A Room of One's Own

The massive Harlem HUD scandal left hundreds of abandoned brownstones in its wake. But now there’s good news, too: it is also giving birth to a vibrant new tenant movement.

HOW WELFARE MAY FAIR

With Congress slated to take up the welfare reform debate by March, insiders expect most of the law’s details will be nailed down as part of the budget process–with very little discussion.

Home Remedies

The mentally ill can’t live in nursing homes. The fragile elderly can’t live in their own filth. There’s a city agency that’s supposed to help them all stay healthy and housed–and it may be New York’s most neglected bureaucratic backwater.

TRICK OR TREAT?

The Department of Health and Human Services was kind enough to hold a conference to teach the city’s nonprofit service providers how to access federal funds last week. There was just one catch: There aren’t many funds to be had.

PAINFUL CONTRACTIONS

As part of a shift in the city’s workforce development policy, the Human Resource Administration will soon require that the job trainers it contracts with take on a lot more clients on public assistance. Since their city contracts are based on how long their clients keep a job, these companies fear that with so many hard-to-employ clients, their businesses may be in trouble.