Overview
- Under the reinstated protocol, Department of Homeless Services teams will post notice and conduct daily outreach for a week before the Department of Sanitation clears sites on day seven with NYPD in a supporting role.
- City Hall says there is no evidence the roughly 19–20 recent outdoor deaths occurred in encampments, even as the cold snap intensified scrutiny of the administration’s response.
- Legal Aid Society and Coalition for the Homeless condemned the move as a broken promise that will erode trust and prove ineffective, while City Council Speaker Julie Menin and some business leaders praised the change.
- Mamdani frames the approach as more humane than prior sweeps and points to added resources, including a preliminary budget proposal for $6 million to hire about 60 additional outreach workers.
- The policy shift follows more than 3,300 encampment complaints logged to 311 this year and past analyses showing very low rates of shelter or housing placements from earlier sweeps.