FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2026
Contact: Team Saritha
Email: Press@SarithaForNewYork.com
| Responding to Today’s Bensonhurst Rally, Attorney General Candidate Saritha Komatireddy Pledges Statewide Investigation Into Safety and Effectiveness of Shelters That Have Become Hubs for Drugs and Crime |
| NEW YORK – Crime-fighting New York State Attorney General candidate Saritha Komatireddy, who will professionalize and depoliticize New York State’s top law enforcement office if elected in November, today pledged that, on her first day in office, she will audit and investigate every homeless shelter in New York State. “Homeless Americans are dying on the streets of New York. More than 20 this year alone. It is heartbreaking and it should not happen in this state. The Attorney General has a unique ability to take on this problem. As Attorney General, I will.” “Nearly every homeless shelter in New York is run by a nonprofit. And every nonprofit in New York must register with the Attorney General’s office. The Attorney General’s Charities Bureau is supposed to be regulating these nonprofits. Under AG Letitia James, it is not. As a result, homelessness is up 38% under her watch.” “We are spending millions in taxpayer dollars on homeless services each year, and we have more homeless New Yorkers. Both the city and the state comptrollers have flagged this as a major accountability problem. But the Attorney General has done nothing. It is a dereliction of duty.” Ms. Komatireddy’s announcement follows a rally and press conference in Bensonhurst led by Nassau County Executive and New York gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman, who joined community members, elected officials, seniors, and parents at 2501 86th Street to oppose the 150-bed men’s shelter under construction in the middle of a residential and commercial corridor surrounded by senior centers and schools. The long-running Bensonhurst fight has generated tens of thousands of citizen petition signatures in opposition to the project. “These protests are happening because homeless shelters in New York have become hubs for drugs and crime. They are not safe. They are not effective. We have the resources and the ability to solve this problem, what we need is the will,” Ms. Komatireddy, a former top federal prosecutor and chief of staff to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency said. New York spends more per homeless individual than any state in the country, with a recent estimate of $81,000 per year on each homeless resident of New York City. Ms. Komatireddy continued. “With that amount of money we should expect results instead of chaos. It’s time someone drilled down to fix what is wrong. I will.” “The Attorney General is the primary regulator of homeless shelters in the state. As Attorney General, I will take on these shelter providers to ensure they are providing shelters that are safe and effective. I will prosecute crime in and around homeless shelters to ensure they are safe for the residents and the surrounding community, and I will audit and investigate every homeless shelter to ensure it is effective in giving vulnerable New Yorkers the help they need to transition to stable housing and a normal life.” “Politicians have been promising to fix the shelter system for decades. I will actually do it through the powers of the AG’s office,” she said. Ms. Komatireddy pledged a statewide Day-One Shelter Audit and Investigation to examine: Public safety outcomes — crime data, 911 call volume, and quality-of-life impacts in host neighborhoods before and after shelter openings. Conditions — the safety, sanitation, and treatment of homeless New Yorkers the system is supposed to be helping, who too often are warehoused rather than served. Outcomes — how many residents actually transition to permanent housing, employment, or treatment, versus how many cycle indefinitely through the system. |
| To learn more about Saritha Komatireddy’s campaign for New York Attorney General, visit SarithaForNewYork.com. |