Homeless Hotspots or the Criminalization of Poverty in New York City

• In Event: Regulation in All the Wrong Places: What In-Situ Research on the Operations of Law, Policing, and Informal Social Control Has to Tell Us About What We’re Doing Wrong and How We Can Do Better

Abstract

New York City, with a population of over eight million, accounts for almost 15 percent of all homeless people in the United States. A total of over 75,000 people are either chronically homeless or are temporary housed in shelters ran by the Homeless Services Department. This real number is unknown, as official statistics do not include adolescents, a high number of victims of domestic violence, and those residing in shelters managed by independent agencies. What are the implications of conceptualizing the congregation of two or more homeless people as a “hotspot”, a term historically used by law enforcement agencies to define situations perceived as potentially criminogenic? How does such framework align with the current phenomenon of criminalization of poverty nationwide? How is this charged definition perceived by those that are directly affected, those unstably housed or spending most of their time in the streets? This paper is based on interview findings from a Rapid Assessment study conducted in five different New York City locations identified by the Mayor’s Office on Criminal Justice as “Homeless Encampments and Hotspots”: East Harlem & Chelsea, Manhattan: Coney Island, Brooklyn; Elmhurst, Queens; and Rose Hill & Fordham Road, the South Bronx, from November 2015 to April 2016. Methodology: data came from five primary data collection methods: 1) participant-observation, 2) cultural expert interviews, 3) focus groups, 4) rapid assessment surveys, and 5) geo-mapping. For the purpose of this study, “homeless encampments” includes the concentration of people who are experiencing any of the issues traditionally linked to homelessness, such as extreme poverty, mental health conditions, and substance abuse or alcoholism, and for whom services are out of reach.

Author

• Yolanda C. Martin, City University of New York / BMCC