AUDASE

De Blasio, Facing Criticism, Is Taking On Homelessness With $22 Million Initiative

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and NIKITA STEWART NY TIMES

The question has passed from from dinner parties to community boards to the nightly news, its implications echoing in the highest echelons of City Hall: Why are there so many homeless people in New York?

On Thursday, Mayor Bill de Blasio is set to appear with his wife, Chirlane McCray, to announce a $22 million mental health initiative that his administration says will aid the homeless.

For the mayor, a Democrat who has staked his administration on battling inequality, dealing with what seems to be a growing homelessness problem is as much about social reform as political survival. His critics have seized on what they say is a classic urban quality-of-life issue, arguing that Mr. de Blasio’s liberal policies are driving the city backward.

In fact, the number of people in shelters rose sharply during the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a political independent, and officials say the city’s shelter population is now falling after reaching a record high over the winter.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval rating stayed at 44 percent in a new Quinnipiac poll, but his disapproval rate rose to that level.New Poll Shows Mayor de Blasio’s Support Has ErodedAUG. 5, 2015

But Mr. de Blasio is losing the battle of perception. A poll released on Wednesday showed that more than half of city voters — 53 percent — disapprove of how he is handling poverty and homelessness. Only 36 percent approve, an unsettling trend for City Hall that held steady across boroughs and ethnicities.

A poll released on Wednesday showed that more than half of New York City’s voters, 53 percent, disapprove of how Mayor Bill de Blasio is handling poverty and homelessness. Credit Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

The debate over homelessness comes at a challenging time for Mr. de Blasio, whose approval ratings have dropped to the worst of his tenure. Even those sympathetic to his efforts say the complexities of why and where homelessness occurs can make it difficult to reassure uneasy voters.

“It’s not an enviable situation to try to explain why we have this increase of homeless individuals on the streets,” said Councilman Corey Johnson, a Democrat who described his constituents on the West Side of Manhattan as “alarmed” by a perceived rise in homelessness in their neighborhoods.

Mr. Johnson said he blamed specific policy moves by the Bloomberg administration for the current problem. “But when you tell an average New Yorker that, they don’t really care that much,” he added. “They just want less homeless people on the street.”

As of Monday, the city recorded 56,284 people in its shelters, up from about 53,000 at the end of the Bloomberg administration. City officials said the shelter population had fallen from a high of about 59,000 individuals recorded in December.

“It takes time to turn the ship around,” said Ishanee Parikh, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

Officials say the state has cut assistance, and they point to a February survey that found a 5 percent decrease in unsheltered homeless people in a year’s time. But the Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy group, cast doubt on those findings, citing cold weather and the efforts of some people to conceal themselves.

Many New Yorkers say it seems apparent that there are more homeless people around.

“Oh my God, it’s increasing,” Tyrone Grant, 48, of Harlem, said on Wednesday, as he handed out magazines to passers-by in Union Square — his job until he can “get something better.”

“No doubt it’s going up, man, look around,” Mr. Grant said, pointing to a woman sitting at the corner of the park, holding a sign that read, “Having the hardest time of my life.” Mr. Grant added, “It’s been going up for a while.”

For his part, Mr. de Blasio — who is now routinely questioned about homelessness at news conferences — says homeless numbers “have not appreciably increased.” And he frequently invokes his administration’s core theme, arguing that the problem is less about enforcement troubles than the rise of inequality in New York.

“The reason we have so many people in shelter is because the cost of living skyrocketed in this city,” he said last week, “and people didn’t have the same economic opportunities they used to.”

The mayor’s announcement on Thursday is to include more caseworkers at shelters and more street outreach teams to work with mentally ill people. A housing component, which some advocates say is crucial to alleviating the problem, is expected to be announced in the fall.

Mr. de Blasio’s approach, which he says is a humane and effective way to help, is a sharp contrast to that of predecessors like Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who characterized homelessness as a scourge. Mr. Giuliani, a Republican, once said the right to sleep on the street “doesn’t exist anywhere”; Mr. de Blasio said recently that it was “not against the law to be homeless.”

His administration added $1 billion in funding for homeless services, and he recorded a message to landlords for an automated call, urging them to sign up for a program that helps shelter occupants move into rental homes.

Still, advocates for homeless people give the administration mixed reviews.

Judith Goldiner, a lawyer at the Legal Aid Society, said Mr. de Blasio “inherited a huge problem from the prior administration,” calling Mr. Bloomberg’s performance “truly terrible.”

But she said she hoped Mr. de Blasio would put more emphasis on finding housing for shelter residents. “What we have seen is a lack of focus and commitment on the housing side of City Hall,” Ms. Goldiner said.

Last week, Mr. de Blasio convened a private meeting at City Hall with advocates and his senior aides, in which he emphasized his commitment to solving the homelessness problem.

Bonnie Stone, president of WIN, which stands for Women in Need, a nonprofit that works with homeless women and children, commended the city for trying new strategies. “I’m very optimistic at the effort,” she said. “The results, not so sure.” She said the city’s effort “doesn’t seem to be having the impact they would like.”

One ally of the mayor, the Rev. Michael A. Walrond Jr., urged patience. “The homeless in our city did not happen overnight,” he said. “The remedy will not happen overnight.”

In Union Square Park, Savan Nhil, 29, of the Bronx, was taking a break from his job at a deli. He said it was “hard to tell” if the homeless population had risen.

But he added, “You definitely don’t see any progress.”