New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) said sweeps of improvised homeless encampments in the city will restart, according to The Associated Press.
Mamdani paused former Mayor Eric Adams’s previous policy on encampment sweeps shortly after his inauguration, according to the AP, saying it had not helped with sufficiently housing people.
On Wednesday, Mamdani said his method for the sweeps is set to have more success, the AP reported. That method will be headed up by New York’s homeless services department and will feature continued engagement throughout the process with the people affected, per the AP.
“We will meet them looking to connect them with shelter, looking to them with services, looking to connect them with a city that wants them to be sheltered and indoors and warm and safe. And that is something that I believe will yield far better results,” Mamdani said during a press conference, per the AP.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist who ran an underdog campaign for New York City mayor last year, made housing a central piece of his platform. The mayor’s first executive orders were aimed at the housing crisis, and he created a new Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.
