Homelessness, Up in 2017, Doesn’t Take a Break for Christmas

Every year around Christmas, a section of Union Square Park in New York City is blocked off for a holiday market of winding aisles lined with sales booths. Right across 14th Street, outside trendy stores, people huddled under blankets are asking for change from passersby on their way to buy knickknacks and stocking stuffers.

Income inequality is stark throughout the United States. New York City is among the places where it’s particularly acute, especially around Christmastime — a season of paradoxical compassion and materialism.