Homeless encampments on Manhattan's West Side "will be cleaned up," Mayor Mamdani says
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Tuesday homeless encampments along Manhattan's far West Side will be cleaned up.
City will step in after 1 week of outreach
The city's Department of Homeless Services took over encampment sweeps from the NYPD in February, starting each job with seven days of outreach.
"At the end of those seven days, whether it's the site that we spoke about the other [day] or any site, for that matter, will be cleaned up," Mamdani said.
The mayor said his administration is working to build faith in the system.
"What we want to do is ensure that we are making connections with shelter, with supportive housing, and, frankly, a lot of this also comes back to the investments that we're looking to make in constructing more housing," Mamdani said.
Mamdani has been under pressure on the issue
People living near the Intrepid Museum say conditions around the encampments are a problem.
At the growing makeshift shelter on West 45th Street at 11th Avenue, people shave with water from a hydrant and use strips of plastic and cardboard to find shade.
The scenes are similar one block away on West 46th Street and all the way down to West 34th.
City Hall has been accused of being too slow to respond to the encampment that has been growing between the Intrepid Museum and Javits Center.
When asked Monday what he is doing about the issue, Mamdani said the plan is to get the homeless into stable housing, not force them to clear out.
"We are focused on connecting New Yorkers to shelter and on establishing a pipeline to stable housing, not just moving New Yorkers from one place to another place," Mamdani said.
Homeless to get homes in planned East Village mixed-use complex
Mamdani's announcement Tuesday coincides with a plan to build affordable housing complex in the East Village that will feature a large chunk of homes set aside for formerly homeless New Yorkers.
The initiative, which the mayor announced Monday on the city's official website, will transform an underused NYPD parking lot at 324 E. 5th St., into a mixed-use development called The Aurea, which will contain approximately 131 affordable homes, a senior center, community space and replacement parking facilities.
