NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A team of police, sanitation workers and social workers moved to dismantle a homeless encampment in the East Village for the second time in a week, after residents and local activists rebuilt it as an act of civil disobedience.
Police arrested seven people during the sweep near Tompkins Square Park at 9th Street and Avenue B, and sanitation workers again destroyed the belongings of the people living there.
Mayor Eric Adams has led a sweep campaign over the course of the last month that has dismantled 318 homeless encampments in New York City, an NYPD representative said at a press conference on Wednesday. Police said 10 more sites were slated to be swept that day.
“With today’s raid in the East Village, Mayor Adams made a cruel example of a handful of New Yorkers in need,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “His agencies removed and destroyed people’s personal belongings, leaving them more vulnerable. To drive home its point, the administration deployed the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, an abusive unit designed for counter-terrorism. The Mayor’s attempt to police away homelessness and sweep individuals out of sight is a page from the failed Giuliani playbook. With no real plan for housing, services, or support, the administration is choosing handcuffs.”
“The mayor has been clear from the beginning that every New Yorker deserves dignity, and there is no dignity in living on the street. We have been engaged at this site for weeks, and our teams then and today were respectful and made repeated offers of shelter and wraparound services to provide these individuals with clean, safe places to sleep tonight," said a spokesperson for Adams. "We will not be dissuaded from offering those on the streets the support they deserve, while ensuring that our public spaces remain clean for all New Yorkers.”
Activists who see the sweeps as cruel and unhelpful have rallied around this specific encampment after police destroyed the belongings of the people living there on March 31 without issuing the requisite 24-hour notice.
This time, 24-hour notice was given, though belongings were still destroyed, according to City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who represents the district the camp is in and witnessed the most recent sweep.
Rivera said she tried to speak to police and sanitation workers to de-escalate the sweep and prevent the destruction of property. She got the impression that city agencies were carrying out orders from higher up, so she also tried to call the mayor’s office in an attempt to reign in the destruction.
She was redirected to the mayor’s Community Affairs Unit who refused to call off the sweep.
The team destroyed tents, a chair, a suitcase full of clothing and trash bags filled with other belongings, according to Rivera.
Seven people were arrested, according to ABC 7. Rivera’s office identified one of the arrestees as Johnny Grima, a resident of the encampment. The other people who were arrested were activists who tried to prevent the sweep.
Adams says the program is designed to get homeless New Yorkers off the streets and into the shelter system, but as of last week, only five people had accepted services during sweeps.
He has emphasized policies like 24-hour advance notice and refraining from destroying belongings as humane elements of his homeless clearance program, though destruction of property is common during sweeps and police are allowed to dismantle encampments without notice if they decide enough of the sidewalk is being obstructed which is what happened on March 31.
Grima said he’s had bad experiences in the shelter system, which is why he prefers to stay on the street.
“Homeless shelters and safe havens are abusive environments. The staff belittle people. They can curse people out. They can threaten people, and they cover for each other. When a homeless person tries to report shelter abuse they are silenced,” he said. “Staff hold all the power.”
Jose Hernandez, 71, also lives in the encampment and decided to leave the shelter system after he was robbed twice.
Rivera believes current sweep tactics further destroy trust between the Department of Homeless Services and homeless New Yorkers.
“This is not public safety,” she said. “What we saw today certainly wouldn’t restore trust for the people who are on the street, who were reluctant and did not want to enter the shelter system.”
Rivera agrees with Grima and other activists who have become involved in the standoff over the camp that permanent, stable and affordable housing is a better solution to the housing crisis in New York City.
She says she’ll continue to fight for “housing with dignity” while negotiating the mayor’s proposed budget for 2023.
“We need to put forward a plan that doesn’t slash affordable housing and supportive housing the way that it seems the mayor’s budget is doing,” said Rivera. “I will be focusing on negotiating a budget with the mayor’s office that does fund the creation and preservation of permanent affordable and supportive housing as well as legislation to remove any barriers or challenges in achieving this.”
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