to house the homeless have 433 open violations. The report identifies the Dawn Hotel in Harlem as the worst with 78 violations. 

The senators proposed a bill in Albany that would use state and federal funding to keep people in their homes if they are facing eviction. The money would supplement their rent and prevent them from ending up in homeless facilities. The program would be statewide.

The mayor's office responded to the report by saying the city has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to make major renovations to these hotels and motels and that the city welcomes any help from the state.