Investigative Report Revealing Serious Failures in the NYC Homeless Housing System Wins Prestigious IRE Award, Among Others

(New York - April 23, 2004) - Handshake Hotels, an investigative report by WNYC, New York Public Radio®'s Andrea Bernstein and Amy Eddings that exposed New York City's failed policy of relying on informal arrangements for homeless hotels, has garnered six prestigious awards for excellence in investigative reporting, and is a finalist for a seventh.

For their outstanding work, Bernstein and Eddings have been honored with:

• 2003 IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc.) for Best Investigative Reporting, Radio;
• 2003 Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Best Investigative Reporting;
• 2003 Newspaper Guild of America Heywood Brown Award;
• 2003 RTNDA Regional Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Investigative Reporting;
• 2003 Newswomen's Club of New York Front Page Award for Radio General Business;
• 2003 New York State Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award for Best Enterprise Reporting; and are
• Finalists for the Deadline Club Award for Best Radio Reporting.

During the course of their seven-month investigation, Bernstein and Eddings discovered that New York City was on track to spend more than $180 million to put homeless people in hotels and temporary apartments, and that all the money would be paid through "handshake" deals with landlords, outside of the city's normal contracting system. They found that both the homeless and taxpayers were ill-served because without contracts, the city cannot demand accountability, even as it spent as much as $3,000 a month for cramped and filthy rooms.

Within months of the series airing in June 2003, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the failed system would be overhauled. In April 2004, the homeless commissioner, Linda Gibbs, announced the first of the contracts with emergency hotel owners were in negotiations.

WNYC, New York Public Radio, is New York's premier public radio station, comprising WNYC 93.9 FM and WNYC AM 820. As America's most listened-to public radio stations, reaching more than one million listeners every week, WNYC FM and AM extend New York City's cultural riches to the entire country and air the best national offerings from affiliate networks National Public Radio and Public Radio International. WNYC 93.9 FM broadcasts a wide range of daily news, talk, cultural and classical music programming, while WNYC AM 820 maintains a stronger focus on breaking news and international news reporting.