Mayor defends controversial program
The concept of “out of sight, out of mind” is taking on new meaning in New York City, where the homeless are offered one-way tickets to go back whence they came. In city hall on Wednesday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke out in support of the controversial program, which was launched quietly in 2007. According to Bloomberg, the cost of paying for bus tickets or airfare to ship the homeless out of town is “trivial” compared to the US$36,000 per year to provide shelter for a homeless family. Since it was established, the program has paid for one-way tickets to such international destinations as Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Ukraine. As for whether they find jobs when they return to their hometowns, Bloomberg says, “I don’t know.”