New York Mayor Says City Will Dismantle Homeless Encampments Within Two Weeks

New York Metropolis will clear town streets of homeless encampments over the subsequent two weeks, Democratic Mayor Eric Adams introduced late final week.

“We’re going to rid the encampments off our road and we’re going to put folks in wholesome residing situations with wraparound providers,” Adams said in an interview with The New York Occasions printed Friday.

“I’m seeking to do it inside a two weeks’ interval,” Adams stated of his plan.

The mayor referred to as it “inhumane” to have folks residing in harmful environments like cardboard packing containers on highways and within the subway.

Nonetheless, it’s not unlawful for folks to sleep on the road in New York. Adams famous that town can’t drive anybody to sleep in a homeless shelter, “however you may’t construct a miniature home made out of cardboard on the streets. That’s inhumane,” he stated.

Adams seems to be addressing New Yorkers’ frustration with the makeshift shelters arrange by homeless residents that now really feel like a everlasting fixture on many metropolis streets. The mayor defined that he plans to direct metropolis businesses to do a block by block evaluation to establish the place encampments are, execute a plan to supply providers to the homeless folks residing there, after which dismantle these encampments.

He additionally criticized his predecessor Invoice de Blasio, saying the previous mayor ignored the homeless drawback.

A couple of month in the past, Adams additionally stated he’ll make an effort to take away homeless folks from New York’s subway system as a result of latest violent incidents in subway automobiles and stations.

“We’re not going to attend till somebody shoves an individual onto the tracks,” Adams stated at a information convention in February. “We’re going to have interaction New Yorkers who’re unhoused or coping with psychological well being crises.”

“Individuals inform me about their concern of utilizing the system, and we’re going to be sure that concern will not be New York’s actuality,” the mayor added. “No extra smoking, no extra doing medicine, no extra sleeping, no extra doing barbeques on the subway system—no extra simply doing no matter you need.”

In January, New York cleared out not less than 133 separate homeless encampments, greater than half of these in Manhattan. The final estimate executed by town in 2021 stated 1,100 folks had been residing on the streets, however latest estimates point out there are about 50,000 homeless New Yorkers within the metropolis — though that quantity contains folks in shelters.

A number of different blue cities which have historically been lax about road sleeping have additionally moved to do away with encampments in latest months.

Los Angeles introduced a ban on tenting in 54 particular places in October. One Los Angeles mayoral candidate, Democrat Joe Buscaino, campaigned on banning outside sleeping in public areas in most situations.

Portland, Oregon, banned tenting on sure roadways in February. Nonetheless, Portland’s mayor indicated that town may nonetheless permit some huge homeless encampments that may be managed by town.

Seattle eliminated a number of encampments originally of this month regardless of vital backlash from activists. On the East Coast, Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser launched a pilot program in 2021 to completely filter camps. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ordered an enormous encampment cleanup in January.

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