Zohran Mamdani Sides With Homeless Encampments Over NYC Taxpayers

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is promising to end the city’s homeless encampment sweeps, prioritizing ideological activism over the growing concerns of everyday New Yorkers.

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who will take office next month, said Thursday he would halt enforcement of Mayor Eric Adams’ policy to dismantle makeshift encampments across New York City — despite over 45,000 complaints from residents this year alone.

Rather than enforcing current law, which prohibits such obstructions on public property, Mamdani claimed that clearing the camps “failed” because it didn’t offer enough housing options.

“We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” he said. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is.”

City rules currently urge New Yorkers to report illegal encampments, noting, “obstructions and encampments are not allowed.” But Mamdani appears set to abandon that approach, with no clear plan to address public complaints — or whether the reporting system will remain in place at all.

Mamdani’s victory last month over former Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa was driven in part by promises of expanded “affordable housing” and rent freezes. But critics say his leniency toward homeless encampments is already sending the wrong signal.

The city’s homeless crisis has surged in recent years, fueled by illegal immigration and strained shelter capacity. In January 2022, roughly 45,000 people were in the shelter system. By 2024, that number had nearly doubled to 90,000, according to state figures.

Mamdani’s defense of the encampments leans heavily on a 2023 audit from left-leaning Comptroller Brad Lander, which claimed that few individuals displaced by sweeps entered shelters. Lander called the sweeps a failure “by every measure.”

Mayor Adams’ office blasted the report, saying it distorted the facts. “Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture,” City Hall said. Officials also noted that over 500 individuals were connected to housing through the sweeps.

“New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation,” the administration added.

Still, with Mamdani set to take the reins, many taxpayers fear the city is about to become even more chaotic — and that once again, their voices will be ignored in favor of progressive posturing.