NYC Social Services boss Gary Jenkins partied on yacht day after declaring emergency for city homeless shelters
The day after the Adams administration declared overcrowding in city homeless shelters an emergency, the official tasked with running the embattled housing system went partying on a yacht with his top aide, the Daily News has learned.
Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins — who’s facing a Department of Investigation probe over his alleged mishandling of the shelter crisis — enjoyed the boat bash in New York Harbor with his chief of staff, Karen St. Hilaire, on Aug. 2, complete with cocktails and sunset views over Manhattan, social media photos show.
St. Hilaire posted the pictures on her Instagram account, but eventually deleted them. The News obtained screen grabs of the since-scrubbed images from a source who confirmed the date of the party.
Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins is seen in photos enjoying time on a yacht a day after issuing an emergency declaration about overcrowding in the city’s homeless shelters.
“Thinking of a master plan,” St. Hilaire captioned one of the deleted photos showing Jenkins gazing out over the harbor with a drink in his hand.
Another photo shows that Ingrid Lewis-Martin, Mayor Adams’ chief City Hall adviser, tagged along with St. Hilaire and Jenkins for the sunset ride.
“I’m both the Lion and Goat at the door of his office,” St. Hilaire captioned a third photo of herself and Jenkins posing on the boat. “Being a Chief of Staff is not for the faint at heart. Got his left and right.”
After The News reached out for comment from the Social Services Department on Tuesday, St. Hilaire made her previously public Instagram profile private, meaning only followers she preapproves can now see her photos.
Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins is seen with his chief of staff, Karen St. Hilaire, in a since-deleted photo from the Aug. 2 yacht party.
A department spokeswoman declined to say why St. Hilaire deleted the photos from Instagram and would not say who owns the boat or describe the nature of the party. The rep did say it was “a private event that occurred during nonwork hours.”
“This was a private event that people attended on their personal time and in their personal capacity. Commissioner Jenkins and the entire [Social Services Department] staff work day in and day out to support the most vulnerable New Yorkers,” the spokeswoman said.
Adams, who has defended Jenkins in the face of the Department of Investigation inquiry, declined to comment via a spokesman.
Mayor Adams calls out Texas and Arizona for sending asylum seekers to city, flooding NYC shelters
The day before Jenkins’ ocean-bound sojourn, the commissioner and Adams announced they had issued an emergency declaration to procure more shelter services for the thousands of Latin American migrants who have arrived in the city in recent weeks after crossing the U.S. southern border in hopes of seeking asylum.
“We can no longer wait — and this declaration will allow the city to procure sorely needed additional resources as quickly as possible,” Adams said in a statement.
The photos were posted by NYC Department of Social Services Chief of Staff Karen St. Hilaire (left), seen here with Ingrid Lewis-Martin, on her public Instagram profile.
Since the Aug. 1 declaration, the Department of Investigation has launched a probe into Jenkins over allegations that he sought to cover up the Adams administration’s failure to find shelter placement for several Central and South American families in violation of city law, as first reported by NBC4.
The “Right to Shelter” law requires the city to find shelter beds by 4 a.m. for families with young children who show up at an intake facility by 10 p.m. the previous evening.
But on July 17 and 18, at least four migrant families were forced to sleep on the floor of intake centers after Social Services Department officials failed to find beds for them even though they sought shelter before the 10 p.m. deadline, city officials have acknowledged. The Legal Aid Society and other advocacy groups allege several more families have ended up in the same situation.
Social Services Commissioner Gary Jenkins is seen in photos enjoying time on a yacht a day after issuing an emergency declaration about overcrowding in the city’s homeless shelters.
Julia Savel, the Social Services Department’s former spokeswoman, has alleged Jenkins initially ordered her and other agency officials not to tell Adams’ office or the public that the agency had broken the Right to Shelter law.
Days after privately voicing concern about Jenkins’ directive to a City Hall aide, Savel was fired.
On Monday, Savel sat down for a three-hour interview with Department of Investigation officials probing her former boss’ alleged coverup effort, as first reported by The News.
