Dear New Yorkers,

For more than four decades, the Right to Shelter has been a long-standing legal obligation that makes New York a safer, more humane place.

Grounded in the New York State Constitution, it ensures that this is a place where our homeless neighbors have a roof over their heads. It’s the reason why 95% of unhoused New Yorkers don’t have to sleep on the street, unlike other major U.S. cities. And it defines New York as a beacon of promise, as inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty.

Still, New York City’s shelter population is ballooning right now because of lack of affordable housing, too few tenant protections, and insufficient resources to connect people with stable, permanent housing. Today my office released a new dashboard that provides much-needed transparency into the City’s efforts to help unhoused New Yorkers out of shelter and into stable housing.

The dashboard tracks New York City’s shelter population—broken down by family type, age, and race—and other benchmarks of factors leading to homelessness and successful housing placement, such as eviction filings and housing voucher use. It will automatically update at regular intervals.

My hope is that everyday New Yorkers use our new tool to track homelessness trends and monitor the City’s action. Some key data we found:

• Shelter population: More than 120,000 individuals resided in City homeless shelters according to the most recent data. This includes asylum seekers and new arrivals.
• Evictions: Tenants in the Bronx face the largest number of eviction filings by landlords in housing court.
• Shelter Exits: Data show the City is helping 11% more people exit shelters through vouchers and other programs each month this fiscal year as compared to last year.

So, where do we go from here? How do we help our unhoused neighbors off the streets? After all, a recent audit from my office shows that homeless encampment sweeps conducted by the Adams Administration were a complete policy failure.

Housing should be our #1 priority this year. We urgently need a deal in Albany with a Housing First approach to street homelessness. That means an increased supply of deeply affordable, community-centered housing, good cause protections, and housing vouchers to help people secure permanent housing. The City can also do its part to address the housing crisis, and my office is proud to support the Progressive Caucus’ Homes Now, Homes for Generations campaign.

What’s more, City leadership must approach homelessness with compassion and common sense. The Adams Administration’s shelter limit policies are cruel and undermine the Right to Shelter. For example, evicting migrant families after 60 days merely results in more people sleeping on the streets — and strains other city services including hospitals and sanitation. Instead, we should focus on the legal services and workforce development that helps immigrants get on their feet, move out of shelter, and find employment.

This is by far the quickest, most cost-effective approach that treats asylum seekers with dignity. And combined with a Housing First approach to street homelessness, it could help York City could dramatically reduce street homelessness.

After all, the city that never sleeps should aspire to have no one sleep on the street. Dig into the data for yourself and check out our new homelessness dashboard.

Thanks,

Brad