Mayor Zohran Mamdani — once a critic of homeless encampment sweeps — was asked about his administration’s plans to bring them back following the deaths of 20 people during the city’s recent cold snap.
“Whereas previously, a homeless New Yorker might have only two points of interaction with city government — the first day they’re served a notice and the seventh day when that notice comes to an end — our administration will meet those homeless New Yorkers every single day. And we will meet them looking to connect them with shelter, looking to connect them with services, looking to connect them with a city that wants them to be sheltered and indoors and warm and safe,” Mamdani said at the groundbreaking for an affordable housing development in East Harlem Wednesday.
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At the groundbreaking for an affordable housing development in East Harlem Wednesday, Mayor Zohran Mamdani — once a critic of homeless encampment sweeps — was asked about his administration’s plans to bring them back following the deaths of 20 people during the city’s recent cold snap
Mamdani said the updated policy will see administration officials reaching out to homeless New Yorkers every day of a seven-day notice period, rather than just the first and last days
Under the modified policy, the Department of Homeless Services, not the NYPD, is the lead authority
Shams DeBaron has been there — homeless.
“I think that we can address encampments and get people in a better alternative than leaving them in the streets,” he said.
DeBaron said a chance to stay in a dangerous shelter does little to get someone off the street.
“That’s not gonna work. What we have to do is really look at what is a better alternative for that population,” he said.
Mamdani says encampments will no longer be that better alternative and is re-instituting the policy of removing tents and makeshift shelters on the street. A practice he vowed to stop before he took office.
Administration officials say none of the 20 New Yorkers who died during the recent frigid cold were living in encampments.
Under the modified policy, the Department of Homeless Services, not the NYPD, is the lead authority.
“That is something that I believe will yield far better results because that hasn’t even been the driving directive of these policies before,” Mamdani said.
The change was characterized as a broken campaign promise by homeless advocates who oppose the sweeps.
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, however, backed the idea.
“I think it’s sensible. I don’t think anyone — certainly any New Yorker with a heart wants to see someone suffering on the street,” he said.