Big Apple Plays Scrooge - Abruptly Yanks 3,000+ Recently Granted Section 8 Rent Subsidy Vouchers To Poor; Pins Blame On Budget $queeze

In New York City, the New York Post reports:

• More than 3,000 of the city's poorest families face a cruel Christmas because Section 8 vouchers they were given to find apartments are being abruptly yanked under a budget squeeze, officials said yesterday. The unprecedented move elicited howls of protest from advocates for the poor. [...] More than half of the 3,018 families now holding worthless pieces of paper were formerly homeless.

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• [Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea] said a "perfect storm" of events left the city with no choice but to pull back the coveted vouchers, even to 918 families that had already identified private apartments to rent and were waiting to complete the paperwork to "turn on" their subsidies, which average $800 a month.

For the story, see Hou$ing ax freezes out 3,000 poor families.