Survey comes amid surge of homeless-related calls to 311 in community

The makeshift camp on a hilltop on East Mosholu Parkway North stood empty, and the circumstantial evidence of occupancy was clear: pillows, cookware, and empty gallons of water.

Residents say it’s an encampment for the homeless, a retreat for the night.

And should anyone be camped there at the predawn hours of Feb. 6, they will be among those counted by the New York City Department of Homeless Services (DHS). The agency, still attempting to find homes for the 62,000 homeless individuals, will once again conduct its annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE). It’s a federal mandate for DHS, which qualifies them for federal funds needed to reduce homelessness. DHS is now actively recruiting some 3,000 volunteers to take part in the one-night count.

This nighttime count, largely different from DHS’s own nightly count, attempts to get a snapshot on the state of street homelessness in the city. It also comes at a time of increased homeless-related complaints to 311 by those living within the communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Kingsbridge Heights, Fordham, and University Heights.

For Norwood residents, the signs of a burgeoning homeless population are not solid. Defining the homeless can be a tough call to make, a reason why DHS conducts the count between midnight and 4 a.m., the time most homeless settle in for the night. To be among those counted involves folks who are simply out in the street and not taking shelter in a subway, for instance.

Across the Jerome-Gun Hill Business Improvement District, a commercial strip including Jerome Avenue in Norwood, shop employees who spoke to the Norwood News found that even those found to be sleeping on benches, may very well just be there for the day and go home to a supportive housing site.

“There’s a distinction between homeless that live out on the street or homeless, but in a shelter,” Sabrina Diaz, an employee of Gig Pharmacy on Jerome Avenue, said. “I know a few people in shelters, but I think the population of shelters are decreasing because there used to be lines to go into them.”

Jose Paulino, who works at Wine & Liquor on Jerome Avenue, has spotted plenty of panhandlers throughout the commercial strip, but he notes there’s “no way to tell.” “They’re still always asking for money outside so they could be really homeless or just getting the money,” Paulino said.

Though the verdict is still out, the number of 311 calls made for homeless-related matters has significantly increased. While 2014 and 2015 saw 10 and 17 311 complaints respectively, there were 108 complaints filed in 2016. Most of the 2014 calls were related to the DHS Advantage Program, a defunct state-funded program where New Yorkers on the edge of becoming homeless would have a portion of their rent paid by the city so long as they were employed.

It’s unclear the nature of 311 calls made for homeless-related matters, though several locations where the bulk of the calls were made came from an adult day care center and Burlington Coat Factor, both on Webster Avenue. Some 25 percent of the complaints were identified as occurring near a park or playground. 

Getting Ready to Count
Mariela Salazar, former chief of staff to Bronx Councilwoman Annabel Palma and now works at Montefiore Medical Center, took part in the count in 2015.

She was equipped with a map of the district she volunteered to count in, assigned a group, and escorted by a police officer who had an idea of where the homeless sleep for the night.

“If you see a homeless person, you can speak to them and then you try to connect the services so that if you do see a homeless person, there’s a van that can pick them up and take them to a shelter if they want to go,” Salazar said.

Making contact can pose challenges. In one interaction, Salazar remembered speaking to an individual who appeared to be homeless but was too intoxicated to say one way or the other. “It was a little difficult to actually get clear answers from him,” Salazar said. By the time DHS personnel arrived, the purported homeless person had left.”

Last year’s count showed a 12 percent decline in the number of street homeless when compared to the year before. For the Bronx, there was a 38 percent drop in the number of street homeless when compared to the year before, figures largely disputed by homeless advocates who’ve questioned the timing and method of the count.

“Nobody who has spent more than 30 seconds walking through the city would believe that street homelessness has declined in the past year – let alone by double digits. It simply defies credibility,” President & CEO Mary Brosnahan for Coalition for the Homeless, said, arguing that a one-night count does little to get a clear picture. 

Results of the count will take several months to be released.

Additional reporting by Daniela Beasley.