New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander has unveiled a comprehensive 75-page plan titled “Safer for All” aimed at ending homelessness among the mentally ill in New York City.
The report highlights a series of random and tragic violent incidents, such as a fatal fire involving an undocumented immigrant in a subway car at the Coney Island station on December 22, a passenger being pushed onto the tracks on New Year’s Eve and struck by an oncoming train, and the death of Chinese-American executive Michelle Go after being pushed onto the subway tracks by a person with a long history of mental illness while waiting for a train in January 2022. These incidents have raised concerns among New Yorkers regarding the presence of severely mentally ill individuals on the streets and in the subways.
Lander’s report calls for the expansion of outreach teams outside the subway system, the addition of mental health clinics citywide, particularly in underserved communities and areas with high homeless populations, and the provision of housing for homeless individuals with severe mental illnesses, disabilities, or special needs, along with necessary social services.
In addressing housing issues, the report proposes adopting the successful “housing first” model seen in cities like Houston and Denver, focusing on approximately 2,000 homeless individuals with severe mental illnesses and placing them in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) apartments, as well as promoting city redevelopment projects to convert abandoned or underutilized commercial buildings into residential spaces.
Furthermore, the creation of a unified citywide data platform is suggested to document the needs of homeless individuals, the services they receive, and the outcomes tracked.
According to an audit conducted by the Comptroller’s Office in February 2024, only 41% of mental health patients, including the homeless, received regular psychiatric care, with their housing stability drastically declining from 47% to 30% over 27 months. The lack of effective performance tracking has hindered the city government’s ability to monitor outcomes.
From March to November 2022, outreach teams from the Department of Social Services contacted 2,308 homeless individuals, with only 119 (5%) being placed in temporary shelters, of which 29 left on the same day. Additionally, 31% of individuals had their camps rebuilt after site cleanups, underscoring the lack of sustainable results in the cleanup efforts.
Lander emphasizes that stable housing is fundamental in addressing homelessness, calling for the expedited construction of affordable and supportive housing while ensuring these resources directly benefit those in need. The absence of mental health services is cited as a key reason many people end up on the streets.
According to data released by the Mayor’s Office, the annual expenditure for adult shelters in 2023 was 28.7 billion yuan, with an average of 5,559 individuals per day at a cost of 1,414 yuan per person per day.