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Hochul, Adams Reject Mamdani’s Plan to Halt Encampment Sweeps Without Housing

Audits plus active litigation question the efficacy and legality of clearances before the Jan. 1 transition.

New York City Parks Department Officers and workers, along with NYPD Officers and New York City Homeless Outreach dismantled a long existing homeless encampment situated among the trees and shrubbery in an area bounded by Cadman Plaza West, Middagh Street, Prospect Street and the Brooklyn Bridge Exit Ramp in Brooklyn on Monday October 10, 2022. 1119. (Theodore Parisienne)
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani speaks to the press after attending a hot chocolate distribution event in New York on December 4, 2025. (Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP via Getty Images)
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Overview

  • Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani says he will stop police-led sweeps unless people are connected to stable housing once he takes office on Jan. 1.
  • Governor Kathy Hochul’s office says she supports enforcement, including sweeps when needed, paired with connections to supportive housing and treatment services.
  • Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams calls the proposal "idealism colliding with realism," arguing it would be inhumane to allow encampments to proliferate on streets and subways.
  • Audits and reporting cited in coverage found sweeps rarely lead to stable placements, including a 2023 audit showing 95% returned to the streets and city data indicating zero people housed across thousands of sweeps in 2024–2025.
  • A federal lawsuit challenges the city’s clearance procedures, seeking sufficient notice and the storage and return of belongings, while advocates press for housing-first strategies and point to vacant supportive units.