New York City is undoubtedly a rough place to live.
And people have legitimate complaints regarding lots and lots of aspects of City living-- namely trash, pollution, congestion, bad attitudes, rats, New Jersey existing, hating Penn Station, "hipsters ruining everything," and let's not forget the subway.
Some of the above are real problems and some of them are just perceived problems.
One real problem we like to ignore all too often is the countless number of homeless people in NYC. There's no two ways about it: there are a lot of them.
Now, this is a year-round problem, no doubt. But with winter just around the bend, we have to be aware that there were close to 60,000 people in NYC shelters last December.
Sure, there are millions of people in NYC, so that number might seem small. But 59,068 people are 59,068 people are 59,068 people. That's more than the population of lots of cities. We have more homeless people in NYC than live in Ithaca, for Pete's sake.
Be real: you see the homeless as much as everyone else if you ever go outside. You probably wish something could be done, but don't think you're the person to do anything.
And you're not even outside the realm of the rational being suspicious of donating money to organizations or individuals directly, because who knows what they'll do with it?
New Yorkers don't have time to volunteer, or at least we won't admit that we do.
The fact is, this is a complex problem and the solution is fundamentally hindered by a foundational lack of interpersonal compassion.
A survey last February found almost 2000 homeless seeking shelter in NYC's 469 subway stations and trains alone.
Despite $6 million in funding and a partnership between the City and Bowery Residency Committee, the 60 social workers and clinicians dedicated to connecting underground homeless with services could only end up housing 261, a little over 10% of the overall number of people living underground.
Now here's where it gets even worse. According to the latest data from the Department of Homeless Services, the number of individuals sleeping in shelters is 57,448; but over 23,000 of them are children... for those math geniuses out there, that's about 40%.
Let's put it another way. Close to half of New Yorkers sleeping in shelters are kids. And on top of that, there's around 12,000 families in the system as well.
via New York Times
It's also important to know that people are staying in shelters longer than ever before, and when they leave, they're prone to return within a year.
DHS data reports that adults in shelters are staying on average 24 days longer than last year at 11 months; it's 14 months for families with children-- up only three days-- and couples are staying about 19 days longer at 18 months.
These numbers are too high. Every number in this article is too high.
So have some humanity. Someone asking for change on the subway? Don't be judgmental; hand over something if you can. Food is best. Clothes and shoes are great options, too.
And with the holidays coming up, maybe it's better to donate something rather than indulge at winter holiday villages around the City.
Chances are there are people living in the parks those villages are popping up in. So really, what's more important, sporting new scarf or helping someone survive the cold? You decide.
Check out Mayor de Blasio Admits That Homelessness Is a Real Problem in NYC (Finally).
[via The New York Times]