Mayor de Blasio has created a task force to investigate so-called three-quarter houses for potentially exploiting addicts and homeless individuals.
The dwellings, sometimes called sober houses, fall somewhere between regulated halfway houses and permanent housing.
The New York Times says the task force will examine whether operators of some of the houses take kickbacks on Medicaid fees for drug treatment while forcing its residents to live in squalid conditions.
The mayor also called on the state to raise the $218-a-month shelter allowance for single people receiving public assistance. The allowance has left many homeless individuals no other option than to live in three-quarter houses.
Three-quarter houses are considered illegal because they violate building codes on overcrowding. However, no government agency regulates them.
