‘Back to the Giuliani era’: Adams’ order to clear homeless camps ignites fury in New York

He says it is being done with care and compassion.

I'm not abandoning anyone. Adams said at a City Hall press conference that he was not going to believe that dignity was living in a cardboard box.

Adams detractors are comparing the Democrat to Rudy Giuliani, a Republican who in the 1990s criminalized sleeping on the street.

Many people who have taken refuge under bridges, on sidewalks and in the subways are considered unsafe by the city's shelter system, so the new mayor will face an uphill battle in persuading people to leave the streets. The push to provide homeless people with other options is a return to failed policies of the past, according to elected officials and advocates.

People have a right to be concerned and we have a responsibility to address those concerns, but we have to do it in a way that doesn't bring us back to the Giuliani era where we were locking up Black and brown people.

Adams is emerging as a national model for police Democrats. He embraced his role on a bigger stage and took a no-apologies approach to tackling the post-pandemic problems of rising crime, homelessness and economic stagnation. He declared himself the new face of the Democratic Party and even invited President Joe Biden to New York to discuss ways to combat gun violence. As fellow moderates confront a major crime wave as Republicans seize on the issue ahead of this year's elections, the two have leaned on each other.

The mayor's push to clear out the homeless is similar to the one Giuliani did more than two decades ago. Giuliani said unhoused people didn't have a right to sleep on the sidewalk.

Adams acknowledges the right of people to sleep on the streets, but has still drawn the line at makeshift shelters, citing the city's Sanitation Code.

Adams said that people have a right to sleep on the street. You don't have the right to build a miniature house.

Giuliani's former chief of staff sees similarities to his former boss.

Randy Mastro, now a partner, said that Mayor Adams is doing the right thing for the city, for the neighborhoods and for the vulnerable homeless population.

I’m not abandoning anyone. I’m not going to believe that dignity is living in a cardboard [box], without a shower, without a toilet, living in terrible living conditions. It’s just so inhumane.

Adams is using the same model that Giuliani used to get people off the streets and into supportive housing.

Giuliani's use of the NYPD to implement his policy survived legal challenges and is viewed by those on the right as a key factor in driving down crime, even though most cities across the country saw similar trends in the 90s.

The city's shelter population peaked at 30,000 when Giuliani left office, but is still much lower than the number at the start of his first term.

The number of homeless people in Manhattan was pegged at 1,780 in 2003 by the city, which did not tally the number of people living outdoors until then. Advocates now believe the figure is much higher.

NYPD officers involved in the new sweeps wear body cameras to address concerns of police mistreating homeless people. Adams promised that there was a process in place to review the footage.

The NYPD Commissioner said at the press conference that the encounters were humane and compassionate.

She agrees with the mayor that it's inhumane to keep people on the streets. She objects to police officers being involved in the process.

In the first 12 days of the year, only five people accepted some form of assistance in relocating, according to Adams. He didn't say how many people were removed. The majority of the city's visits to camps occurred in Manhattan, with workers evaluating 7 sites on Staten Island, 22 in the Bronx, 27 in Queens and 53 in Brooklyn according to City Hall.

The mayor compared the sweep's potential to his subway plan, which is intended to move people out of the stations and trains and into shelters. The number of people living underground who accepted services grew from 22 to 300 within six weeks.

NYPD officers, homeless services staff, and parks department employees are among those charged with carrying out the mayor's call to demolish 180 camps over two weeks. According to a City Hall press release, members of the task force recovered 537 used needles that may have been used for illegal drug injection.

Adams hopes that most people will take up the city's offer for shelter and services, but understands that a small portion of people with mental health issues may take longer to reach. A man who had been living in a tree in Central Park has been hospitalized for mental health issues.

It's a process. Adams said that he wants to get everyone a bed who needs one, and that if you are on the street and no longer believe in the shelter system, you have to rebuild that trust.

A safe haven is a type of shelter that has fewer restrictions and a lower barrier to entry than traditional facilities, and this is what the new facility in the Bronx will be. These, along with stabilization beds, which are also targeted toward unsheltered homeless individuals, have been cited by advocates as key to bringing people indoors. The number of safe haven and stabilization beds will be increased by 500 in the coming weeks as a result of the mayor's subway safety plan.

Advocates say that's not enough to address the lack of capacity in that part of the system. The Coalition for the Homeless wants the mayor to open at least 3000 new safe haven and stabilization beds.

The stabilization and safe haven system is full so they don't have beds for everyone.

Strom and others criticized the mayor's policy to remove people from subways.

People have a right to be concerned and we have a responsibility to address those concerns, but we have to do it in a way that doesn’t take us back to the Giuliani era where we were solving every problem by locking up Black and brown folks and criminalizing poverty.

The latest plan is a public relations ploy that violates CDC guidance on makeshift shelters and Covid-19 risks, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. If individual housing options are not available, allow people who are living unsheltered or in a camp to remain where they are, according to the CDC.

The Coalition for the Homeless noted in an annual report that in the 21 months after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo temporarily closed the subways, 9,231 homeless people who spoke with outreach workers at end-of-line stations accepted transportation offers to shelters and drop-in centers. The coalition said that the long-term retention rate for those offered placements in shelters was just 24 percent, compared to 63 percent for safe havens.

Adams has made a concerted effort to emphasize the safety of city shelters, including congregate settings, a claim people who have lived in such facilities say is often not the case.

Shams DaBaron, an advocate who was homeless for many years, said that he was a casual drinker until he walked in. I witnessed rapes, robberies, fights, and stabbings in these shelters. We should not be warehoused like that in these types of dwellings.

Business leaders praised the mayor's plan, saying it is a critical step to both improving living conditions for homeless people and addressing public safety.

Issues of street homelessness and drug use in the neighborhood have been a concern for people returning to offices in the area, something Adams has cited as key to the city's economic recovery.

Blair said that Midtown West hit a crisis point when people started coming back.

She said that they were looking with great fear at the late spring and summer. The problem has not been solved, it just went underground.

Maria, a homeless woman living on the streets near the subway line in East Harlem, said she has struggled to find stability in her life despite many interactions with the city's shelter and jail systems.

Maria said it was hard to become part of society because they don't offer the services. Things are changing fast.

The city can't force people to go to shelters or stop them from living on the streets. Task force members will evaluate their past work and schedule another round of site visits for the second phase of the mayor's plan.

Adams is confident that his policy will lead to permanent changes.

The problem is in the city, and we said it was acceptable to build and live in an encampment. Adams said that the mayor said it was not acceptable to live in an encampment.

Julia contributed to the report.