Dozens of sprawling homeless encampments have popped on the streets and become fodder for the tabloid newspapers and televisions news. There's been a rise in the number of people seeking refuge in the city's shelter system, frustrating city officials. And the police commissioner has said the issue of homelessness has "reached a tipping point" in the nation's largest city.
Mayor de Blasio's administration has been trying to combat homelessness as a key part of his overarching fight against income inequality in the city of about 8.5 million residents. But dismal poll numbers for de Blasio show that the perception of the problem has gotten away from City Hall over the summer, forcing him to sharpen his rhetoric and his administration to engage in some high-profile crackdowns.
"I think there is both a perception and a reality problem," de Blasio said in a radio interview this week, abandoning his claim from earlier in the summer that the perceived homelessness crisis was simply media-driven.
"Yes, there is something real going on here," de Blasio said, adding, "It is much more an economic problem than it's being acknowledged to be."
That marked a shift in tone for the mayor, who a month earlier boldly stated, "Homelessness is not going up, thank God." But the numbers didn't support him.
There are now nearly 57,000 people in the city's shelters, down from a record 60,000 in December. While the mayor has dedicated millions of dollars to assistance programs, that number is still well above the approximately 52,000 when he took office in January 2014.
But the media have fixated on the apparent rise of those who aren't seeking help in shelters. The New York Post has run several stories about the homeless being spotted in high-profile Manhattan locations, including one man who would frequently urinate on a tony stretch of the Upper West Side. And The New York Times wrote a front-page story this week depicting life in a drug-fueled homeless encampment that had taken over a Harlem block.
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The next day police swept away the camp, one of nearly 70 across the city that police are dismantling this week. Officers will give the residents a day or two's notice before breaking them up, and officials will be there to offer services including drug treatment or shelter, mayoral aides said.
Some of those camps are destined to return, officials acknowledge. But mayoral aides stressed that the camp removals are a small part of the administration's plan. Though no new overarching policy is planned, City Hall wants to focus on mental health treatment, improved access to health care and new affordable housing options for the formerly homeless.
The cause of the rise has not been pinpointed, but homelessness could loom large later this month as the eyes of the world will affix on New York for the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly and the visit of Pope Francis.
Mayoral aides have wondered if the pontiff will call attention to the issue. He has frequently spoken about the need to help the less fortunate and will be traveling through parts of upper Manhattan that have high concentrations of homeless people.
