The half dozen homeless people who sleep on park benches along Jerome Avenue, near East Gun Hill Road say they were unaware about the city’s new homeless outreach program, acknowledged by officials nearly three-weeks after the program quietly began.

The city has so far identified 80 homeless encampments across the five boroughs and has begun to dismantle them, as trained professionals from nine city agencies attempt to assist some of the homeless. The City of New York estimates that 60,000 individuals are currently homeless, and the new program began on August 17, seeking to reduce that number.

Jerome Avenue was not identified as an encampment because the closely-knit group has built no structures, and those who sleep there do so in the daytime, when families gather inside of Van Cortlandt Park, when they feel safest.

They  speak of sleeping in the daytime  in order to stay awake at night, so they can protect themselves and each other from attack or theft of the few belongings they still have.

Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said of the current situation, “The laws have changed in the last 20 years, when I was here the last time (and) the tools I had to work with,” adding that panhandling is no longer a crime.

The NYPD’s Chief of Patrol, Carlos Gomez, explained that when a unit goes to dismantle an encampment, members of the NYPD, EMS, Homeless Services, Sanitation, Parks, Transportation, Housing, Environmental Protection and the city’s Legal Department will also be on hand to provide whatever assistance they can.

Gomez added, “Offering outreach and services is the main thrust, the main goal of this plan.”

City officials also revealed that since the program was implemented, 161 homeless people were taken off the streets and offered shelter services. However, only 10 individuals took the city up on its offer and the rest apparently headed back into the streets.

“Mohammad” a homeless man who has called the park bench on Jerome Avenue for the last three-months, recalled trying a city shelter, saying, “I tried the shelter on Third Avenue, but it wasn’t safe. And I feel like Norwood has become my home.”