The number of homeless New Yorkers sleeping in city shelters grew 27% during the Adams administration, fueled by crowded and unlivable housing conditions and evictions, a report said.
The Coalition for the Homeless found the number of non-migrant residents needing shelter surged by more than 12,000 people between 2022 and 2025. Though the number of people leaving shelter in the city nearly doubled in the same time period, it wasn’t enough to keep pace with how many New Yorkers were entering the system.
“We're just going to continue being like a dog chasing its tail and spending a lot of time and effort on Band-Aid solutions until we really start getting to the bottom of the problem …. there's no place for the lowest income New Yorkers to live,” said Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless.
The report paints a grim picture of the stubbornly high number of New Yorkers living in the city’s shelters. At the same time, the Trump administration's funding cuts threaten to rattle housing programs for formerly chronically homeless New Yorkers and strip food assistance from homeless residents who don’t meet new work requirements. The Trump administration has said the changes are meant to better address the root causes of homelessness and curb waste and fraud.
The report also comes after Mayor Zohran Mamdani's administration announced last month that it will build 200,000 affordable housing units and make it easier for homeless New Yorkers living in shelters to more quickly lease up apartments set aside for them.
Giffen said the plans are a step in the right direction and urged the administration to create additional housing specifically for homeless people. He said Mamdani needs to do more to include homeless New Yorkers in his affordability agenda given there are nearly 100,000 New Yorkers sleeping across the city’s shelter system every night, and more than 200,000 residents estimated living doubled- or tripled-up in apartments.
“That's absolute insanity and a very clear indication that the city has been relying on the shelter system to be the de facto low-income housing for New York City, and there's nobody in our city that thinks that's the correct solution,” he said.
Mamdani administration officials said they planned to reduce the city’s reliance on its sprawling shelter system. They have also said they’re committing to growing the pipeline of apartments set aside for homeless New Yorkers and increasing production in the next two years by 40%, compared to the previous two years.
“The Mamdani administration inherited a record-high shelter census and a severe shortage of affordable housing. As of last month, the administration has helped more than 10,000 New Yorkers move from shelter into subsidized homes and reduced the number of families with children in shelter by nearly 7%,” City Hall spokesperson Sneha Choudhary said.
“But we know much more must be done. Our housing plan will create affordable homes at a scale New York City has not seen in generations while expanding prevention-first services that help people stay housed in the first place. Every New Yorker deserves a safe, stable home, and we are committed to delivering the housing and support necessary to make that a reality.”
City officials added that the shelter census for families with children was beginning to decline for the first time in many years.
When non-migrant homeless numbers began to surge over the last few years, the Adams administration previously pointed to the end of pandemic-era benefits, the resumption of evictions and the ongoing housing crisis that was contributing to the increases
More kids in crowded apartments
About 89,000 school-aged children lived in housing conditions with one or two other families last school year, an increase of 29% from the 2021-22 school year, the report found, citing state data.
Families packed in overcrowded situations can often lead to disputes or unlivable conditions that force them to seek shelter.
Homeless families with children reported discord, overcrowding and unlivable housing conditions as the reason they needed shelter about a quarter of the time. Domestic violence drove about a third of families to homelessness. Evictions were cited as the reason 20% of families became homeless.
Rental assistance down
The city program that pays off rental arrears saw a decrease in approval rates in recent years.
The report found the acceptance rate for the emergency assistance program known as “One Shot Deals” dropped from 35% in 2022 to 26% in 2025. Applications also skyrocketed by 85% in that time period.
City officials say eligibility requirements for the program are determined by the state. They say applicants are evaluated by their future ability to pay rent — a major obstacle for many New York families.
More shelter exits
Among the biggest wins for the Adams administration’s Department of Social Services was that drastically more homeless residents left the shelter system during his tenure — a 82% increase from 2022 to 2025.
The report said most of the shelter departures were due to a city-funded housing voucher known as CityFHEPS and federal Emergency Housing Vouchers. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said funding for those vouchers will run out this year and officials have no plans to replenish it, which could leave thousands at risk of returning to the shelter system.
City officials say they’re working on a plan on matching the more than 5,000 households on federal housing vouchers with alternative housing options.
The Mamdani administration is also continuing a legal battle to fight the expansion of CityFHEPS, arguing it has become too costly.
The report calls on the city to build 12,000 apartments for homeless or extremely low-income residents. City officials said they’re working toward meeting that goal over the next five years.
