Current:Home > reviewsNYC Mayor Adams faces backlash for move to involuntarily hospitalize homeless people -DataFinance
NYC Mayor Adams faces backlash for move to involuntarily hospitalize homeless people
View
Date:2025-04-17 10:46:43
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing backlash after moving forward with a host of policy changes that crack down on the city's homeless population.
On Tuesday, Adams announced officials will begin hospitalizing more homeless people by involuntarily providing care to those deemed to be in "psychiatric crisis."
"For too long, there has been a gray area where policy, law, and accountability have not been clear, and this has allowed people in need to slip through the cracks," Adams said. "This culture of uncertainty has led to untold suffering and deep frustration. It cannot continue."
And for months, Adams and his administration have discussed stopping unhoused people from sheltering in subways despite pending budget cuts that will remove services the city provides to the homeless. At least 470 people were reportedly arrested this year for "being outstretched" or taking up more than one seat on a train car. In March, the authorities targeted those living under the Brooklyn-Queens expressway in Williamsburg while Adams reportedly attended an event promoting a Wells Fargo credit card people can use to pay rent.
Adams' policies drew criticism from advocates for homeless people.
"Mayor Adams continues to get it wrong when it comes to his reliance on ineffective surveillance, policing, and involuntary transport and treatment of people with mental illness," Jacquelyn Simone, policy director for the Coalition for the Homeless, said in a statement on Tuesday. "Homeless people are more likely to be the victims of crimes than the perpetrators, but Mayor Adams has continually scapegoated homeless people and others with mental illness as violent.
Eva Wong, the director of the mayor's office of community mental health, defended the changes.
"These new protocols and trainings will ensure that agencies and systems responsible for connecting our community members with severe mental illnesses to treatments are working in unison to get them the support they need and deserve," Wong said.
However, others are unsure if the city has the infrastructure it needs for emergency medical response. New York City public advocate Jumaane D. Williams said the city needs to invest millions into its approach to the ongoing mental health crisis.
The number of respite care centers, which the city uses to house those in crisis, fell by half in the past three years, according to a recent report. Only two drop-in centers for adults dealing with a mental health crisis have been created since 2019. There were more than 60,000 homeless people, including 19,310 homeless children, sleeping in New York City's main municipal shelter system, as of September, according to the Coalition for the Homeless.
"The ongoing reckoning with how we define and produce public safety has also put a spotlight on the need to holistically address this crisis as an issue of health, rather than simply law enforcement," Williams said in a statement.
NPR's Dylan Scott contributed to this story.
veryGood! (62)
Related
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Dairy from a galaxy far, far away: Blue milk from 'Star Wars' hits shelves ahead of May the 4th
- A retirement expense of $413,000 you'll need to be prepared for
- Hotter temperatures mean higher utility costs for millions of Americans
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Ukraine's Zelenskyy says we are preparing for a major Russian spring offensive
- Several Alabama elementary students hospitalized after van crashes into tree
- William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist, scholar and friend of Malcom X, has died
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Columbia switches to hybrid learning amid protests over Israel’s war in Gaza
Ranking
- Google unveils a quantum chip. Could it help unlock the universe's deepest secrets?
- Why Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger Are Facing Backlash Over Demolishing a Los Angeles Home
- Prosecutors cancel warrant for lawmaker on primary eve, saying protective order hadn’t been in place
- Sabres hire Lindy Ruff as coach. He guided Buffalo to the playoffs in 2011
- The Louvre will be renovated and the 'Mona Lisa' will have her own room
- A retirement expense of $413,000 you'll need to be prepared for
- Republican candidates vying for Indiana governor to take debate stage
- Lawmakers criticize CIA’s handling of sexual misconduct but offer few specifics
Recommendation
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
Why Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger Are Facing Backlash Over Demolishing a Los Angeles Home
Republican candidates vying for Indiana governor to take debate stage
Baltimore leaders accuse ship’s owner and manager of negligence in Key Bridge collapse
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
Seattle hospital won’t turn over gender-affirming care records in lawsuit settlement with Texas
Denver Broncos unveil new uniforms with 'Mile High Collection'
The remains of a WWII pilot from Michigan are identified 8 decades after a fatal bombing mission