NYC homelessness up 18% in 2023 despite sweeps, new outreach: survey

The number of homeless in New York jumped by nearly 18% in just a year — despite Mayor Adams’ efforts to clean up the vagrant population.

The annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate  survey counted 4,042 people sleeping on the streets or in the subways when the citywide tally was performed on January 24, up from 3,439 in 2022.

The uptick in homelessness comes  after the Adams administration had made aggressive efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis including enforcement, sweeps and outreach efforts.    Yet, the city has returned to pre-pandemic levels when then-Mayor Bill de Blasio was frequently criticized for not doing enough to resolve the issue.

“Over this past year, our agency has responded to a massive humanitarian crisis while ensuring that we are effectively delivering on our mission to address homelessness in New York City,” said Social Services Commissioner Molly Wasow Park, who oversees the Department of Homeless Services, in a statement.

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The agency went on to blame a milder-than-usual winter — even though it came amid controversial street sweeps of encampments and a much-touted $171 million new funding for outreach.

Officials pointed out that street homelessness had only increased by 18% as the overall shelter population has nearly doubled, an increase fueled by waves of migrants from the southern border.

City Hall proudly touted the bolstered spending to resolve the homeless issue in 2022 but with not much to show for it.  The directives moved just 119 people out of 2,308 homeless New Yorkers living in the encampments into the shelter system, a rate of just 5%, according to a scathing audit released by Comptroller Brad Lander on June 28.

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As of January 23, 2023, only 47 people remained in the shelter, and only three people secured permanent housing.

Lander’s review of DHS found that the sweeps completely failed to meet their primary goal of connecting homeless individuals with services.

The street homelessness figures for 2023 were quietly released by the Department of Homeless Services on the same day the City Council voted to approve the Big Apple’s $107 billion budget and that City Hall finally released the years-in-the-making reports on yeshivas that fail to meet teaching standards.