Mayor Eric Adams Vows To Finish NYC Homeless Encampments Within 2 Weeks, Downplays Rift with Council Speaker Over Vax Mandate Exemptions

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced his government aims to evict all unhoused New Yorkers' street encampments within two weeks.

Only a few weeks ago, Adams announced that homeless people will be removed from subways. Although it is unknown what the healthy living conditions would be, an Adams spokesperson stated that the goal is to connect unhoused persons to shelters or other options.

Activists Claim NYC Homeless Encampments Process is Hazardous, Cruel

Homeless individuals cannot be compelled to live in shelters, according to the mayor in an interview. "We can't stop an individual from sleeping on the street based on law, and we're not going to violate that law," he said. "But you can't build a miniature house made out of cardboard on the streets. That's inhumane."

Many activists and homeless people around the country see shelters as hazardous and cruel. At a news conference on Tuesday, Adams reaffirmed his proposal when reporters inquired about the safety issues at shelters. Based on a poll largely considered to be an undercount, city officials projected that there were 1,100 homeless New Yorkers.

Police and sanitation personnel are removing homeless encampments from New York City, just days after Mayor Eric Adams declared the city a "laughingstock" due to rising crime and homelessness. The mayor declared on Sunday that he would approach the problem, as well as crime as if he were a "wartime general."

Warnings that the camps will be removed began to be issued on March 17, as reported by officials. On Monday, workers were observed cleaning encampments beneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, according to the Washington Times.

Mayor Eric Adams Announces Vaccination Exemption for Athletes

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, a homeless advocacy group with a presence in New York, there were over 48,000 unhoused New Yorkers in January 2022, accordance with the NYC Department of Homeless Service. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also recommended government officials to postpone encampment searches due to the risk of COVID-19 spreading, as per Business Insider.

Meanwhile, after Mayor Eric Adams announced a vaccine requirement exemption for New York City-based professional athletes like unvaccinated Nets star Kyrie Irving and performers last week, a pair of Republican city lawmakers demanded Tuesday that Mayor Eric Adams rehire city workers who were fired because of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

Adam's recent modification to the private-sector vaccination mandate, which has been in effect since December 27, allows an exception for athletes but not for municipal personnel like teachers, firefighters, and police officers, according to Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn).

Maurice William, a firefighter discharged on February 22, raged, "The politicians chose to make an elite class of New Yorkers that can earn a living while the rest of us suffer in despair." Sophia Medina, a firefighter, slammed the new vax mandate as "hypocritical."

After the chiefs of the city's two firefighters' unions urged that Adams suspend the COVID-19 requirement for their members on Saturday, the demonstration took place. In recent days, the mayor has stated that he has no intentions to restore municipal workers who were fired for refusing to get immunized against COVID-19. More than 1,400 municipal workers were sacked last month after refusing to be vaccinated.

"It's all good," Adams told reporters earlier Thursday, attempting to minimize his disagreement with the City Council speaker over the COVID-19 vaccination requirement carveout. Last Monday, Queens Councilwoman Adrienne Adams, who is not related to him, slammed his decision to offer an exception to basketball and baseball players but not too regular city employees, New York Post reported.