In the News

Members of New York State's congressional delegation pushed this week to reverse a decision by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to deny funding to a North Amityville project that houses and counsels homeless military veterans and their families.

Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-Garden City) wrote to President Barack Obama Wednesday asking him to overturn the department's decision, and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke to HUD Secretary Julian Castro late the same day.

"I pushed him hard," Schumer said. "It was as good a conversation as I've had with a secretary, and I'm optimistic that we can get this untangled."

The effort comes days after Schumer slammed HUD in a news conference at the facility, Liberty Village, for denying $250,000 in annual housing vouchers for homeless veterans because Liberty Village's residents, having moved in last fall, are no longer technically homeless.

Flanked by veterans, Schumer called the situation a "bureaucratic Catch-22." In an interview Thursday, he said the HUD decision was simply "goofy."

Rice called the decision "misguided" and warned the future of the $21 million facility -- hailed at its opening last year as a model for others to emulate -- is now in jeopardy.

Ralph Fasano, executive director for the nonprofit that developed Liberty Village, Concern For Independent Living, struck a more conciliatory tone this week, saying, "I think everyone at HUD has good intentions, but they are trying to follow bureaucratic regulations and trying to apply them to projects that need some flexibility."

A spokeswoman for HUD wrote in an emailed statement that "All of us share the same interest in ensuring that no one who has worn our nation's uniform calls the streets their home. HUD is reviewing this matter very closely in the hopes we can find a permanent solution for veterans experiencing homelessness on Long Island."

Estimates by different groups have put that number at about 1,000.

(Newsday)