NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani resumes clearing of homeless encampments

Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that New York City will resume cleaning homeless encampments after suspending the policy for a few weeks.

Mamdani suspended the policy in January, arguing it did not do enough to give people access to housing. The Democrat said his new initiative would be led by the Department of Homeless Services rather than police and would involve sustained outreach, which he said would lead to better results.

“We will meet them seeking to connect them to shelter, seeking to connect them to services, seeking to connect them to a city that wants them sheltered, inside, warm and safe. And that’s something that I think will yield much better results, because that hasn’t even been the driving force behind these policies before,” Mamdani said at an unrelated news conference.

Before taking office in December, Mamdani criticized Mayor Eric Adams’ approach to the city’s homeless encampments, and he officially suspended his predecessor’s policies on January 5.

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city will restart cleaning up homeless encampments with an outreach-driven approach. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Mamdani reiterated Wednesday that he thinks Adams’ policies are a “failure.”

“I made the decision with my team to pause the policies of this previous administration as we began to develop our own policy that would generate much better results for the city,” he said.

Under the new approach, the city will first post a notice that a homeless encampment will be emptied, then send outreach workers from the Department of Homelessness there daily for a week to guide people to social services.

On the seventh day, sanitation workers will dismantle the encampment, in the hopes that the individuals have left the area.

Mamdani said relentless outreach would help connect with homeless New Yorkers whose “first reaction might be one of skepticism.”

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Former Mayor Eric Adams made eliminating homeless encampments a centerpiece of his administration, a policy that New York City is now taking up under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press)

“Their second reaction might be one of distrust, given their prior experiences within the shelter system,” he said. “But their third, fourth, fifth or sixth reaction might be one of interest in the possibility of shelter services, support programs, supportive housing.”

David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said his organization was “blindsided” by Mamdani’s announcement, calling it a “political response” that would do little to help the homeless population, according to the Associated Press.

Giffen said the new approach would damage trust between the city’s outreach workers and homeless residents, and could potentially lead to more deaths during extreme weather events.

“When a city worker shows up and throws out all your stuff, you’re not going to trust them the next time they offer you a place to sleep indoors,” Giffen said.

At least 19 people have died outside during a prolonged cold spell in the city, raising concerns about the city’s response.

The mayor’s office said there was no evidence that the people who died lived in encampments, and it encouraged the homeless to go to new shelters, heated buses and warming centers.

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New York City will once again eliminate homeless encampments under a revised policy announced by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.