State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released a report on Mar. 11 examining New York City’s efforts to address the growing number of people living without shelter. The report calls for the city to use its collected data to better explain which outreach, placement, and service strategies are most effective at moving individuals into permanent housing.
The issue is significant as funding for street homeless programs is projected to remain flat after Fiscal Year 2026, making efficient use of resources increasingly important. DiNapoli said, “The number of people living on the street in New York City has continued to grow, even as the city has been effective at providing shelter for the majority of the homeless population.” He added, “The escalation in spending driven by the increase in the unsheltered population, however, merits greater focus on where resources are going and what services are working. Street homelessness is a chronic problem that requires collaborative efforts to help bring vulnerable New Yorkers into shelter and out of the cold.”
New York City is unique among U.S. cities because it is legally required to provide emergency shelter to anyone who requests it. The city currently shelters about 97% of its homeless population—approximately 140,000 individuals—a figure that has grown by 78% since 2019 and nearly doubles Los Angeles’ homeless count. Despite this achievement, street homelessness increased from 3,588 in FY 2019 to 4,504 in FY 2025.
Spending on outreach and related services overseen by the Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Street Homeless Solutions division has more than tripled since FY 2019 and is expected to reach $456 million in FY 2026 before declining slightly by FY 2029. The city has introduced “low-barrier” options such as Safe Haven beds and drop-in centers with showers intended as transitional steps toward stable housing.
Tracking progress remains challenging due to limitations in available data. While placements into permanent or transitional housing have increased significantly—from just over two thousand in FY 2017 to nearly eleven thousand in FY 2025—the public data does not distinguish between types of placements or track long-term outcomes after placement. The report recommends more detailed reporting on these outcomes and urges DHS and city officials to improve transparency regarding pre-2022 numbers for better long-term analysis.
Looking ahead, DiNapoli’s report suggests that improved data collection and reporting could help identify which interventions are most successful at reducing street homelessness and inform future policy decisions.