Housing, not sweeps, saves lives in bitter cold
As New York City mourns the deaths of at least 18 New Yorkers During this period of extreme cold, a familiar argument resurfaced: encampment sweeps that forcibly dispersed people living on the streets would have prevented these tragedies.
They wouldn’t have done it.
Although the sweeps have the appearance of decisive action, they do not solve the problem of homelessness. The city’s own data shows that last year, only about 3% of people encountered during camp searches accepted a bed in a shelter, even for a single night, and none were connected to permanent housing.
Camp sweeps are described as “awareness-raising actions,” but in reality they are coercive actions.
They dismantle tents, throw away sleeping bags and blankets, and disperse people from the fragile communities they depend on for safety. In freezing weather, these disruptions put people at increased risk of hypothermia and isolation.
To understand why sweeps fail, we must start with an uncomfortable truth: Most homeless New Yorkers already know they can check into shelter, and many have made an informed decision not to.
For years, people living on the streets have told us they feel congregate shelters lack privacy and flexibility, limiting their ability to make choices. Many have tried shelters and had a bad experience, so they are hesitant to try again. For someone already experiencing the trauma of homelessness, entering a shelter can be worse than staying outside.
This is why “offering shelter” repeatedly – especially under the threat of a sweep – doesn’t work. People don’t refuse help; they refuse a system that they believe cannot meet their basic needs.
Removing the camps does not change this calculation. This only makes survival more difficult and hardens the resolve of homeless individuals to fight the system. These deaths should force us to focus less on punitive actions and more on what saves lives.
When temperatures drop below 32 degrees after dark, the city comes alive Improved Code Bluewhich increases awareness and relaxes shelter rules to bring more people inside. Other emergency options could include increasing street awareness and working with the hospital system to prevent people from being discharged into life-threatening conditions.
Policy changes, such as expanding single-room shelters, allowing couples and people with pets to stay together, and using hotel rooms for those who do not enter congregate settings but accept a private, secure space, would help bring reluctant people indoors.
Beyond emergency measures, real pathways to permanent options must be prioritized.
Programs like Volunteers of America – Greater New YorkFrom the street to the house » initiative shows what is possible when we meet people where they are.
Instead of requiring people to start in a shelter before moving into permanent housing, Street to Home connects chronically homeless New Yorkers directly to permanent housing with supports and then tackles the red tape. The result is faster placements, better results and stabilized, non-displaced lives.
Street to Home works because it recognizes that permanent housing is not a reward, but the solution to homelessness. As of March 2024, the Street to Home pilot project had successfully convinced 116 people living in the metro to access permanent housing, which represented almost 30% of the total population. 397 housing placements achieved thanks to the local service at the end of the city’s metro line.
Saving lives requires solutions based on evidence, dignity and humanity. That means investing in outreach that builds trust, safe shelter, and direct pathways to permanent housing that end homelessness instead of just temporarily sweeping people out of sight.
New York has a choice. We can continue to repeat policies that fail, or we can commit to what we know works. Lives depend on his choice.
Ginsburg is President & CEO of Volunteers of America – Greater New York & McSilver Fellow at New York University.
