January 24, 2023 NEW YORK, January 24, 2023 — The following statement is in response to the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) Survey results and can be attributed to David Giffen, Executive Director for the Coalition for the Homeless. “As we have said time and time again, the HOPE Survey has serious methodological flaws and has no real value as a tool to help understand the scope of New York City’s homelessness crisis. While it allows the City to check the box that has fulfilled the Federal requirement to conduct the survey, this is just Groundhog Day for meaningless stats. What we do know is that far too many New Yorkers must resort to sleeping on the streets and in transit facilities because they do not have access to better options. If Mayor Adams truly wants to help homeless New Yorkers, he would create more affordable housing, work with the Governor to expand access to voluntary psychiatric care, and offer greater access to safe shelters with private rooms in order to tackle this crisis head on.”
