Bronx Local News: No More Shutting Down Homeless Encampments - Mamdani Vows
Mamdani Vows to Sweep Out Crackdowns on Homeless Camps
City numbers show that sweeps started under Mayor Eric Adams have not delivered on referrals for housing in more than a year.
This article originally appeared in The City.
By Katie Honan
Bronx Voice
December 5, 2025
Advocates slept outside City Hall on Wednesday night to protest the crackdowns, which Mayor Eric Adams began at the start of his administration.
Asked at an unrelated news conference if he would encourage the practice once he’s mayor, Mamdani said “No.”
“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” Mamdani said.
Data shows that the city has spent more than $6.4 million since 2024 to break up encampments, with a multi-agency task force that includes NYPD officers and workers from the Homeless Services, Parks and Sanitation departments.
Although more than 4,148 sweeps were conducted, not a single person was offered permanent shelter through housing-voucher applications, direct placements, or transfers to supportive housing, the numbers show.
In May, the city’s data showed that although 3,500 people were moved out of homeless encampments, just 114 were placed in shelters, according to Gothamist.
“We need housing, not handcuffs,” advocate Marcus Moore said at a news conference Thursday, after spending the night on the street with members of the Safety Net Activists and Safety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center.
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Moore and others hope Mamdani will follow through on his pledge once he takes office Jan. 1.
“I’m anticipating that it’s a new day also for homeless New Yorkers, because sweeping people off the street, throwing away the medical [prescriptions] and all that sort of stuff, does not work,” Moore said.
A spokesperson for Mayor Adams did not respond to a request for comment.
Andrew Chappotin said he has lived on the street for more than three years and has experienced “dozens” of sweeps in that time.
“I have had all my property taken by the NYPD on numerous occasions,” he said.
Chappotin said was not present during the first sweep.
“I went to the bathroom, came back and everything I owned was gone,” he said. “That's a very traumatizing experience — it forces you to do things you don’t want to do to survive.”
Mamdani plans to address street homelessness under his proposed Department of Community Safety, which would shift police away from a lead role on these interactions.
“We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing, whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is,” Mamdani said.
“What we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made time and time again.”
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