Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration ordered city cops and sanitation workers to stop tearing down homeless encampments just weeks before 10 people were found dead outdoors during the Arctic deep freeze, The Post has learned.
The order, which came shortly after the democratic socialist took office, left responsibility with the camps for the ill-equipped Department of Homeless Services who were caught flatfooted for the task with little guidance from the administration, sources revealed Wednesday.
The massive shift in city policy under the fledgling mayor, who vowed to end homeless sweeps in December, came ahead of the deadly cold snap and a massive snowstorm that walloped the Big Apple over the last week.
Former Mayor Eric Adam had ramped up the use of sweeps during his tenure after it became a growing issue during the COVID pandemic shutdown – but the tool has been used by the last few mayors, including Mamdani’s favorite city leader, Bill de Blasio.
Insiders said the NYPD has been ordered only to respond and document the location of encampments in the Big Apple — and not to touch anything that resembles someone’s personal property.
Under Mamdani, cops are only allowed to help if someone in the tent has a medical emergency.
Even if there are safety issues that could put someone’s life at risk, officers on the ground have been told they need to run the concern up the chain of command to a supervisor, sources said.
Workers in the Department of Sanitation have also been ordered not to touch any encampments.
Instead, cops and other city workers were told to notify Homeless Services workers.
But City Hall has yet to hand down any guidelines to the agency on how to deal with the makeshift living arrangements.
“The lack of guidance from City Hall is costing people their lives,” said Council member Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park), whose office confirmed having no luck clearing an empty encampment.
“We have below-zero temperatures at night, but the administration is taking a smiley, milquetoast approach to Code Blue enforcement,” Ariola said. “It may sound nice to his idealist progressive supporters when he says he won’t enforce homeless sweeps, but the reality is that these sweeps get people indoors and out of the elements. Some people need that kind of tough love for their own good.”
Steven Fulop, the CEO of the Partnership for NYC, which reps more than 800,000 Big Apple employees in the business community, railed against Mamdani’s move.
“We are hearing broad and growing disagreement with the mayor’s position,” he said. “There is nothing humane about allowing people to live indefinitely in street encampments.
“It fails the homeless individuals who need real services and stability, and it fails the surrounding communities who are left without safe, workable public spaces. We are hopeful the mayor revisits his position here.”
Calls to the NYPD and DSNY were not immediately returned.
A Mamdani spokesperson didn’t address the lack of guidance to the city DHS but instead issued a general statement on the crisis.
“Our focus has been and continues to be bringing homeless individuals inside and off the streets during these extreme and dangerous temperatures,” press secretary Dora Pekec said.
The democratic socialist mayor faced backlash in December before he had even taken his oath of office when he announced his plan to end the sweeps, with experts and prior admin officials calling the move “naive.”
The Adams administration conducted some 8,000 “clean out” operations during his single term, with the sweeps peaking at about 500 per month in late 2023.
Adams made the issue a top priority of his administration as he attempted to clean up the city streets in the wake of the coronavirus shutdown that plagued the Big Apple.
Even de Blasio, a progressive Dem who has helped guide Mamdani and his allies during his transition, carried out more than 10,000 sweeps over his two terms, which sparked criticism from his pals on the left.
