Electeds, Community Leaders Call for Unity in Fight Against Poverty, Homelessness

This week, members of the United Nations brought up the issue of increasing homelessness in New York. At about the same time, at a rally at City Hall Tuesday, Communities United for Police Reform, elected officials and a diverse group of homeless and anti-poverty advocates united to call for an end to the recent public dialogue in New York City that has, in effect, sought to demonize and shame homeless and poor New Yorkers. The group specifically pointed to media coverage by the New York Post—that others have followed—and a recent campaign by the Sergeants Benevolent Association to take pictures of homeless and poor New Yorkers on the street as beneath the character of New York City and sowing division through vilification of vulnerable New Yorkers.

“The direction of the conversation in our city about homeless New Yorkers has continued to get crueler and more damaging to our city, and enough is enough,” said Priscilla Gonzalez of Communities United for Police Reform. “The demonization of our poor and homeless neighbors dangerously promotes harassment of them and only serves to divide us while failing to move us toward real solutions that alleviate poverty and the affordable housing crisis. It’s time to focus on solutions that will truly address those issues, not dog-whistle politics that demonizes and shames poverty.”