Ever since Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut the subways nightly for cleaning, and clearing out the homeless, Mayor Bill de Blasio has crowed nonstop about “historic” gains in getting these people to shelters — as if he deserves credit, and even as he dodges the question of how many are coming right back.
Every night, “we’re seeing the same thing: a large number of individuals being engaged, and the majority accepting help,” he gushed Tuesday. The possible “game-changer” might “fundamentally change the future of homelessness in the city for the better.” That followed Monday’s brag about the “historic” and “groundbreaking” program.
Heck, on the first day he was already head-over-heels: “We have never, ever seen so much success in a single night.”
Yet it’s now the second week, and he’s still refusing to discuss how many homeless are heading right back underground the next day. Are his minions even tracking that measure of actual success?
Then, too, de Blasio was denying that the homeless had taken over the subway right up until the gov intervened. (Similarly, it took photographic evidence in The Post back in 2015 for the mayor to acknowledge even the crisis on the streets.)
Indeed, the whole thing highlights his own horrific failure in dealing with the homeless before Cuomo’s order. If forcing them off trains does work to get them vital services (shelters, medical attention, counseling) and away from the riding public, what took so long? De Blasio has been mayor for 6 ¹/₂ years, and the homeless crisis has only mushroomed on his watch.
The idea that forcing the homeless off trains could make a difference is hardly rocket science. But the mayor refused to ever take that step on his own — and still isn’t doing anything in that direction when the subway isn’t closed.
If de Blasio wants points for “fundamentally” fixing the problem, he needs to embrace constant and permanent enforcement, even when 24/7 train service resumes.
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