Coalition for the Homeless

Business leaders give Mamdani good grades for winter response Weeks of freezing temperatures and heavy snow fall have proven to be a major early test of the new administration.

“If we want to live in a city where people don’t die on the streets, let’s live in a city where people don’t have to live on the street,” Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director @giffendave.bsky.social told @crainsnewyork.bsky.social this week.

“As Juan De La Cruz, the Director of Emergency Relief Services at the Coalition for the Homeless, was handing out food on Sunday in Midtown Manhattan, he was startled to hear two homeless men tell him that police officers had taken their sleeping bags and warm winter coats from them while they were sheltering in the subway system.” “New York City’s Homeless Population Endures Another Dangerous Storm” by Wesley Parnell and Dana Rubinstein the NEW YORK TIMES Feb 23rd, 2026

“They shouldn’t be taking any actions that are going to put people at risk or lessen their ability to stay warm or survive the blizzard,” @giffendave.bsky.social, Coalition for the Homeless Executive Director, told @nytimes.com reporters. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/23/w...

If you see someone who has no place to get out of the cold, please let them know that warming sites across the five boroughs are available. Over 50 NYC hospitals, as well as DHS drop-in centers and shelters, are also operating with a full open-door policy. portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kan...

Regardless of the historic blizzard, the Coalition’s Grand Central Food Program vans were out last night – as they are every night – bringing hot meals, critical supplies, and info about the warming sites to people surviving on the streets of NYC.

MAYOR MAMDANI’S FIRST 50 DAYS: Big ambitions, but bigger budget problems, define his first weeks in office | amNewYork In his social media-driven campaign, Mayor Zohran Mamdani promised to remake city government. Fifty days in as of Thursday, he has made some early inroads —

Outreach is more effective when people do not fear enforcement. “When city workers show up & throw away all the belongings of somebody who’s surviving out on the streets, that creates a real feeling of distrust,” our Exec. Dir. @giffendave.bsky.social told amNY.

Alexius Marcano from @nyhomeless.bsky.social explains how imposing fees on unhoused populations creates a cycle of debt that makes it even harder to secure stable housing and undermines public safety.

This was just one idea discussed in our recent webinar, ‘Serve & Protect or Curb & Collect?’

Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society on City Revamping Homeless Sweeps - Coalition For The Homeless The Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society issued the following statement on the Mamdani Administration revamping homeless sweeps: “Like Mayor Mamdani’s pledge to expand CityFHEPS, his p...

*** Coalition for the Homeless and @legalaidnyc.bsky.social on City Revamping Homeless Sweeps *** Read full statement here.

Opinion: Mamdani makes the right choice, not the easy one, on ending homeless encampment sweeps The tragic deaths of 18 people during a recent cold spell have no connection to the mayor’s decision to stop inhumane and ineffective encampment sweeps.

"We must invest in solutions that move us closer to ending the homelessness crisis altogether...@NYCMayor could...immediately [move] 2,000 of the hardest-to-serve unsheltered New Yorkers into empty supportive housing units." 3/3

"These sweeps failed on multiple levels. First, they were glaringly  inhumane – many unhoused New Yorkers lost the few possessions they had,  and the process undermined their trust in city services...We fully support the mayor’s decision to end encampment sweeps." 2/

Our Exec. Dir. Dave Giffen and @winnyc.bsky.social CEO Chris Quinn, penned an op-ed in @cityandstateny.bsky.social. "Over the last 4 years, former Mayor Adams responded to the homelessness crisis with a series of...sweeps of encampments that failed to move a single NYer into permanent housing." 1/

Mark your calendars for April 24th! This year's Women Mean Business Luncheon is a celebration of courage. Join hundreds of NYC's most passionate leaders as we come together to raise crucial funds for the Coalition's First Step Job Training Program. www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/wmbl-tickets

Build From the Bottom Up: Affordable Housing for Homeless New Yorkers - Coalition For The Homeless Build from the Bottom Up: Affordable Housing for Homeless New Yorkers Download Policy Brief Table of Contents Introduction Priced Out Housing Investments that Never Reach the Bottom A Trickle Won’t En...

Our new policy brief focuses on building more affordable housing for those who need it most. We are calling on NYC to build 60,000 new units over the next five years for New York's homeless and extremely low income households.

Legal Aid, Coalition for the Homeless Urge City to Bolster Measures to Protect Unhoused New Yorkers From Looming Subzero Temperatures - Coalition For The Homeless The Legal Aid Society and the Coalition for the Homeless issued the following statement calling on the City to bolster measures to protect unhoused New Yorkers ahead of this weekend’s frigid weather a...

*** @LegalAidNYC, Coalition for the Homeless Urge City to Bolster Measures to Protect Unhoused New Yorkers From Looming Subzero Temperatures *** read full statement here:

Mamdani resists 'sweeps,' opens stalled NYC shelter as death toll in brutal cold climbs Mamdani is under mounting pressure to help more New Yorkers move off the streets amid a deadly stretch of freezing weather.

The call for sweeps is an “opportunistic misframing of a terrible tragedy to try to get the administration to try failed approaches of the past,” @nyhomeless.bsky.social Executive Director @giffendave.bsky.social told @davidfbrand.bsky.social for @gothamist.com.

Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society Applaud Opening of Pearl Street Safe Haven Shelter - Coalition For The Homeless The Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society issued the following statement on the newly announced opening of the Pearl Street Safe Haven shelter in Lower Manhattan: “We strongly support t...

*** Coalition for the Homeless and The Legal Aid Society Applaud Opening of Pearl Street Safe Haven Shelter *** Read full statement here:

16 New Yorkers have died during brutal cold stretch, Mayor Mamdani says Hypothermia played a role in more than a dozen deaths in NYC during the dangerous run of cold weather, Mayor Zohran Mamdani says.

"The system does not do a good job of making sure that individuals are getting what they need in order to come in off of the street. We need to see far far more low-barrier shelters like safe havens," @nyhomeless.bsky.social Executive Director @giffendave.bsky.social told @cbsnews.com.

“We need to start with the people who don’t have homes, whether they’re artists, or work in the food service industry, or as home health aides, whatever their occupation. Who is most in need of that resource?” 2/2

New York City Hasn’t Built Artist Housing in a Decade. Should It? The number of artists living in the city has dropped 4% in the past seven years, a new report found.

“As a guiding principle, when you have a limited resource, you’d start with the people who are most in need," Executive Director for @nyhomeless.bsky.social, @giffendave.bsky.social told @smaldo.bsky.social for @thecity.nyc. 1/

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Hochul wants homeless people forced out of NYC subways. Mamdani urges softer approach. Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to expand a state-run program that deploys cops and nurses into the subways to force people into care. It's unclear if the new mayor will retain a city-run program that does th...

“If placement into supportive housing isn't an integral part of the approach, the revolving door between hospitals, shelters, jails, and the streets will sadly continue” @giffendave.bsky.social told @gothamist.com.

Louis V. Gerstner, Who Revived a Faltering IBM in the ’90s, Dies at 83

Our thoughts go out to Louis Gerstner’s family and friends today. Lou's generosity & vision saved 100s of families from homelessness through his support of our Eviction Prevention Program. His deep humanity inspired us all, & leaves an enduring legacy.

Did Mayor Eric Adams ‘Get Stuff Done’? A Look at His Record on 7 Issues.

@giffendave.bsky.social, Exec. Dir. of @nyhomeless.bsky.social told @nytimes.com, "There’s really only one number that matters: how many people in New York City are homeless at any given time?”

A coordinated approach to NYC’s historic housing and homelessness crisis is long overdue. The Coalition looks forward to working with newly appointed Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning Leila Borzog in the new year to ensure that every New Yorker has a home.

Extreme Cold: Code Blue - Coalition For The Homeless

Code Blue is in effect from 4pm today, December 12 until 8am tomorrow, December 13. Learn more about Code Blue here: www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/get-help/kno...

There are only 3 days left to donate to our Holiday Toy Drive 2025! We urgently need 2,000 more toys to guarantee we can fulfill every order. One toy can transform a child's holiday season. Give a toy now: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/...

NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani plans to stop destruction of homeless encampments. Here's what he wants to do instead. The destruction of homeless encampments across New York City, a hallmark policy of Mayor Eric Adams' administration, will be halted by Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani.

"With Mayor Adams...the main concern is creating the appearance that homelessness is being reduced by removing people from sight,...without any thought to what's happening [to them]," @nyhomeless.bsky.social Exec. Dir. @giffendave.bsky.social shares with @alibauman.bsky.social for @cbsnews.com.

NYC experiences dangerously cold temperatures Temperatures are running about 15 degrees below average, and it’s not even officially winter yet.

“The reason that we have a right to shelter in New York City is because [the cold] is dangerous,” @giffendave.bsky.social told @spectrumnewsny1.bsky.social. “It can threaten your life to sleep out exposed to the elements and especially on nights like tonight.”

Coalition for the Homeless Applauds City Council for Overriding Mayoral Veto of Int. 1372 - Coalition For The Homeless The Coalition for the Homeless commends the New York City Council for standing up for low-income New Yorkers by overriding the Mayor’s veto of Intro 1372. This crucial action reverses an ill-conceived...

*** The Coalition for the Homeless commends the New York City Council for standing up for low-income New Yorkers by overriding the Mayor’s veto of Intro 1372. *** Read full statement here: www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/press/coalit...

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