It was shocking to hear how many homeless people there are in New York City. When I think of homeless, I often think of those asking for money on the streets or subways, and sleeping on park benches late at night. Thus, to get a glance at the whole homelessness picture gave me a better understanding of the situation.

The increase of homelessness in New York City is something I don’t think people are aware of, and much less of the magnitude. January 2017 saw over 62,000 people in shelters each night and over 125,000 unduplicated people in shelters each year.

Tying it back to last class’ reading, the root of the homelessness problem seems to be, in part, the falling housing stock available in NYC. Only one of the four articles makes a substantial mention of falling housing stock, specifically with SROs (Single Room Occupancy units), which cheaply housed a significant portion of the poor and a large portion of those leaving psychiatric hospitals.

What I found peculiar, is that if the falling housing stock is contributing significantly to the housing crisis, why doesn’t the Coalition for the Homeless focus on that too, in addition to the subsidies they think is necessary from the government. Obviously this wouldn’t solve the homelessness crisis, but I think it would address a root cause increasing part of the homelessness.