Faced with unprecedented numbers of families in shelters and as many as 4,000 people living on New York’s streets, Mayor Bill de Blasio said teams of social workers and police will seek out the homeless to get them services.
The teams will canvass areas of Manhattan from Canal Street to 145th Street in Harlem where the homeless have congregated. Those violating quality-of-life laws by aggressively panhandling, building encampments or publicly urinating will be dealt with by police, while the rest will be handled by outreach workers from the Department of Homeless Services, de Blasio said.
