On Tuesday, Nov. 27, The hosted a panel titled 鈥淧overty in New York City鈥 to discuss both this growing problem sweeping our city and potential solutions. The panel consisted of New York State Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi (D28), David G. Greenfield, CEO of the , and Dr. Daniel Kimmel, assistant professor of sociology.
(l-r): Daniel Kimmel, David G. Greenfield, Andrew Hevasi
One of the difficulties dealing with poverty, Greenfield said, is that poverty often looks different than people think it looks. 鈥淚f you want to understand poverty, just walk into a random classroom in New York City with young school kids,鈥 he explained. 鈥淭he kids don鈥檛 even know they鈥檙e poor, but you look at them and they all look the same and they鈥檙e all dressed the same鈥攂ut a third of those kids are poor.鈥 He emphasized that looks are often not reflective of the true situation.
Kimmel explained that part of the problem is that 鈥渨e spend a lot of time thinking about what are the causes of poverty and what causes homelessness, so we think of poverty as the thing that needs to be explained. But I think it makes more sense to approach the problem as what causes wealth.鈥 He continued, 鈥淲e problematize poverty, and we think of poverty as the thing that needs to be explained but that wealth and affluence鈥攈aving a cozy sort of lifestyle鈥攊s self-explanatory. If you do the right things and put in the work, then everything works out. And it鈥檚 those other people who must have done something wrong.鈥
Hevesi, who chairs the Assembly鈥檚 Standing Committee on Social Services, agreed with Kimmel and added that it is the responsibility of the government to deal with poverty. 鈥淚 see poverty as something you have to address and attack from a public policy perspective.鈥 However, Hevesi said he thinks New York鈥檚 current policy to combat poverty is 鈥減oorly thought out鈥 and that 鈥渨e often do things that are more expensive and hurt people.鈥 Hevesi has dedicated a significant part of his career in government to fighting the issues of poverty and homelessness. Since 2016, his legislative focus has been to establish the Home Stability Support (HSS) program, which would provide state-funded rental supplements to New Yorkers across the state facing housing crises. Albany included a $15 million pilot version of the proposal in the most recent state budget, and Hevesi has in recent months been crisscrossing the state to push for full implementation in 2019. This, Hevesi contends, would not only help families in need, but save state taxpayers the higher costs of operating shelters and funding eviction proceedings in housing courts across the state."
But all three panelists said that while there is a lot of work to do, they believe it can be done. 鈥淚 believe that private philanthropy plays a huge role in solving the issue of poverty,鈥 said Greenfield. He explained that the nonprofit organization he heads, the Met Council, specifically deals with Jewish poverty and provides 30 of New York City鈥檚 food pantries with their monthly supply of food. 鈥淭hirty thousand households don鈥檛 have enough food to end the week: That鈥檚 crazy, and that鈥檚 happening right now in New York City.鈥
Molly Meisels 鈥20S, one of the organizers, stated that 鈥渢hrough our event, I wished to educate our student body on poverty, its causes and its most dire symptoms. By having three vastly diverse perspectives鈥攕ociological, nonprofit and political鈥攐ur students were able to fully grasp what New York is up against.鈥 She added that 鈥淚 believe our students can utilize [the panelists鈥橾 perspectives to rally together to combat the war of poverty that is raging on our streets.鈥
(l-r): Daniel Kimmel, David G. Greenfield, Andrew Hevasi
But all three panelists said that while there is a lot of work to do, they believe it can be done. 鈥淚 believe that private philanthropy plays a huge role in solving the issue of poverty,鈥 said Greenfield. He explained that the nonprofit organization he heads, the Met Council, specifically deals with Jewish poverty and provides 30 of New York City鈥檚 food pantries with their monthly supply of food. 鈥淭hirty thousand households don鈥檛 have enough food to end the week: That鈥檚 crazy, and that鈥檚 happening right now in New York City.鈥
Molly Meisels 鈥20S, one of the organizers, stated that 鈥渢hrough our event, I wished to educate our student body on poverty, its causes and its most dire symptoms. By having three vastly diverse perspectives鈥攕ociological, nonprofit and political鈥攐ur students were able to fully grasp what New York is up against.鈥 She added that 鈥淚 believe our students can utilize [the panelists鈥橾 perspectives to rally together to combat the war of poverty that is raging on our streets.鈥
