The leftist utopia of New York City (NYC) is reportedly spending almost $100,000 annually per homeless person, though according to leftist Mayor Zohran Mamdani, even this isn’t enough.
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli just released a report revealing that the city’s homelessness spending has skyrocketed from $28,000 annually per homeless person six years ago to $81,700 annually per homeless person last year, according to the New York Post.
This is virtually the same amount as the city’s median household income as of the 2024 Census. In addition, whereas the city spent only $102 million on homeless services in 2019, it spent $368 million total on said services last year.
New York City is now spending more per homeless person—$81,700—than the median income.
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) March 19, 2026
The city’s total number of homeless people has also increased over the past six years, spiking to 4,505 in 2025 versus 3,588 in 2019.
Despite these numbers, Mamdani intends to spend more. Indeed, City Hall has reportedly projected that spending per homeless person will rise to a whopping $97,000 this year.
Making matters worse, according to the Post’s editorial board, these numbers don’t even include the $500 million a year that’s already being spent on “supportive housing, mental health co-response teams, the NYPD’s homeless-clearing work, or other outlays for this population.”
The board has also alleged that even the direct spending on homeless people isn’t really going to them.
“It’s certain that almost none of the $81,000 actually benefits these street people: Outreach workers get paid to count the ‘unsheltered’ and to try coaxing them into shelter or arranging some kind of housing they’ll accept,” the board wrote in an op-ed published earlier in the week.
“This is just one particularly damning example of how New York’s nonprofit-industrial complex has morphed the city’s multibillion-dollar outlays in the name of fighting homelessness into a jobs program that simply pretends to manage it,” they added.
Meanwhile, in the fellow leftist utopia state of California, a reporter named Alastair Boone has discovered that barely anyone has actually been helped by the state’s expensive Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF), designed to transition the homeless into permanent housing.
Thrilled to report that the City has secured more state funding to address homelessness.
We are receiving $3.2 million to get people out of encampments along I-15 and into housing.
The funding is part of the state’s more than $81 million in Encampment Resolution Fund grants. https://t.co/sWfRo2N9nX pic.twitter.com/GXlXNqH2c8
— San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria (@MayorToddGloria) September 14, 2023
“The folks who work in the state on the ERF program will say that it’s a difficult population to reach,” Boone told Jefferson Public Radio. “When you look at the numbers of how many people have been reached by the Encampment Resolution Fund, a little bit less than 10% of those people have actually made the transition from unsheltered homelessness into stable, permanent housing.”
What’s stopping more from making the transition? Namely, roadblocks like not enough housing.
“It’s supposed to transition you into permanent housing, and there just aren’t enough permanent housing units for you to move into,” Boone explained. “That includes both permanent supportive housing programs that are subsidized and just affordable housing on the private rental market.”
Turnover and burnout also play a role.
“Often, those jobs are underpaid and don’t have stable funding,” Boone said.
“So the ERF grant might give your county funding for a year or two years of opening up one of these programs, but then the funding runs out,” Boone added. “In the meantime, it’s a hard job, and the research shows that a lot of people just burn out and leave.”
There’s also the issue of teaching the homeless how to properly live in and take care of a home.
“It’s learning how to live in housing,” SoHum Housing Opportunities president Patte Rae said. “They’ve been used to being in a camp, and so that’s a challenge as far as preparing them because they have a tendency to hoard. They have a tendency not to clean up trash, so we’re working with them.”
“It’s been hard for them, even with them reading the lease, understanding the limitations, talking them through it,” consultant and grant writer Jimmy Durchslag added. “It’s still been difficult for them to break some of the habits.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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