Data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) shows that the number of homeless people continued to rise last year, with California and New York states having the highest numbers of homeless people. This crisis requires radically new solutions, advocates told FOX News Digital.
“Let's make 2024 the year we come up with new solutions, new ways of thinking, new paradigm shifts. And I believe we can do that,” said Jim, CEO of New York City's Fuller Housing Center. Killoran said. It is a non-profit organization that works to provide shelter to people in need.
Killoran spoke to FOX News Digital about how homelessness is on the rise in New York, and the problem could get even worse for the Empire State as migrants flood the U.S. border and head to northern states. Said it was expensive.
According to annual data published by HUD, New York state will have the second-highest homeless population in 2023, with 103,200 homeless people.
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New York State is the state with the second largest homeless population in 2023, with 103,200 homeless people. (Vivian Muth/Corbis via Getty Images)
The study, called the Point in Time Count Report, records the number of people living on the streets or in shelters on a single night in January 2023. Federal data is only a snapshot of the homeless situation and often provides an incomplete picture: It is difficult to find each homeless person in a city or state.
California has once again taken the top spot as the state with the most homeless people, with 181,399 people, or 28% of the total homeless population in the United States, according to federal data.
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The data found that four states – California, New York, Florida and Washington – account for more than half of the total homeless population in the United States.
New York and California had the highest absolute increases in homeless people in 2023 compared to the previous year, with increases of 29,022 and 9,878 people, respectively.
Four states account for more than half of the homeless population in the United States: California, New York, Florida, and Washington. (Spencer Pratt/Getty Images)
The top two states with the highest increases in homelessness from 2022 to 2023 were New Hampshire and New Mexico, with increases of 52% and 50%, respectively. According to the data, New York and Colorado tied for third place in terms of homelessness growth rate at 39%.
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The data collected in New York City includes immigrants who flooded the city last year and continue to head to the Big Apple, accounting for “more than 30% of New York City's increase in sheltered homelessness.” The research results state. .
Killoran said homelessness in New York has always been a problem, but is now made worse by open border policies, which have resulted in an influx of immigrants who often have no place to live when they arrive in New York. He said he was inviting them.
Migrants wait in long lines overnight hoping to be admitted to a shelter in New York City's East Village neighborhood on December 6, 2023. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)
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“No one should sleep at night if they don't have a decent place to live. I mean, this is a common sense statement. But we've taken in the homeless. Now we only take in people who don't have a place to live. “This is absolutely necessary. It makes no sense,” he said.
More than 157,600 immigrants have arrived in New York City since last spring, many of whom came to the Empire State by bus from southern border states, according to city data. The city has a decades-old “right to shelter” policy that requires the city to provide housing to those who request it. Mayor Eric Adams said this week that the requirement should not apply to the immigration crisis, which he previously said would “destroy New York City.”
Killoran points out several reasons, including that the city is prioritizing the construction of luxury high-rise buildings, that housing prices in the city and surrounding areas are extremely expensive, and that New York City is eliminating studio living. argued that these variables contributed to the increase in homelessness in the state prior to the influx of immigrants. housing.
Now that immigrants are on the streets, Killoran is calling for change and calling on everyone from residents to politicians to start coming up with ideas that can actually improve the state's homelessness problem. He discusses how New York City was able to build COVID-safe restaurants “overnight” during the pandemic, and how the same initiatives and ideas could be taken to build housing for the homeless. I mentioned it.
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He builds small houseboats, builds tiny homes, converts vacant commercial buildings into homes, rebuilds studio homes, converts empty shipping containers into homes, and even builds new towns. He rattled off that the number of homeless people could be reduced by building a new home. street.
People, mostly from West African countries, line up to apply for shelter outside the former St. Brigid's School in New York City on December 7, 2023. (Charlie Tribaleu/AFP via Getty Images)
After hearing news this week that Harvard University President Claudine Gay had resigned over accusations, plagiarism, and her handling of anti-Semitism, Killoran said the Ivy League school has a large endowment of billions of dollars. He added that a small portion of this could be earmarked for housing construction.
“Harvard teaching a course on poverty is like a drug dealer teaching a course on poverty. They could build everyone a house in this country with their donations.” he said. He also took issue with churches that say they “concern” about the issue but turn away homeless people.
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“But the most important thing is to stop immigration,” he said, noting that America is made up of immigrants and wants everyone to be able to build the best life this country has to offer. He said the system was already strained by immigration. Homeless Americans.
He added that the number of older adults living on the streets is also increasing, including in New Rochelle, Westchester County, a suburb of New York City.
The sun rises over the Midtown Manhattan skyline and the Empire State Building in New York City, as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey, on December 12, 2023. (Gary Hershawn/Getty Images)
“There's a significant senior housing crisis in this region. When you go to the local gas station to get coffee, in New Rochelle there's a homeless person sleeping outside the door,” he told Fox News Digital. Ta. “More and more people are struggling with high utility bills, high food costs and high rent costs, creating a perfect storm.”
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According to HUD data, 20 in 10,000 people nationwide There will be a housing shortage in 2023, or about 653,100 people. According to the data, homelessness increased 12% nationwide last year, “the highest number of people reported experiencing homelessness on a single night since reporting began in 2007.”
Killoran said given the surge in immigration and homelessness, 2024 should be the year that policies and plans are implemented to curb the rise, and no idea is too small to propose. .
