CONTACT: Mariah McGough, mariah@vocal-us.org 

VOCAL-NY APPLAUDS MAYOR-ELECT MAMDANI’S COMMITMENT TO END HARMFUL, INEFFECTIVE HOMELESS SWEEPS

The Adams Administration Spent $3.5 Million in Taxpayer Dollars on Encampment Sweeps, Resulting in Zero People Being Moved Into Permanent Housing

VOCAL-NY Urges Mayor-Elect Mamdani to End Police Response to Additional So-Called Quality of Life Issues

NEW YORK — In response to Mayor-elect Mamdani announcing his administration would end the dangerous, ineffective encampment sweeps, VOCAL-NY released the following statement, attributable to Noam Cohen, a leader with VOCAL-NY’s Homelessness Union:

“I’ve been street homeless before, I used to sleep on the trains before I went into the shelter system where I am now. As someone who has experienced both, I want to praise the mayor-elect for recognizing the obvious ways encampment sweeps fail us all. 

For too long people have been penalized and criminalized — when what they need is housing. 

Sweeps as an approach to homelessness is just wasting millions of dollars moving people out of sight and out of mind, so I’m looking forward to seeing this new administration prioritizing housing and services instead.”

BACKGROUND: 

More people are homeless in New York City today than in the past decade. Mayor Adams has failed to address New York City’s housing and homelessness crisis. The Adams administration directed the department of sanitation to support the NYPD in clearing encampment. Despite spending $3.5 million in taxpayer dollars, zero people were permanently housed. 

VOCAL-NY had previously called on Mayor-Elect Mamdani to end police response to other so-called quality of life issues like homelessness, drug use and mental crises as well as “non-criminal, non-emergency” 311 complaints. Instead people experiencing a crisis should receive a response by agencies with tools to actually address the root of the issue they are facing — lack of affordable housing and healthcare. 

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