![]() ![]() Required by 2022 legislation called Local Law 79, the new census adds up not only people sleeping in DHS shelters-asylum seekers among them-but thousands more in smaller shelters run by other city agencies. “The report is a devastating index of human misery and suffering more than it is anything else,” said Craig Hughes, a social worker at MFJ Legal Services and advocate for an accurate shelter census.Įxperts have cited a perfect storm of factors fueling New York City’s booming homelessness population, including the ongoing economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, the phasing out of associated eviction protections and a shortage of deeply affordable apartments, in addition to an influx of asylum seekers. That count was about 83,000 at the end of May. However, despite some emergent questions about methodology, advocates say the new census offers a more comprehensive picture than a daily Department of Homeless Services (DHS) report often cited by journalists and policymakers. All told, the city said it had 105,800 people in its care as of July 19, including asylum seekers and longer-term residents. Still missing from the count are tens of thousands of asylum seekers currently staying in emergency facilities across the city, mostly run by the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Health + Hospitals Corporation. The report answers the calls of advocates who for years pressed City Hall to overhaul how it publicly shares data on unhoused New Yorkers. New York City is one step closer to reporting an accurate shelter census, amid a homelessness crisis of staggering proportion.Ī total of 89,951 people slept across five city-administered shelter systems on the last night of May, according to a first-of-its-kind report released this month by Mayor Eric Adams’ Office of Operations. An inaugural city report groups together shelter headcounts from five municipal systems, revealing a truer-and larger-picture of the homelessness crisis than the often-cited Department of Homeless Services count.Īdi TalwarBeds in a SafeHaven shelter for street homeless New Yorkers in The Bronx. ![]()
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