Overview
- The halt would begin Jan. 1, with outreach shifting to a housing-focused approach under a proposed Department of Community Safety that reduces police involvement.
- City data reported by THE CITY show more than $6.4 million spent since 2024 on 4,148 sweeps with no documented permanent or supportive-housing referrals over the past year.
- New York’s 311 system logged more than 45,000 encampment complaints in the first 11 months of 2025, highlighting the scale of public concern.
- City Hall disputes findings of limited outcomes, saying the cleanups connected more than 500 people to safe, stable housing.
- Adams made encampment clearances a priority in 2022, and critics including a former NYPD chief warn that ending sweeps without added housing, shelter, and treatment capacity could worsen street conditions.