Homelessness in NYC at a record high despite decrease in migrant population, report says
Published in News & Features
NEW YORK — Homelessness is at a record high in New York City with shelter occupancy growing even as the migrant population is decreasing, according to the latest “Mayor’s Management Report” that measures the performance of city agencies in delivering services.
More than 87,000 individuals resided in the Department of Homeless Services system per day on average in the July to October 2024 period covering the start of fiscal year 2025, according to the 458-page document released Thursday. In fiscal year 2022, that number was around 46,000.
A DHS spokeswoman said the high number of shelter occupants is due to the migrant crisis and that families with children, including migrants, are staying in shelters longer than average over the same time period last year. The city has also shuttered some emergency asylum seeker shelters, with the DHS system absorbing remaining residents.
The high level of homeless shelter occupants comes despite an uptick in people leaving shelters for permanent housing, with nearly 30% more households moving out of shelters to homes of their own, and despite fewer people, especially migrants, entering the shelter system than last year.
The report, which covers nearly 50 municipal agencies and organizations that report to Mayor Adams — including the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Sanitation, Department of Correction and even Parks and Recreation — is released twice a year and gives a snapshot of how City Hall is doing compared to its goals. The next report will encompass the entire July 2024 to June 2025 fiscal year.
“Our administration is focused on making New York City the best place to raise a family. Whether it is driving down crime, connecting more people to SNAP and low-cost child care, winning the war on rats, or building housing at record levels, we are delivering on that mission and making our city safer and more affordable for working-class New Yorkers,” Adams said in a statement.
In the category of public safety — a huge priority for the mayor — major felony crime fell by 2% overall, with robberies, burglaries and grand larceny down but murders and felony assaults up. Reports of rape increased by nearly 19%, the report said.
Hate crimes increased by 11%, which the report said was driven by “religiously motivated incidents.”
Youth felony arrests jumped 16% since the same time frame last year — with robberies and burglaries increasing and grand larceny, which includes car theft, down from last year by 23%.
NYPD emergency response times to get to these crimes slightly improved from last fiscal year, with the police department taking an average of 15 minutes and 49 seconds to respond, compared to over 16 minutes in last year’s window.
Under the Adams administration, the Rikers population has continued swelling, with the Department of Correction reporting it had 8,135 new inmates come into the city jail system between July and October 2024. That’s up from the 7,589 over the same span in 2023.
The streets were slightly safer for motorists and pedestrians in the first part of fiscal year 2025 compared to the same period last year, with traffic fatalities dropping by more than 30%, largely due to fewer deaths in the “motorized two-wheeled vehicles” category that includes scooters and e-bikes. However, there were three more traditional bicyclist deaths in that period.
During his campaign Adams promised to build dozens of new bus routes. However, the report shows the city created less than a mile of new bus lanes — 0.9 — from July through October 2024, compared to 8.6 miles in the previous time frame.
The report blamed “resource restraints related to Citywide budgetary limitations affected planned production targets” for why that number is so low.
The mayor’s promise to build 300 miles of bike lanes is also falling short, with just 9 miles built during that time in 2024, compared to 23 miles in 2023.
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