New York, NY – The following statement by Giselle Routhier, Policy Director for the Coalition for the Homeless is in response to the City’s newly released annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE), which found a 6 percent decrease of people homeless and unsheltered on the streets from the year prior: “The City’s annual estimate of the number of homeless people living on the streets is more PR than substance. Instead of celebrating a small decrease in this notoriously inaccurate count, the City should focus on the only thing that will really make a difference: permanent affordable housing. If the Mayor wants to reduce the number of people living on our city’s streets, he needs to make sure that 10% of the 300,000 units being built or preserved under his affordable housing plan are specifically set aside for homeless New Yorkers – including 24,000 new construction units – and needs to further accelerate the number of supportive housing units coming online. Real housing solutions and robust homelessness prevention, together with safer and better shelter conditions, are the formula for solving street homelessness.”
