9:28 am Feb. 22, 20132
Rising homelessness notwithstanding, Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that New York City is in fact far more compassionate toward the homeless than other major cities.
"In New York City, we have roughly one out of every 2,500 people that sleep on the streets," said Bloomberg today during his regular Friday morning radio appearance. "So the question is, how does that compare to other cities. Well in San Francisco, it’s one in 259, in L.A., it’s one in 290. In Seattle, it's one in 300. Even in Miami, which is warm, it's one in 800. So, we’re three to ten times more compassionate than the other cities, if you use that as a measure of compassion. And assuming everybody's measurements are the same, and that sort of thing."
During Bloomberg's three terms in office, homelessness has risen dramatically.
In August, the New York Times reported that the city had to open nine shelters in the prior two months to accommodate rising demand.
Today, a spokeswoman for the mayor said that on February 19, the last time a count was conducted, the city recorded 48,000 people staying in city shelters.
The mayor attributed the rise in homelessness to the demise of the Advantage program, a Bloomberg initiative that placed the homeless in apartments and was until recently partially funded by the state.
"Part of it's the economy, part of it is we've made the shelter system a lot better," Bloomberg added.
Advocates routinely criticize Bloomberg's homeless policies, and even the statistics he uses when defending them.
Take, for example, that one in 2,500 number the mayor cited during the radio show.
That's based on a street census the city conducts annually and that, according to the Coalition for the Homeless, "fails to include homeless people sleeping in non-visible locations, which researchers say make up some 40 percent of the unsheltered homeless population."
The mayor has also come under fire for requiring the homeless to prove they have nowhere else to stay, before allowing them to stay in shelters, and for failing to suspend that requirement when the temperature falls below freezing, as the Daily News reported on Saturday.
Today, the mayor said it made sense to ask shelter applicants to prove they had nowhere else to stay.
"If you believe that we should pay rent for anybody who wants us to pay for it and it comes out of your taxes then you don’t check," he said.
Outreach vans pull up to curbs in midtown late at night. They take names of people sleeping on the sidewalk and on church steps, encouraging them (the homeless) to be present each night for the count. The idea is to establish credibility as a truly homeless person. Once a case is built, the organizations promise, steps toward housing assistance can be taken. Yet, the number of people laid out in sleeping bags, blankets and cardboard boxes never seems to shrink--except on important holidays. The homeless virtually disappeared from midtown on New Years eve-- except for one dude I recognized, wearing a funny hat and 2013 glitter glasses.
The death of the Advantage program sent some folks out here, sure, but more crucial was Bloomberg's closing of several drop-in shelters. The drop-ins, with their showers and surplus toiletries, kept things a bit more civilized.
There is a whole subset of homeless people who haven't been in a home or apartment in a decade or more--by choice. They are clean, sane and productive. http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/united-states/this-is-new-york-vance-hin...
They just don't wish to 1. leave New York City 2. pay New York City rent or 3. submit to shelter curfews and "modified rights" agreements. They get by on soup kitchens, food pantries, food stamps, odd jobs and hustles, volunteering in exchange for services, dumpster diving and can collecting. I'm not talking about the panhandlers and boosters. I'm talking about honorable people who, for whatever reason, are set on surviving in the New York streets and want minimal interaction with caseworkers, city officials, etc. regarding their personal affairs.
There are restaurants and delis in midtown that set out trash bags with enough fresh, untouched food to feed 20-50 people, every night. The homeless folks who know where to look find it and eat healthier meals than most office workers. Other restaurants, like Pret a Manger, give food over to organizations like the Coalition for the Homeless to distribute at churches and other centers.
Various corporate towers leave public atriums open from as early as 7am to as late as midnight. That's where one can warm up, steal naps (when the security guards aren't looking) and, in some cases, grab some free Wi-Fi (see also NY Public Library).
I also hear tell that the squats are back, but only in far-flung places like Staten Island (i.e. punk teenagers and 20-somethings taking over abandoned buildings by the ferry).
As for the "non-visible locations," I would tell you, but I'd have to kill ya.
A lot of the homeless people out here are crazy, on drugs or trying to outrun warrants. But just as many, I have found after several years of "investigating," are out here simply because they don't know any other way to live in this city WITHOUT going crazy, getting on drugs or doing something to earn a warrant.
Bloomberg should definitely push some initiatives to help those with mental problems get off the street. Otherwise, if he or preordained mayor Quinn have no plans to re-open the drop-ins, Bloomberg should just continue doing what he's been doing, letting the homeless who sleep in stoops and on sidewalk grates fall into his blind spot. We know how to survive out here, so long as we aren't criminalized or abused a la the Giuliani years. Let New York's bipedal wildlife flourish. We contribute to quality of life here far more than we detract from it. And something can be done about the latter without marching us into NYC's homeless shelter/homeless services network, which is fueled--perpetuated--by our despair and helplessness. Some of us in the street realize that we are staging a quiet rebellion, refusing to be some social service professional's walking, whining job security.
Mr. Bloomberg is playing games. Bloomberg failed to point out that NYC has 8.5 million people compared to the other cities which all have less than a million. So in actuality with New York City with a population up to 7-8 times larger than the other cities. New York has many many more people in shelters per capita. That's not even a nice try!!