Editorial | Mayor-elect Mamdani must sweep away encampments, and apathy for homeless

The sight of homeless encampments on the streets of New York is truly tragic. No one should have to live out in the elements; the fact that people choose to live this way speaks volumes about the affordability and mental health crises in New York City.

While acknowledging that tragedy, however, we must also realize that homeless encampments themselves are a blight on the neighborhoods in which they exist. Unkempt and poorly constructed, they instill a sense of apathy and disorder while sending an unspoken message to the rest of the population that can be summed up in one word: apathy. Any sense of apathy is a danger to the rest of the city, and an invitation for crime and other problems.

Not long after taking office in 2023, Mayor Eric Adams sought to have homeless encampments disbanded. It was a controversial campaign, but a necessary one in order to reduce the sense of public apathy while also reaching out to people in desperate need of help.

As Adams prepares to leave office, the incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, will soon be responsible for picking up that obligation to dissuade and dismantle homeless encampments and provide resources. Mamdani, however, has publicly stated he has no intention of continuing Adams’ encampment crackdown — and that’s a big mistake.

On Tuesday, the incoming mayor said his administration would seek only to dismantle encampments as long as there are guaranteed indoor alternatives in shelters that are safe. Many homeless New Yorkers living on the streets have often said they do not feel safe in the city’s shelter system, and it’s going to be a challenge for Mamdani and his administration to shatter that perception.

Even if an ideal shelter isn’t immediately available, the city cannot afford to do nothing when it comes to homeless encampments set up under bridges or in public parks. Just ignoring or looking the other way sends a horrible message, not just to the city but to those in the encampments themselves, many of whom already feel undesired and unwanted.

Most New Yorkers recognize that many homeless people living on the streets and in our subway system suffer from mental illness. Often, those with extreme, untreated mental illness left to live on the street lash out against bystanders in a violent way. That risk grows if the city government looks the other way on street homelessness.

Mayor-elect Mamdani has made addressing mental illness a campaign promise, and he must fulfill it from Day 1 in order to ensure that the mentally ill are cared for, not left to fend for themselves while living in tents on the streets.

He must also advance programs to create supportive housing and genuinely safe shelters that turn no one away and give no one an excuse to live on the streets.