Statement from Dave Giffen, Executive Director of Coalition for the Homeless, on findings from the 2026 HOPE Count Report: “The 2026 HOPE Count shows more New Yorkers sleeping on streets and in subways, and that number should alarm every official in this city. It also, almost certainly, understates the crisis. HOPE includes only what canvassers can find during a few overnight hours, meaning variable conditions can drastically affect findings. The survey is typically conducted on one of the coldest nights of the year, but this year’s count happened on an unseasonably warm 60-degree night. That difference makes year-to-year comparisons especially unreliable. Whether this year’s conditions made the count somewhat more accurate or simply shifted where people were found, it underscores that the HOPE Count is a snapshot, not a full measure of unsheltered homelessness. Any conclusions drawn from this year’s count about the scale of unsheltered homelessness should be taken with a grain of salt. The true scale of unsheltered homelessness in New York City is larger and more complex than these numbers capture. But what is clear and indisputable is that the City must do much more to meet the needs of those sleeping on our streets and in the transit system, including increasing the number of low-barrier shelter beds, investing in more mobile mental health care teams, and moving individuals directly into permanent supportive housing. The only way to reduce the number of people sleeping in public spaces is by providing them with the housing and services they want and need. The City must develop more accurate ways to measure this crisis, and it must move urgently on the solutions we know work: deeply affordable housing for people at the lowest income levels, housing vouchers and supportive services that people want and can actually access, and pathways for people to move from streets and subways into permanent homes. These numbers are a floor, not a ceiling. Without action, the count next year will be higher.”
