NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani resumes clearing of homeless encampments

New York City will continue clearing homeless encampments after pausing the policy for several weeks, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday.

Mamdani paused the policy in January, arguing that it was not enough to house people. The Democrat said his new initiative would be run by the Department of Homeless Services rather than police and include ongoing outreach, leading to better outcomes.

“We will meet with them to connect them with shelter, to connect them to services, to connect them to a city that wants them to be sheltered, closed, warm and safe. And I believe it will yield much better results, because it has never even been the driving directive of these policies,” Mamdani said at an unrelated press conference.

Before taking office in December, Mamdani criticized Mayor Eric Adams’ handling of the city’s homeless encampments and formally paused his predecessor’s policy on Jan. 5.

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Mamdani reiterated Wednesday that he believes Adams’ policy was a “failure.”

“I decided with my team to put a pause on the previous administration’s policy as we began to develop our own policy that would produce much better outcomes for the city,” he said.

Under the new approach, the city will first issue an announcement that the homeless camp will be cleared and then send homeless department outreach workers there every day for a week to direct people to social services.

On the seventh day, sanitation workers will disperse the camp with the expectation that individuals will vacate the area.

Mamdani said the ongoing outreach will help connect homeless New Yorkers “whose initial reaction may be skepticism.”

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Former Mayor Eric Adams made clearing homeless encampments a centerpiece of his administration; this is a policy that New York City is now reintroducing under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Associated Press)

“Given their previous experience in the shelter system, their second reaction might be to be wary,” he said. “But their third, fourth, fifth or sixth response might be interest in the possibility of housing services, programming support, supportive housing.”

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

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

“When a city worker comes in and throws out all your belongings, the next time they offer you a place to sleep inside, you’re not going to trust that person,” Giffen said.

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

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

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New York City will once again clear 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.