New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Wednesday that his administration will resume clearing homeless encampments, reversing a decision made shortly after he took office to pause the practice.
Mamdani, a self-described Democratic socialist, initially halted the city’s homeless encampment sweeps on Jan. 5, days into his term, stating the need to develop a revised policy. Under that pause, the city had stopped actively dismantling makeshift camps that house people experiencing homelessness.
“I made a decision with my team to put a pause on that prior administration’s policy as we started to develop our own policy that would deliver far better outcomes for the city,” Mamdani told reporters last week.
Due to the recent cold snap, Mamdani issued a Code Blue, requiring city shelters to accept anyone seeking refuge from the cold.
Reports noted that at least 20 homeless people froze to death in recent weeks, which critics linked to his earlier policy of allowing them to remain on the streets.
“We knew that that is a policy that we would only deliver on once the prolonged Code Blue came to an end, because, as we know, in a Code Blue, the focus should be on getting homeless New Yorkers inside, not on the question of how we respond to structures,” Mamdani added.
Hellbound and Down 