Posted on 09/09/2026 5:55:21 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Recently (May 2026) I did an update on the “homelessness” situation in San Francisco. The title was “The Homeless Industrial Complex Eats San Francisco For Lunch.” I have taken a particular interest in “homelessness” in San Francisco ever since that city had a big referendum back in 2018 to pass a special payroll tax supposedly to solve the “homelessness” problem once and for all. The result in San Francisco, you will not be surprised to learn, was that the Homeless Industrial Complex has since swallowed up all the new funding and much more, while the number of people identified as “homeless” has only gone up, and then up some more.
But how about New York? In recent years the City hasn’t exactly been bragging about its success in this area, so data have been a little hard to come by. However, a few days ago (September 5) the New York Post had a story that gives an idea of the overall picture. The headline is “Land of the freeloader: Number of NYC homeless shelters surged by 50% in four years.”
The focus of this particular article is on the number of shelters, which has indeed surged to a remarkable extent. But the number of shelters gives a pretty good indication as to other important data, like the sheltered population and the budget of the Department of Homeless Services.
The number of homeless shelters across NYC exploded nearly 50% in the last four years from 333 to 499. . . . Shelters set aside for single adults – which critics say are the most problematic facilities because they are more likely than family shelters to bring violent criminals to neighborhoods – surged 35%, from 155 to 209, a Post review of Department of Homeless Services data found.
To be fair to new Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the surge in numbers of shelters occurred before he took office about eight months ago. Initially, the increase in shelter capacity was driven by the explosion in the numbers of illegal aliens who came to New York during the open border period of the second half of the Biden presidency. However, the so-called “migrant crisis” has now passed; but the number of shelters remains at the peak level, and the budget of the Department of Homeless Services continues to increase.
The number of shelters soared from 333 in fiscal 2022 to 496 by fiscal 2024 as the city’s daily homeless population surged to an average of 86,321, including 20,468 single adults. At the time, the city was still dealing with a migrant crisis so overwhelming that the number of vagrants on some days reached above 130,000. The brunt of the crisis is largely behind the Big Apple, [yet] the total number of shelters has remained steady since 2024. . . .
Did you notice in that paragraph the Post using the word “vagrants” to describe the unhoused population? It’s the first crack I’ve noticed in the wall of enforced euphemism around the word “homeless.”
What has happened to the population living in New York City homeless shelters over, say, the past quarter century? I can’t find a complete series of population by year, but several data points give the overall picture. The Office of the New York City Comptroller issued a Report in July this year titled “Charting Homelessness in NYC.” Two data points from that Report:
- The nightly population in NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters [as of] January 2000 [was] 22,955.
- The nightly population in NYC Department of Homeless Services (DHS) shelters [as of] January 2020 . . . [was] 62,679.
The growth in the shelter population over that 20-year period represented an increase of 175%. According to the Comptroller’s Report, the number of sheltered homeless then shot up to well over 100,000 during the Biden open-border period from 2022 to 2024, and has fallen back somewhat since then.
The New York Post piece then has the most recent figure: “As of Thursday [September 3], DHS reported 83,407 residents in its shelter system.”
The increase is relentless, and we are now at well over triple the numbers that prevailed back in 2000, for a City where the population, according to Census data, has declined somewhat over that period, from about 8.8 million to about 8.6 million. The current shelter population of 83,407 represents almost exactly a full 1% of the City’s current population.
Even more dramatic is the rate of increase in the budget of the Department of Homeless Services. Here, from New York’s Independent Budget Office, is a chart showing expenditures of the Department of Homeless Services from 1994 to 2024:
The chart makes clear that during Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s three terms (2002-2013) the expenditures of this Department remained relatively stable, just reaching about $1 billion per year by the time Bloomberg left office. Then, during Bill de Blasio’s two terms (2014-2021) the spending took off; and the rapid increases continued during the term of Eric Adams (2022-2025), although to be fair to Adams he was the guy who got stuck dealing with the crisis of Biden’s open border.
The chart ends a year before current Mayor Mamdani took office in January 2026. But the Post helpfully reports on Mamdani’s budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2026:
Mamdani’s DHS budget is a whopping $4.2 billion, up $700 million from the previous year and $100 million more than in 2024, when the agency was slammed hardest by asylum seekers.
Notice that the number of employees in the Department has actually declined since 2016, even as the budget has about tripled. In other words, most of the money must be going to some group of NGOs/contractors, otherwise known as the Homeless Industrial Complex.
So, we didn’t have a referendum about homelessness, or pass a special payroll tax, the way San Francisco did. But the Homeless Industrial Complex is eating our City government for lunch in very much the same way. I fully expect that by the time Mamdani’s term comes to an end, the numbers of homeless will have increased yet again, and the money thrown away to solve the problem will have increased even more.
It is the homeless industrial complex. These Department of Homeless Services employees don’t want to lose their jobs.
Manhattan Contrarian ping
Giuliani would not only be blamed for this, he would take the blame. It’s on the mayor. But Giuliani would never allow it
Excellent observation.
If those employees were successful, homelessness would be very low, close to zero but then there goes your budget and your job.
I have thought the same of social workers-if they were really successful in solving problems most of them would be unemployed. BTW, I noticed a big change in the language used by social workers-some years ago they began to refer to the people they “help” as CLIENTS. That suggests that it will be a life-long relationship between the social worker and the people they are trying to help.
If you want more of something subsidize it. NY wants more of it.
I think NYC is beyond hope, beyond saving. Let them loot and burn it down.
We could effectively end homelessness if we sent the X million Indians home that took all of our jobs.
Homelessness Non-Profits Are Killing Los Angeles
https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/09/homelessness-non-profits-are-killing-los-angeles/
Democrats keep homelessness gig alive it’s a great excuse to say where they drop so much money into results is the last thing they want.
From what I can make out in San Francisco - the homeless are moved around - cleared out from one district and moved to another, especially the downtown and civic center areas where the businesses have already all closed.
In LA, the vast amount of $$ for homeless services has disappeared - as the homeless population continues to increase. The do-nothing mayor is about to be re-elected.
“Significant homelessness funding in Los Angeles, is under federal investigation for mismanagement. Despite allocating over $1 billion annually, the city’s unhoused population has recently increased.”
Homelessness is just another word for Freedom, nothin’ left to lose.
Mamdani will being freedom, more freedom. More whore-y songs.
It seems time for society to “go medieval”. Let them engage the struggle called life with NO help from the taxpayers in any way. If they break laws, throw them in prison.
Where else are you going to get a government salary plus benefits to sign up derelicts to vote Democrat?
Cut social workers a little slack. There are the kind you describe, but my daughter and most of her colleagues work with the elderly to help them stay in their homes, when possible, or otherwise survive, when not. There is a maze of government regulations to help them do either as the deep state and its sycophants at the state and local level would prefer to kick them out to make room for more illegal immigrants and diversity types more inclined to vote Democrat.
I did not intend to paint with a board brush or a 12 inch roller, all social workers. I have know who are very dedicated to helping people including many like your daughter.
I had in mind those who major in social work based on the description of the social work major at St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B.
“The Bachelor of Social Work program emphasizes the importance of understanding the structural roots of social problems in Canadian society. It is a political activity aimed at initiating social change at all levels of society to promote equality and inclusion. Social problems such as poverty and homelessness, gendered violence, racial discrimination, and climate change are viewed as being rooted in structural inequalities. These inequalities lead to economic, political, social and cultural disparities for whole populations of people.”
“We could effectively end homelessness if we sent the X million Indians home that took all of our jobs.”
Huh? What? All those homeless are Indians that took our jobs?
Indeed, there is a cohort that simply wants to practice political activism on the public dime.
Exactly! In 1988 I taught a one quarter course in economics primarily to social work majors who needed the course as part of their requirements to graduate. Most of them were non-traditional female students who had a genuine desire to help people. To the best of my knowledge none of them had any kind of political agenda.
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