De Blasio claims ‘historic’ gains in getting NYC’s homeless off subways

Mayor Bill de Blasio claimed Monday that officials were making “historic” gains in getting homeless people off the subways amid the coronavirus crisis — even though it’s unclear how many are simply hopping right back on the rails.

De Blasio said the unprecedented, daily shutdown of the subway system for early morning cleaning had lead to record numbers of homeless riders bedding down in city shelters instead.

“I keep telling you something historic is happening and day after day. The facts bear it out,” the mayor said during his daily coronavirus briefing at City Hall.

“Six days now, and six days that have been entirely consistent. Something really groundbreaking is happening here, something really different and very powerful.”

De Blasio said 261 homeless people were “engaged” by cops and outreach workers during Monday’s 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. shutdown, with 116 agreeing to relocate to city shelters.

Another 23 were taken to hospitals, he said.

Those figures brought the total number of homeless subway riders who’ve accepted assistance since Wednesday to nearly 1,050.

But Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks wouldn’t say what portion comprised riders who were repeatedly heading to shelters when they got kicked off the trains.

“We’re looking at the trends,” Banks said.

“We certainly see some people that are staying in [shelters] and some people that are not staying in.”

Banks said officials wanted to “focus” on those who “came in for a night or two and left…in addition to the other half who are not accepting our services.”

Banks said that before the subway shutdown ordered by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a “good night” for HRA involved 5% of homeless people accepting assistance.

Jacquelyn Simone, a policy analyst for the non-profit Coalition for the Homeless, questioned the city’s numbers, saying that “some really powerful monitoring at the 30th Street men’s shelter” in Manhattan revealed that some subway riders didn’t realize they’d be brought there.

“So, some people did not even walk in the door of those facilities once they realized how many people were there and what the risk of contracting COVID might be,” she said.

Josh Dean of Human.NYC, another advocacy group, also said that many homeless people were “moving further into the shadows to avoid the cruelty they are experiencing” by getting kicked off the subways.

“The mayor loves to talk about trust between outreach and homeless New Yorkers, but his actions right now are destroying that trust, perhaps irreparably,” he said.

Officials estimate that 3,500 to 4,000 homeless people live on the city’s streets.

Also Monday, de Blasio said that more than 8,000 single, homeless adults were now living in hotel rooms under a plan to move 1,000 people a week “out of shelters into hotel settings.”

“We met that goal last week. We will be meeting it this week,” he said.

De Blasio didn’t detail the cost but said, “We’ll keep doing that, as needed, in the weeks ahead.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized reimbursement for the initiative in late March, Politico reported last week.

An HRA spokesman declined to say how much was being spent or which hotels were involved, but noted that occupancy guidelines included “two to a room.”