City Ads To Discourage Giving Money to Homeless

The city is launching an advertising campaign discouraging New Yorkers from giving money, food, and clothing to homeless people and asking well-wishers to call 311 for help instead.

"Giving money to a panhandler may seem like you're being compassionate," Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday at City Hall. "But you're really not helping that person long-term, and just keeping that person going in a life that is probably going to continue to spiral out of control."

Mr. Bloomberg announced a 12% reduction in the city's homeless population between January 2007 and January 2008, to an estimated 3,306 unsheltered individuals, the third straight year the indicator has declined. He said homelessness decreased 30% in the city's subways during that time.

The mayor said he credited new shelter programs from the Department of Homeless Services and cooperation from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority with bringing the numbers down, but he said New Yorkers could do more by halting donations to the homeless, which he said are counterproductive and prevent people from seeking help.

Mr. Bloomberg said that, though well-intentioned, such acts of charity are "just prolonging a lifestyle that is not healthy."

"We've also tried to work with churches who think it's acceptable to have people sleeping on the steps of their church," the mayor said. "I can't think of any way to keep somebody from ever getting their life back in order as good as that."

The city's homeless numbers drew criticism yesterday from an advocacy group, Coalition for the Homeless, which released a study in January claiming that the decrease in homelessness was fueled by an increase in illegal boarding houses, which they say are unsafe. "Now, more than ever, we are concerned about where homeless individuals are ending up after they leave the subways and the streets," a senior policy analyst for the group, Patrick Markee, said yesterday.

The city's advertisements, which feature black-and-white pictures of homeless people, will be featured in subway cars and stations throughout the city. "Give the homeless the kind of change they can really use," one ad reads.