What you should know
- A small encampment of homeless people stood their ground against New York City police and sanitation workers before authorities moved Wednesday afternoon to remove the tents.
- It’s part of a crackdown launched by Mayor Eric Adams to rid his city of people living on the streets.
- Police have already cleared more than 250 such encampments, more than half of them in Manhattan.
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NEW YORK — A small homeless encampment stood its ground against New York City police and sanitation workers before authorities moved Wednesday afternoon to remove tents, blankets and other belongings. as part of a crackdown launched by Mayor Eric Adams to rid his city of people living on the streets.
Police arrested several activists who for hours had protected a handful of homeless people from being herded off a street in the Lower Eastside in the cold and rain.
Police have already cleared more than 250 such encampments, more than half of them in Manhattan.
“I don’t need a safe haven… I need a home,” said a homeless woman who identified her “professional name” as Synthia Vee. For hours, she and other homeless people resisted leaving their plot on the street. Ninth Street.
“I have something to say to Mayor Adams. Shelters — no. Safe haven, not quite. Apartments, that’s the one,” he said.
“He is the new guy. We’ll see. He is a Democrat, but he is also a police officer,” he said.
The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But he has said that he wants to clean up parts of the city that are “dirty” and “unsafe.”
“I made a commitment to focus on the encampments so that the homeless can live with dignity,” Adams said last week on CNN. “There is nothing dignified about living on the streets.”
Homeless advocates denounced the mayor’s move as ruthless and were frustrated that Adams took action without publishing a comprehensive and compassionate plan to address the issues that contribute to homelessness.
“I am very disappointed that the Mayor believes that tearing down these encampments without offering any long-term, individualized action plan that includes safe shelters, hotel beds, single room occupancy facilities and supportive housing,” said Josiah Haken, Executive Director from City Relief, one of dozens of agencies providing support services to the homeless.
“This approach will only increase mistrust between the homed and homeless communities, and will only push homeless New Yorkers into hiding instead of living in housing,” Haken said.
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