Overview
- The incoming mayor said he will replace police-led cleanups with a housing-first response under a proposed Department of Community Safety.
- City records since 2024 show more than $6.4 million spent on over 4,148 encampment clearings without permanent or supportive-housing referrals in the past year.
- A 2023 comptroller audit found roughly 95% of people returned to the streets shortly after sweeps, a conclusion City Hall disputes.
- The Adams administration says the initiative connected more than 500 people to stable housing and maintains New York City has the nation’s lowest unsheltered homelessness rate.
- 311 logged more than 45,000 encampment complaints in the first 11 months of 2025, as advocates held an overnight protest outside City Hall calling for an end to sweeps.