McCAUGHEY: Zohran Mamdani’s homeless policy: Frozen corpses, blighted neighbourhoods |
Since Mamdani previewed his policy in December, new encampments are emerging in many New York neighbourhoods. The consequences are dire both for vagrants and for the city’s viability.
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The Big Apple is about to take on a new name — Tent City, or Filth City. Or perhaps Lepto City, after leptospirosis, a bacterial infection increasingly found in homeless encampments.
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New York City’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, is barring the New York Police Department from closing down encampments.
Since Mamdani previewed his policy in December, new encampments are emerging in many neighbourhoods. The consequences are dire both for vagrants and for the city’s viability.
Between Jan. 23, when the city was hit with a bone-chilling winter storm, and Jan. 25, eight people were found dead outdoors, suggesting they were homeless. Mamdani conceded that several of the victims were known to the city’s shelter system.
As the encampments pop up, neighbourhood residents call 311, but the NYPD is now powerless. Even New York’s Strongest — the sanitation workers — are barred from clearing the encampments. They have orders to remove garbage and human waste, but leave........