In a hard-hitting new review, the Coalition for the Homeless expressed severe criticism towards Mayor Eric Adams and Governor Kathy Hochul, holding them responsible for the escalating homeless crisis in New York City. The report claims that both officials ‘participated in detrimental and ineffective tactics’ in responding to the needs of the city’s homeless citizens. Homelessness throughout the city has surged near to 20% among long-term residents in parallel to a severe migrant crisis seen over the last couple of years.
The document provides a synopsis of how Mayor Adams’ and Governor Hochul’s strategies in handling these crises have performed, stating that homelessness is more widespread, the availability of affordable housing options for those most in need has decreased, and social services as well as mental health care needs have surged to unprecedented levels.
Alongside the influx of people from the Southern region, the percentage of long-standing New York citizens who are homeless has risen by nearly 19%. As per the study, the city’s cumulative homeless population?counting those residing in shelters, living on the streets, or ‘doubled up’ in other people’s homes?comes to around 350,000.
Dave Giffen, who heads the Coalition for the Homeless, emphasized in his conversation with The News that despite the need to focus on addressing the issue of new arrivals, it is critical for the leadership not to overlook the root causes of widespread homelessness, which they are currently failing to address.
In January, data from the city comptroller’s office recorded a peak of 69,000 migrants residing in shelters. Since Spring of 2022, approximately 210,000 migrants have moved through the local shelter system. Currently, around 65,000 migrants find their homes in city shelters scattered across the five boroughs.
The report criticizes Adams for ‘repeated breaches of the city’s legal, functional, and ethical responsibility to provide an ample number of shelter beds to all those in need.’ In the previous year, Adams fought against the city’s Right to Shelter mandate in court, petitioning the requirement to be waived should the city find itself lacking resources to uphold sufficient shelter sites. Later, the case was settled.
In making a rebuttal to the accusations, Adams’ press unit referred to the severe negative feedback from the public towards new shelters, pointing out that in the fiscal year 2023, unprecedented numbers of New Yorkers were able to secure permanent housing through city-funded rental aid, known as CityFHEPS. Furthermore, they highlighted a more than 20% rise in permanent housing placements from shelters in the fiscal year 2024 as compared to the year before, even amidst a historical low vacancy rate.
A representative for the Department of Homeless Services mentioned that the increase in the shelter census is attributed mostly to the arrival of asylum seekers, accounting for over 75% of it. Since Adams assumed office, the city has introduced 49 shelters for its non-migrant homeless citizens in addition to over 200 emergency shelters for asylum seekers.
The migrant issue primarily plagued only New York City as it is legally obligated to provide shelter to anyone in need. Giffen, showing disappointment in the lack of support from the state government, stated, ‘The governor completely disregarded New York City and abstained from adopting a leading role in managing the arrival of new migrants.’
However, Hochul arranged for state-owned locations to house migrants and earmarked billions from the state’s finances to handle the city’s crisis. ‘Governor Hochul has committed extensive state resources to aid the city’s work relating to the asylum seeker crisis, including $4.3 billion dedicated to shelter, health care, legal services and more,’ Avi Small, a spokesperson for Governor Hochul, said.
The responsibility of immigration and the resettlement of migrants are essentially federal matters, and hence, Governor Hochul keeps urging Republican Congress members to stop aligning with Donald Trump’s views and start endorsing sensible immigration policies, as emphasized by her spokesperson.