美国国家公共电台 NPR--New York City's Homeless Bill of Rights becomes law

New York City's Homeless Bill of Rights becomes law

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams about what's included in the law which gives people the right to sleep outdoors in public places, but not anyplace they like.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Homelessness in New York City has hit levels that haven't been seen since the Great Depression. The advocacy group the Coalition² for the Homeless says that as of March, there were more than 75,000 people sleeping in city shelters each night. That includes thousands of children. And recent migrants to the U.S. are also among those without stable housing. A homeless bill of rights is now in effect in the city. The new law explicitly³ acknowledges the right to sleep outdoors, with some limitations, and the right to apply for rental⁴ aid. It also gives people the right to complain about shelter conditions without repercussions⁵.

JUMAANE WILLIAMS: What we found is people who were not otherwise breaking any of the laws were being harassed⁶ - you know, move along or just otherwise harassed - when they weren't actually doing anything illegal. We didn't create any laws. What we did create, which we didn't have before, was a tool, a self-advocacy tool that people may not have had before.

MARTIN: That's New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. Our colleague, Leila Fadel, spoke⁷ with him earlier.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

So one of the things I read in the bill of rights was, as you mentioned, it doesn't give anyone new rights. But also, a person can't sue if someone violates these rights. So the question for me became, what does it actually do? What does it protect?

WILLIAMS: Well, be clear - you can sue.

FADEL: OK.

WILLIAMS: You can sue in the right that exists. So you can't use this one law and say, this homeless bill of rights is why I'm suing. But you can say - sue and say, I was in the shelter, and I didn't get the interpreter I needed.

FADEL: Oh, I see.

WILLIAMS: Or I was in the shelter, and I wasn't able to communicate with the housing specialist. And so you are able to sue under the other laws that already exist.

FADEL: Mayor Adams allowed this bill to go into law. He didn't veto it. But he's also challenging New York City's right to shelter law, which requires the city to provide shelter to anyone who requests it. And this is coming in light of the influx⁸ of people who are unhoused, asylum-seekers who are in New York. Is this a contradiction?

WILLIAMS: There are a number of decisions that this mayor is making that I think is not helpful for the asylum-seekers or for New Yorkers who have been homeless. And so we always remind folks, the day before the first asylum-seeker bus came to New York City, there were over 50,000 New Yorkers already in the shelter - a lot of them working, a lot of them children, a lot of them families. Had we dealt with the situation then, it might not be as acute now. I always say that this mayor is correct. We are not getting the assistance and help we need from the federal government at all. But I believe he's wrong in some of the things that we're doing. And challenging the right to shelter is one of those things where we vehemently⁹ disagree.

FADEL: How do you change, though, this fear that some New Yorkers have? They see somebody sleeping outside and instead of feeling sympathy, they feel fear for themselves and their safety. How does - how do you change that? And what do you say to those people about this bill of rights?

WILLIAMS: You know, right now, we have leaders that are doing the tried-and-true method of stoking fear to elevate themselves in power. And that has dangerous consequences. So we see across the country, people are using fear and uncomfortability (ph) as, I can now kill you. And so what we would want to see in our leaders is changing the rhetoric¹⁰ and how they're having the discussion. What we're hoping that this bill of rights can do is be a part of that change so people can recognize the humanity in Jordan Neely, can recognize the humanity in people who are unhoused and who are homeless.

FADEL: Jumaane Williams is the public advocate for the city of New York and a former city council member from Brooklyn. Thank you so much for your time.

WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF YONDERLING'S "WEST WINDOW")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

5 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

9 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。