Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Judith Rosenfeld, Vice President of Special Projects at Breaking Ground
4:07:10
ยท
95 sec
Judith Rosenfeld from Breaking Ground, New York City's largest supportive housing provider, testified about severe financial challenges due to delayed payments from the Department of Homeless Services. She highlighted the critical situation where Breaking Ground is owed $41 million, which threatens their ability to continue operations and provide essential services to vulnerable New Yorkers.
- Breaking Ground serves over 13,000 vulnerable New Yorkers annually, operating 29 residences with over 5,500 housing units and 2,000 more in development.
- The organization is facing a financial crisis due to $41 million in delayed payments from DHS, including $17 million in pending Passport invoices and $24 million in unclaimed expenses.
- Without resolution, Breaking Ground will exhaust its cash and credit by April, jeopardizing its ability to make payroll and continue providing critical housing and outreach services.
Judith Rosenfeld
4:07:10
Good morning.
4:07:10
Thank you to the members of the committee for the opportunity to testify today.
4:07:15
My name is Judith Rosenfeld, and I am the vice president of special projects at Breaking Ground.
4:07:19
As New York City's largest supportive housing provider, Breaking Ground serves over 13,000 vulnerable New Yorkers each year.
4:07:26
We operate 29 transitional and permanent residences with over 5,500 units of housing across New York City.
4:07:33
And we have more than 2,000 units of housing in the pipeline.
4:07:36
We also operate the street outreach programs and serve over 14,000 street homeless New Yorkers last year, which led to 1,200 placements into housing.
4:07:46
As of today, breaking ground is owed $41,000,000 by the Department of Homeless Services.
4:07:52
This includes 17,000,000 pending repayments from invoices submitted to Passport.
4:07:57
Other unclaimed expenses totaling 24,000,000 cannot be entered in the system until those invoices are cleared.
4:08:04
During 2024, we paid 890,000 in interest expense on our lines of credit and continued to pay 90,000 per month in 2025.
4:08:14
And that's not reimbursed.
4:08:17
Our operating cash and available lines of credit will be fully exhausted by the April, and at that point, we will not be able to make payroll.
4:08:25
This delay isn't just a financial setback.
4:08:27
It's a crisis that threatens the very foundation of our work and the safety of thousands of New Yorkers.
4:08:33
A lack of funding now also means a drastic reduction in future projects, limiting the housing solutions the city so urgently needs.
4:08:41
I thank you so much for listening today and, the opportunity to testify.