"The Homeless Services initiative will ensure an important population has the opportunity to cast a ballot," a press release announcing the move explained.

"Being part of our election process is a privilege and an important responsibility," Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond said in the statement. "We want to ensure that even while living in temporary, emergency shelter, families and individuals are appropriately registered at their current address in order to cast their ballot on Election Day and make a difference in the processes of our country."

Anyone who wants to vote in this election will have to register quickly, however. The deadline is this Friday.

Bill de Blasio (Photo: Facebook)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has another critic over his administration's decision to ban food from homeless shelters, because, as CBS reported, the city "can’t assess their salt, fat and fiber content." Public Advocate Bill de Blasio announced his opposition while challenging the basic rationality of the plan in a statement this evening.

“While I generally give this Administration high marks on protecting public health, the decision to ban food donations from shelters defies common sense," said Mr. de Blasio, who's a leading contender for the mayor's office himself in 2013.

"For homeless families, these donations are a rare bright spot and a sign that their fellow New Yorkers have not forgotten them," he continued. "Today we face both a profound hunger crisis and huge budget shortfalls—but we also have generous people and institutions willing to help. There has to be a way to make this work.”

This is hardly Mr. de Blasio's first time criticizing Mr. Bloomberg on homeless issues. In his first policy announcement after his 2009 election to the Public Advocate's office, Mr. de Blasio challenged the administration on a wide swath of policies affecting the homeless. Mr. Bloomberg has also recently received criticism for a policy requiring homeless people to prove their eligibility to stay in a shelter.

Update: Samantha Levine, Mr. Bloomberg's deputy press secretary, while not directly contradicting Mr. de Blasio's criticism, writes in to dispute the original reports of the issue:

I do want to clarify that, the contrary to the CBS story and the NY Post column that ran yesterday, there is no NEW policy (nor is there a change in policy) around food donations to homeless shelters. Homeless Services actually NEVER took donations: the shelter system is very heavily regulated – even beyond the City’s nutritional guidelines – with specific requirements around food handling and serving that leave little room for donations.

The new policy led to a scathing statement from Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who promptly promised to hold hearings on the new measure.

"This policy is cruel, risky, unacceptable, and will not reduce homelessness in the city of New York," Ms. Quinn said in a joint statement with General Welfare chair Annabel Palma. "Denying people shelter because they have found another option for some period of time is punishing people for trying to do the right thing."

Ms. Quinn is a reliable Bloomberg ally, and this statement could represent an effort on the part of the speaker to distance herself from the administration with a Democratic primary in 2013 approaching.

" This policy is an irresponsible 'no room at the inn' approach that does nothing to address the record number of people experiencing homelessness in New York City as winter approaches," added Ms. Quinn. "The recession has had a real effect on unemployment and on people's ability to stay in their homes -- our charge is to find ways to help these people -- not to send them into the streets with nowhere to turn to for help."

According to NBC, the policy is part of a Department of Homeless Services plan to save $4 million a year and will reserve its shrinking resources for those who are truly the neediest.