As temperatures drop, many homeless individuals attempt to find warmth in the subway system.
Photo by Dean Moses
Mayor Eric Adams is expected to report Wednesday that his administration has made progress in getting more homeless New Yorkers off the streets and into housing, amNewYork Metro has learned.
According to latest statistics obtained from City Hall, so far in 2023, 1,000 people have been placed into permanent housing from Safe Havens and stabilization beds — double the number reported at the same point last year. Furthermore, 6,000 vulnerable New Yorkers have been checked into shelters since the Subway Safety plan was launched in February 2022, an initiative that sees outreach teams and police officers patrol the transit system.
“One year ago, we made a commitment to New Yorkers that the days of ignoring the mental health crisis playing out on our streets were over,” Mayor Adams said. “I’m proud that a year into this effort, we have made progress helping and housing a significant number of those most in need of care and support. We’re investing in training first responders, bringing psychiatric beds online, and strengthening inter-agency coordination — and the early results show what’s possible when we lean into the most challenging cases with engagement, compassion, and support.”
These numbers clash with claims City Comptroller Brad Lander made in June in which he called the mayor’s homeless encampment sweeps a “policy failure.” An audit from his office found that many who entered the shelter system did not stay there or receive other services.
Those experiencing homelessness have told amNewYork Metro in recent reports that they feel as though they are being repeatedly harassed — sometimes having their belongings thrown out during sweeps — until they give in and accept placement.
But city Social Services Commissioner Molly Park disagrees with this sentiment, stating that she believes what the administration is celebrating as a successful year comes as a result of increased outreach staff on the streets.
“We’ve had a 60% increase in average staffing since January of 2022. And a really thoughtful and strategic approach to that outreach,” Park said. “This is probably some of the hardest work that there is in the City of New York. These folks are out 24/7, in all kinds of weather conditions. So, the staff are a mix of DHS staff, Department Homeless Services, and people working for our not for profit contractors. They come from a whole variety of backgrounds.”
Park also revealed that in December, a hybrid low-barrier shelter will open in Jamaica, Queens as part of an effort to relocate unhoused individuals from local subway stations and nearby streets.
“We know that people experiencing unsheltered homelessness are connected to the communities that they are in,” Park told amNewYork Metro. “This new site that we’re going to be opening is near a subway station where we know there’s a relatively high concentration of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness and we think it’s going to be able to make a major difference in helping.”
The new strategy coincides with the arrival of colder weather that tends to send more street homeless individuals into the subway system for warmth.