Being a native New Yorker, I am no stranger to seeing the disparities in the way that people live in this city. On one block there can be array of options found, from restaurants, to coffee shops, or organic supermarkets.Simultaneously there are people living below the poverty line.The hierarchy that exists in the way people live, might actually be encouraged, under a capitalistic society. In the colder months, this issue is more prominent because there would be train carts of homeless people sleeping and sheltering from the cold weather. The main stigma centered around homeless people are that they are lazy and/or they are on drugs. While these presumptions may ring true to some, there are also many circumstances that can lead to how one ends up on the streets. With the recent events of the coronavirus pandemic, it brings to light that life as we know it can be completely changed in unexpected circumstances. People who lost their jobs and were not able to pay rent or take care of their families will only be able to survive with the aid of government resources. I am interested in learning about the things that are being done to target this issue. Through my research I hope to gain more insight on something that I have witnessed so much but never got the chance to go deeper on the topic. There are debates on how much the government should assist homeless people. Some people want the government to provide more than what they already are and some believe the money can be used towards other things. I am curious about how much lawmakers actually care to tackle this problem because if they themselves live in a wealthy neighborhood I am not sure how much they can empathize with the average citizen.

While there are resources that homeless people can go to for help, these services do not provide quality assistance.There is a lack of compassion in the treatment that is available for New York City’s homeless crisis, despite the fact that there is over three billion dollars put into them. There is a sense that homelessness has now become an industry. People are profiting off of the suffering of others. In the video we go to the shelters that one would go if they were seeking help. More than three thousand people sleep on the streets of New York City. There are at least sixty thousand people, including twenty one thousand who are children, in the shelters. We witness the conditions of how these shelters operate. One of the shelters was feeding the people moldy food and when a man complained he was kicked out of the program. There are mothers with children who are homeless and they just need the right guidance to get back on their feet. The homeless population also consists of a large number of people of color, especially black people.
How can these government provided services be managed so poorly? This video was very eye-opening on the experiences that homeless people in New York City go through. There needs to be a proper evaluation on who is in charge of these shelters and programs. The responsibility of these shelters should be to rehabilitate people and provide them the help they need to get them to where they need to be. There is also a responsibility for New Yorkers to speak up because this is how our tax dollars are being used. Additionally, there is more work needed to de-stigmatize what it means to be homeless. Especially during these times where we are living during a pandemic. Many jobs such as performers, who are gig workers, are not able to have a stable income. There needs more solutions to end this cycle rather than exacerbate it.

The coronavirus pandemic has increased the homeless crisis in New York City. According to the article, “Covid-19 has killed over 120 homeless people in the city and has infected more than 4,100, officials say”. There were cases of homeless people taking food from people outdoor dining. The mayor organized outreach programs in hopes to get homeless people off the streets and into shelters. However, for people such as Max Goren, who have had firsthand experience with the outreach, say that they throw away peoples’ belongings and make their lives miserable on the streets so that they will go to a shelter. A man said that he would rather be on the streets instead of in the shelter. Without having a proper and organized plan to target this crisis there will not be long term results. Tom Harris, who was a former police officer, created an alternative approach to dealing with the homeless. The program is called the Times Square Alliance and it consists of people who have been homeless before and formerly incarcerated people. They hand out basic necessities and only offer social services if asked. In the text it states, “But Mr. Harris was determined not to rely on the police. His view was informed by decades as an officer in Brooklyn, where he found that the most effective way to stop someone from committing robberies, for example, was to address underlying problems like addiction”. Approaching this issue with empathy is better than with aggression.
After reading this article, I wonder if the government understands the issue that is at hand. They offer very idealistic solutions that sound nice in theory but the execution is flawed. It was refreshing to learn about nonprofit organizations such as the Time Square Alliance who have a more humane way in communicating with people who are homeless.