Home-less Improvement

New York City has a reputation for being a tough city and Mayor Michael Bloomberg is definitely reinforcing that sentiment. In an attempt to alleviate the city’s budget, the Bloomberg administration has been buying airline tickets for homeless families to leave the city and never return.

The program, which has been in effect since 2007, has shipped out about 550 families since its inception. It cost around $36,000 yearly to keep a family in a New York City shelter. City officials claim that there are no limits on where a family can be sent and that a family can reject the offer. So far, families have been sent to 24 states and five continents, mostly in Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.