Homeless New Yorkers sue city, seeking end to 'inhumane' encampment sweeps
NEW YORK (PIX11) -- Six homeless New Yorkers have filed a federal complaint against New York City seeking a permanent injunction to stop what they call "inhumane and illegal sweeps" of homeless encampments.
The Urban Justice Center's Safety Net Project is representing the six plaintiffs in the action against New York City, the NYPD, the City's Sanitation Department, and the city's Department of Homeless Services.
Attorney Natalie Druce tells PIX11 News, "Those agencies are approaching street homeless in public places where they reside, forcibly relocating them and disposing of any remaining property that they can't carry with them."
Helen Strom, the homeless advocacy director for the Urban Justice Center says "Right now, over 4-thousand sweeps are happening every year in our city."
Eduardo Ventura is one of the plaintiffs in the case. Ventura tells PIX11 News he is currently living in a shelter and has been homeless three times in his life.
Ventura says he's lost everything in one of the sweeps on 8th Street and St. Marks, including "all my identification, my work cards, like driver's license." Ventura adds "I'm already struggling trying to find a way out. Then you're putting more pressure on me. So it's not a help."
A city hall spokesperson said in a statement "The city’s homeless encampment outreach and clean-up efforts operate under one defining principle: that there is nothing dignified about being forced to sleep on the streets. Rather than walking past an encampment and doing nothing to help those in need, we treat people experiencing homelessness with dignity, offering to connect them to housing, and health care, and to properly store their valuables while temporary structures not meant to be lived in are removed. Thanks to this administration’s critical investments in outreach staffing and expansion of high-quality, specialized beds, more than 2,000 New Yorkers who were living unsheltered in public places are now in their own permanent homes.”