New York City mayor expanding services for homeless people

New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a $171 million proposal to help homeless people get off the streets amid a crackdown on street encampments. 

The proposal would add 1,400 specialized stabilization beds, or private rented rooms that include personalized social services and fewer restrictions than other transitional housing options.

Previous Mayor Bill de Blasio also supported the program, but Adams said his predecessor didn’t put his money where his mouth was.

“The previous administration talked about these beds,” Adams said at a press conference Sunday. “We are funding these beds, which is a big difference. It’s a big difference between articulating the needs of people and then allocating the money to give the items that are needed for people.”

Adams previously announced the addition of 500 beds in his push to remove people from the subways. The program is aimed at people who are more reluctant to go to shelters, especially those with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Adams’s proposal would expand the total number of beds in the city to 4,000. It comes as the city carries out an aggressive plan to clear out encampments on the street and in the subways, a process that Adams has been criticized for. 

“There was an encampment where a woman was living and I got out of the car and sat down next to her and engaged in a conversation. It was clear that she needed real mental health support and she did not want to be there, she did not trust the system,” Adams said, defending his attempts to get people into temporary housing.

His proposal would also allocate more funding to drop-in centers, which are designed to increase ease of access to social services, meals and medical care to people on the streets. 

“The funding will include expanding outreach efforts and connecting those in need to specialized resources,” Adams said. “We didn’t discover this on our own. We spoke to the advocates.”

Adams will announce his executive budget and discuss his first 100 days in office on Tuesday.