With the migrant housing crisis of recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached some of its highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s. As of July 2024, over 132,000 individuals slept in NYC homeless shelters, not accounting for the thousands sleeping in unsheltered public spaces. Over 200,000 members of the population were estimated to be temporarily doubled up in the homes of others, so the total estimate reaches nearly 350,000 homeless people, according to the Coalition for the Homeless. Government policy in this area is shaped by the legacy of the 1979 decision Callahan v. Carey, which established a right to shelter (unusual compared to national policy), the interpretation of which has however been greatly contested over the years. The chief municipal agency has since 1993 been the New York City Department of Homeless Services. The situation is also exacerbated by the wider decades-long New York City housing shortage.
The number of homeless individuals residing in NYC's shelter system skyrocketed in 2024, rising 53% when compared to the statistics in 2023, despite efforts from Mayor Eric Adams.
Demographics The Coalition for the Homeless, a New York-based non-profit organization, reports that 30% of single adults entering the shelter system each year enter directly from institutional settings. In 2018 6,100 adults entered from institutional settings, including: 3,466 from prison, 1,294 from non-hospital facilities (i.e. nursing homes), 760 from psychiatric hospitals, and 580 discharged from Rikers Island.
In 2019, 59% of single adults in shelters were Black, 27% were Hispanic, 10% were white (non-Hispanic), 4% unknown/other, and 0.4% Asian/Pacific Islander. Black people are disproportionately homeless, making up 29% of NYC residents (35% difference). Whites are underrepresented, making up 32% of NYC residents (22% difference). The NYC Asian homeless population is marginally higher than the statistic shown above, and found in Chinatown based shelters or are on the streets.
As of 2024, additional demographic data was released, revealing that 71% of those in homeless shelters were part of families, which included 45,852 children. 45% were new arrivals, consisting of 65,731 individuals, suggesting a significant increase in the homeless problem.
According to the Bowery Mission, "In most cases, multiple factors are involved [in homelessness]. Common ones include: mental illness, substance abuse, untreated medical issues, traumatic events, violence and abuse, lack of affordable housing and difficulty sustaining employment."
History
Late 20th century Throughout the years homeless shelters have changed dramatically since the city was compelled to give the homeless the right to a shelter. Homelessness became increasingly visibile in New York City around the early to mid 1970s. This was due to gentrification, property abandonment and reduced government development. Early shelter options started as single-room occupancy (SROs). During this time homelessness was not seen as a crisis until the homeless population started growing more and becoming more and more visible. In 1979, a New York City lawyer, Robert Hayes, brought a class action suit before the courts, Callahan v. Carey, against the City and State, arguing for a person's state constitutional "right to shelter". The City and State agreed to provide board and shelter to all homeless men who met the need standard for welfare or who were homeless by certain other standards. Homelessness was brought to national attention as the New York City Police (NYPD) were seen conducting major street sweeps near Madison Square Garden for the 1980 Democratic National Convention (DNC).
Callahan v. Carey was settled as a consent decree in August 1981, a turning point, and in that year Hayes and other founded the Coalition of the Homeless. A year later this would be extended to women (Eldredge v. Koch) as well. In 1983 it would extend to those with mental health issues. In 1986, McCain v. Koch would extend this right to families as a whole.
2000s In 2004, New York's Department of Homeless Services (DHS) created HomeBase, a network of neighborhood-based services, to help tenants in housing crisis to remain in their communities and avoid entering shelter. Tenants can visit HomeBase locations within their neighborhoods to receive services to prevent eviction, assistance obtaining public benefits, emergency rental assistance and more. Brooklyn nonprofit CAMBA, Inc operates several HomeBase locations as well as an outfitted "You Can Van," which uses data on pending evictions to travel throughout the borough and offer help.
2010s According to the Coalition for the Homeless, the homeless population of New York rose to an all-time high in 2011. A reported 113,552 people slept in the city's emergency shelters in 2010, including over 40,000 children; marking an 8 percent increase from the previous year, and a 37 percent increase from 2002. There was also a rise in the number of families relying on shelters, approximately 29,000. That is an increase of 80% from 2002. About half of the people who slept in shelter in 2010 returned for housing in 2011.
According to DHS, 64 percent of those applying for emergency shelter in 2010 were denied. Several were denied because they were said to have family who could house them when in actuality this might not have been the case. Applicants may have faced overcrowding, unsafe conditions, or may have had relatives unwilling to house them. According to Mary Brosnaham, spokeswoman for Coalition for the Homeless, the administration of Mayor Michael Bloomberg employs a deliberate policy of "active deterrence".
The New York City Housing Authority is experiencing record demand for subsidized housing assistance. However, just 13,000 of the 29,000 families who applied were admitted into the public housing system or received federal housing vouchers known as Section 8 in 2010. Due to budget cuts there have been no new applicants accepted to receive Section 8.
In March 2010, there were protests about the Governor's proposed cut of $65 million in annual funding to the homeless adult services system."Council, Public Advocate, Department of Homeless Services, and Coalition for the Homeless unite to oppose State's $65 million cut to the Adult Shelter System" , News Brief, NYC Department of Homeless Services, March 23, 2010 The Bloomberg administration announced an immediate halt to the Advantage program, threatening to cast 15,000 families back into the shelters or onto the streets. A court has delayed the cut until May 2011 because there was doubt over the legality of cancelling the city's commitment. However, the Advantage program itself was consciously advanced by the Bloomberg administration as an alternative to providing long-term affordable housing opportunities for the poor and working class.
The result, as the Coalition for the Homeless report points out, is that "Thousands of formerly-homeless children and families have been forced back into homelessness. In addition, Mayor Bloomberg proposed $37 million in cuts to the city's budget for homeless services this year."
In March 2013, the New York City Department of Homeless Services reported that the sheltered homeless population consisted of: 27,844 adults 20,627 children 48,471 total individuals
Homeless encampments have long featured prominently in the landscape of American cities. A 2015 Sergeants Benevolent Association anti-homeless campaign called 'Peek-A-Boo, We See You Too' sparked an uproar about the presence of homeless people more generally. Urban financialization in particular has focused on the city's stock of low-income rent stabilized housing. The warehousing of vacant buildings by speculators led to an increase in homeless encampments.
In 2018, DHS's budget was $2.15 billion. It fluctuated over the next few years, with 2021's proposed budget being slightly lower at $2.13 billion.
2020s
The local COVID-19 pandemic was one contributing factor to growing homelessness; it also includes rising rent, lack of housing and asylum seekers. In 2022 the city experienced a migrant housing crisis, and the population of New York's homeless shelters increased as more asylum seekers arrived.
During early 2023 to early 2025, New York City has seen a gigantic surge in asylum seekers entering the city. These included refugees from the Ukraine war, fleeing Venezuelans and immigrants from the Mexico. Because of this surge, former New York Mayor Eric Adams decided to open emergency shelter hotels to incoming asylum seekers to alleviate pressure on other shelters around the city. This would only increase the strain on shelters already operating at or near capacity. Most of the New York state funding that was spent on these hotels could have gone to other shelters but were sent these hotels as they were a priority.
The total homeless population in New York State more than doubled between January 2022 to 2024. According to a 2025 report released by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, homelessness grew by 53.1% from January 2023 to January 2024, more than four times the rest of the nation. The number of children increased in almost 30,000 in 2 years. New York has had a housing affordability crisis for a while, but after quarantine, the numbers sharply accelerated within those 2 years, faster than the rest of the nation. Homeless impacts all states and all people.
People experiencing homelessness in New York in 2024 were disproportionately Hispanic or Black. The share of Hispanic or Latino homeless grew from 33.7 percent in 2021 to 55.5 percent in 2024. Ten percent suffered from severe mental illness or chronic substance abuse. According to the Office of the State Comptroller, between the spring of 2022 and December 8, 2024, New York City reported more than 225,700 asylum seekers had come through its intake system. New York City was housing approximately 68,000 asylum seekers in total in January 2024, the month in which asylum seekers in City shelters peaked. New York City's strategy for dealing with this influx also entailed relocating some migrant families to areas outside the city, including neighboring counties but also other urban areas in the state, potentially influencing homelessness in these areas, as well.
A voucher program to supplement CityFHEPS was agreed in June 2026, after a 2023 initiative fell thorough amid disagreement between Mayor Adams and the City Council.
In 2026, to tackle the systemic shortage of affordable housing in New York City, the mayoral administration of Zohran Mamdani introduced a municipal housing plan titled "Block by Block". Under the plan, the city aims to construct 200,000 new, rent-stabilized homes and stabilize an additional 200,000 units over the next decade. Supported by a $22 billion capital investment over five years, the push is designed to increase the number of homes available for homeless New Yorkers by nearly 45 percent.
The city's policy also ties building upkeep directly to worker pay. Through a program called "Fix the City," New York funds emergency repairs and strips neglected buildings away from irresponsible landlords. These buildings are then tracked for takeovers by local non-profits, community land trusts, or the tenants themselves. This expansion is regulated by the Construction Justice Act, which raises the minimum wage and benefit floor to $40 an hour for laborers working on city-funded affordable housing developments.
Experiences of different populations
Women
Hygiene and lack of resources