Mayor walks back promise on homeless encampment sweeps after deadly cold snap
Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the city will now move forward with encampment sweeps — reversing a campaign pledge to avoid them.
More Stories
The Mamdani administration is reversing course on a campaign promise not to dismantle homeless encampments, after extreme winter weather and recent deaths among people living outdoors forced the city to act.
“It’s bad out here, it sucks,” Ashely Corrao said.
Corrao is no stranger to life on the streets. On Tuesday, She left the shelter she’s been staying in for the past three months to visit her mother, who remains homeless and struggling with addiction.
“I’m about to go home, but she’s still out here and it’s cold,” she said as tears ran down her face.
Corrao says entering a shelter likely saved her life during the freezing temperatures.
“The train was cold as hell, too, that’s why I did the shelter, I’m glad I did,” she said.
But she worries shelter conditions could make her mother’s addiction worse.
“They’re safe — you’re not gonna get killed, but there are a lot of mental problems and a lot of drug use,” Corrao said.
However, her mother may soon not have a choice. Mayor Zohran Mamdani confirmed the city will now move forward with encampment sweeps — reversing a campaign pledge to avoid them. The effort, once handled by the NYPD, will now be led by the Department of Homeless Services with additional funding.
“I am confident in the team we put together, and the focus they have on delivering a new set of outcomes,” Mamdani said.
Instead of dismantling encampments, Corrao believes the city should invest more in improving shelter conditions to encourage people to leave the streets voluntarily.
“The dirtiness — in some shelters there’s mice. They need to keep up with stuff like that,” she said.
City officials say sweeps will follow a seven-day process, starting with a notice at each encampment site, followed by daily check-ins aimed at connecting people with shelter services before locations are cleared.
