By Isabel Conforme
Correspondent
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced on Feb. 18 that the city will resume clearing homeless encampments, reversing his earlier decision to pause the practice.
Mamdani halted the previous administration’s encampment sweeps shortly after taking office in January, arguing that the policy under former Mayor Eric Adams did not effectively move people into stable housing. Adams had made encampment removals a central part of his public safety agenda, though the efforts provoked protests from advocacy groups and resulted in only a small number of people accepting temporary shelter, AP News reported.
At a news conference held in New York on Feb. 17, Mamdani said the renewed strategy would rely on sustained outreach from the Department of Homeless Services. Notices will be posted before a site is cleared, and outreach workers will visit daily for a week to connect people with shelter and services, said AP News.
This announcement comes as New York faces a stretch of dangerous cold weather. At least 19 people died outdoors over several days of freezing temperatures, though the mayor’s office said there is no evidence that any of the victims had been living in encampments, AP News reported.
The city has opened warming centers, deployed heated buses, and increased outreach teams in response to the conditions, according to Time Out.
In a post on X, Mamdani urged New Yorkers to call 311 if they saw anyone in need of assistance, writing that “the danger of this weather cannot be overstated.”
The rising number of weather-related deaths has raised questions about whether the administration could have done more to protect vulnerable residents. In a separate AP News report, officials said some victims were believed to have been living on the streets, including one man who was found with hospital discharge papers in his pockets despite Code Blue protocols meant to prevent releases into extreme cold.
Reactions to the renewed sweeps have been divided. David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told CBS News he was "disappointed to see the backpedaling” on Mamdani’s earlier commitment to end encampment sweeps. Christine Quinn of Win NYC similarly criticized the reversal, saying the administration had not yet presented a plan to expand permanent housing.
Mamdani defended the policy shift, stating on Jan. 27 that the city is “mobilizing every resource” to bring people indoors during the cold emergency.
