Homeless Problem in New York

¶ … Homeless Problem in New York

New York City is a city with a long history of large growth populations, resulting in a staggering number of homeless.

New York City grew from a population of roughly 33,000 in 1790 to a metropolis of 400,000 by 1845 as desperately poor immigrants packed into a city that extended at the time no farther north than 14th Street. By the closing years of the 19th Century, New York had become one of the world's largest cities with a population of 1.5 million and with this distinction came the growing problem of the homeless. Police precincts often became the last resort for indigents who slept in "dingy precinct cellars without toilets, bathing facilities or bedding. In 1885, more than 134,000 homeless people were the "guests of the police in these 'precinct hostelries.'"

According to the United States Census Bureau, the population of New York City as of April 1, 2000 was 8,008,278, the largest enumerated census population in the city's history and up 9.4% from the 1990 count. This year, 2004, New York City set another record when the number of homeless New Yorkers residing in shelters reached the highest point in the city's history. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, in the month of August 2004, some 36,400 homeless men, women, and children were sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system, including 15,300 children, 12,700 adult family members, and 8,400 single adults, with many thousands more sleeping on city streets, park benches, and subway trains. New York City's homeless shelter population has increased by 73% since 1998, from 21,000 to the current 36,400. The past six years has seen the number of homeless families sleeping in New York City shelters and welfare hotels increase by 99%, from 4,429 families in January 1998 to 8,726 families in August 2004.(3) Moreover, the average stay for homeless families in the municipal shelter system has almost doubled over the past decade, from six months in 1992, to nearly twelve months today.(3) the number of homeless single adults sleeping in the New York City shelter system has increased by 43% during the last ten years, from approximately 6,100 people per night in 1994 to 8,700 people per night in 2004, the highest point since 1990.

The Coalition for the Homeless reports that from 1987 to 1995, 333,482 different homeless men, women and children utilized New York City's municipal shelter system, a figure representing roughly one of every twenty New York City residents. During the five-year period from 1987 to 1992, nearly one of every ten black children and one of every twenty Latino children in New York City resided in the homeless shelter system.

It is estimated that 90% of homeless New Yorkers are black or Latino even though only 53% of New York City's total population is black or Latino. Moreover, the Coalition reports that over 60% of homeless families previously lived in four of New York City's poorest neighborhoods, the South Bronx, Harlem, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and East New York and over half of homeless mothers in New York City have a history of domestic violence. Furthermore, according to surveys, nearly 75% of homeless individuals sleeping on the streets suffer from chronic mental illness and it is estimated that roughly 40-50% of homeless single adults residing in the municipal shelter system have a chronic mental illness.

According to a survey by the Citizen's Advice Bureau, the street homeless of New York City are as diverse as the city itself, white, black, Hispanic, male, female, young, old, illiterate, highly educated, some native New Yorkers, and some from around the globe, however, the data suggests that a disproportionate number are African-American and Hispanic, and male, as are Veterans, drug users, alcoholic, the mentally ill, and those who never graduated high school.

Seventy-seven percent of those surveyed tend to blame themselves for their homeless condition, most often citing family break-ups, drug abuse, and mental illness as the reasons. Data also indicates that almost one-fifth of the homeless population is female, many of whom are on the streets due to domestic abuse and/or substance abuse, and most of whom find themselves in the same abusive relationships as sent them to the streets in the first place. Moreover, for the street homeless, shelters are often seen as a last resort, as many surveyed found them too violent and dangerous, too restrictive and constraining, with many feeling more at ease sleeping in the park.

Permanent housing for homeless families and individuals actually costs less than shelter and other emergency care. The cost of sheltering a homeless family in the New York City Shelter system is $36,000 per year and for a homeless individual is $23,000 per year, compared to a supportive housing apartment with services which costs as little as $12,000 per year, and the cost of rental assistance with support services for a family as little as $8,900 per year.