Purpose:

Direct the City Manager to evaluate the feasibility of temporarily constructing “Smart Pods” on underutilized public land or “Tru-Pod” in empty warehouses as an option for transitional housing for transient and at-risk individuals. Examine housing codes, explore funding options, assess issues relating to conditional permits or temporary zoning, and examine feasibility and challenges of managing “micro-community aka Smart-Community” or pods-Communities.

DISCUSSION:

We have become painfully aware that New York has one of the largest unsheltered homeless populations in the U.S, and housing inadequacies as personal space is becoming more and more of an issue. In recent years, we have launched a coordinated effort to reduce the housing problems and the impacts of homelessness on our community. Through the coordination of Destination: Home and its “Housing 1000” effort, our nonprofit, City, County, and Housing Authority partners could place more than 10,000 of our most vulnerable and chronic New Yorkers into housing.

We recently took action on progressive measures aimed at offering additional tools to address transitional housing for our homeless population. The momentum that is being felt towards addressing homelessness and housing needs has pushed us forward; however, we still need more tools in our toolbox.

A SmatBed/TruPod is a relatively inexpensive short term housing option for integration in housing authority and FEMA and NYC Emergency Management. Tru- Pods are being built at about eight by 4 square feet in size and can cost as little as $5,000 to build. Placed together on underutilized land, a collection of very small, economically cheap houses can become a tiny village that can be managed and maintained, offering another humane option for housing our vulnerable homeless population while long-term housing options are sought.

This concept is not new. In Wisconsin, local authorities are utilizing high school and construction trade schools to help build micro-cottages for as little as $3,000 per house. A “micro-cottage” community in Olympia, Washington, was featured in a February 20, 2014, New York Times article, and similar initiatives appear to be catching on nationally.  

These micro-housing options appear worthy of exploring. Locally, GKO of Chrysalis Liveware proposes emulating the idea of micro pods that have been used in Asia for some time: self-contained units, including a bed, storage area, fan, and air filter system that can be placed 20 – 30 at a time in vacant warehouses as short-term, low-cost housing options for the homeless.

CONCLUSION:

In a city of very scarce public resources, and a challenge as daunting as homelessness, we must continue to press to be more resourceful, more creative, and more innovative with our public dollars. Micro-housing may serve as a critical option for doing so. 

DROWNING PREVENTION PROGRAM

Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional death worldwide, accounting for about 360,000 deaths per year. About 17 percent of these deaths – or 60,000 – occur in children 1 to 4-years-old. To address this, Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing in a pilot program to identify potential solutions to reduce drowning and supporting drowning prevention interventions in high-risk areas.