City renews $2.7M contract with troubled homeless shelter provider

Despite an announcement last year that the city was cutting ties with the troubled homeless shelter provider, the Human Resources Administration just renewed a $2.7 million one-year contract with the Bushwick Economic Development Corporation (Bedco).

Bedco will continue to Run The Eddie Harris Residential Facility On Chauncey Street in Bushwick, despite the nonprofit’s history of building code and homeless shelter violations and various state and federal lawsuits, Politico reported. In January, Bedco had 185 open violations across homeless shelters and cluster sites it managed, including at 720 Hunts Point Avenue in the Bronx, where two babies died from lethal steam burns from a faulty radiator. The city announced in February that it would no longer work with Bedco, following the deaths of the two young girls.

The city has closed one of six shelters operated by Bedco and will soon assign new providers to two others, the Park Avenue Manor and Bedcourt Family Residence.

“To address issues with this provider at the remaining three sites, we have required Bedco to comply with aggressive corrective action plans that include immediate termination options if they fail to meet the terms of the plans,” Isaac McGinn, a spokesperson for the HRA, told Politico. “In the interim, these agreements ensure our clients continue to receive services and enable us to hold Bedco accountable for their compliance with the corrective action plans we’re enforcing.”

A report from City Comptroller Scott Stringer in December found that more than half of the 16,026 open violations at all the city’s cluster sites are in buildings owned by just 11 landlords. Mayor Bill de Blasio campaigned on getting rid of cluster sites, but the number of units has risen under his tenure as mayor. [Politico] — Kathryn Brenzel 

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the address of the Bronx shelter where two young girls died. It’s 720 Hunts Point Avenue.