# What happened to NYC's homeless population? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 13, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303 "2006-07-13T06:08:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/1 "2006-07-13T06:08:24Z")
Ask anyone in New York City what happened with all the homeless people after Giuliani took office, and no one can give you a straight answer. No one seems to know. There used to be a ton there at one time, but now they have suddenly vanished. Does anyone know for sure? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/2 "2006-07-13T07:08:44Z")
I’m not certain of the factual answer, but I’ve _heard_ that what happened was that Guiliani started tough crackdowns on “vagrancy” in the nicer areas of New York, arresting homeless people who were staying in those areas. The homeless people migrated to areas where enforcement was not a priority (a.k.a the poor neighborhoods) and became more adept at hiding. ---
**Author:** ![Feces\_Of\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8797f3/32.png) [@Feces\_Of\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feces_Of_Death)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/3 "2006-07-13T09:25:08Z")
Soylent Green. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/4 "2006-07-13T13:03:30Z")
> [@Feces Of Death](#): > > Soylent Green. Are you telling me then that Soylent Green is \*\*\*PEOPLE?!?[/\*B] ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/5 "2006-07-13T13:10:21Z")
> [@Feces Of Death](#): > > Soylent Green. Wrong. Did you ever wonder what the hot dogs sold at New York Yankees games were made from? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/6 "2006-07-13T14:10:48Z")
1. They were used as planted corpses to make the 9/11 conspiracies more believable. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/7 "2006-07-13T14:15:24Z")
Maybe they just all got homes. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/8 "2006-07-13T14:18:05Z")
[WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HOMELESS?](http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/012/367mfzod.asp) This part was interesting > [@](#): > > One factor now motivating local officials is a realization of how much the homeless are costing them. “In San Diego, researchers tracked a population of 20 homeless people for almost two years, measuring what they absorbed in free medical care, ambulance services, emergency-room hospital visits, and law enforcement,” says Mangano. "They were astonished to discover that every individual was costing the city an average of $200,000 per year. For that kind of money, the city could have bought them each a penthouse apartment. The most dismaying thing was that in the end the people were right back where they started ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/9 "2006-07-13T15:00:21Z")
Hell, at $200,000 each, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if my city rounded them up and dumped them in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Or bought them a one-way plane ticket to somewhere else. We certainly don’t need them around. That’s ludicrous- $200,000 per person? They should stop leeching like that- regardless if they’re mentally ill, down on their luck, or whatever, spending $200,000 per homeless person and getting no return on that investment is mind boggling. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/10 "2006-07-13T15:11:59Z")
> [@Cagey Drifter](#): > > Ask anyone in New York City . . . There used to be a ton there at one time, but now they have suddenly vanished. There are still a “ton” of them out there. I see them every day. Who says they “vanished?” ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/11 "2006-07-13T15:12:39Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Hell, at $200,000 each, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if my city rounded them up and dumped them in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Or bought them a one-way plane ticket to somewhere else. We certainly don’t need them around. > > That’s ludicrous- $200,000 per person? They should stop leeching like that- regardless if they’re mentally ill, down on their luck, or whatever, spending $200,000 per homeless person and getting no return on that investment is mind boggling. Inhumane, much? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![PBear42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PBear42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PBear42)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/12 "2006-07-13T15:27:58Z")
What **Bosda** said. Also, it ain’t the homeless’ fault we insist on addressing the problem in a disjointed, cost-inefficient way. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/13 "2006-07-13T15:32:11Z")
What **Eve** said (and **Bosda** ). Homeless people are easy to find in New York, and it’s not like you have to look for them. A lot of them are sleeping outdoors now that the weather is warmer. I remember Rudy’s proposed crackdown being unpopular, and I don’t know if it lasted long enough to get any results. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/14 "2006-07-13T16:26:49Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Hell, at $200,000 each, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if my city rounded them up and dumped them in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Or bought them a one-way plane ticket to somewhere else. We certainly don’t need them around. > > That’s ludicrous- $200,000 per person? They should stop leeching like that- regardless if they’re mentally ill, down on their luck, or whatever, spending $200,000 per homeless person and getting no return on that investment is mind boggling. Wow. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/15 "2006-07-13T17:14:48Z")
New York Magazine ran a feature about two years ago. Apparently some of the homeless are relocating to Boston: [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/urban/features/10608/index.html](http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/urban/features/10608/index.html) While this article profiles a small group of individuals, it was presented as part of a larger series (if memory serves) that looked at the larger trend of NYC homeless living the city in light of the vagrancy crackdowns. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/16 "2006-07-13T18:51:45Z")
This may be a “radical” solution. Set them to work doing jobs other refuse. Keeping the city clean. Tending plants in parks and park ways. Doing the jobs that others refuse to do because of being on the dole. In other words: No tickee, no washee! ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/17 "2006-07-13T19:02:40Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Hell, at $200,000 each, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if my city rounded them up and dumped them in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Or bought them a one-way plane ticket to somewhere else. We certainly don’t need them around. Honolulu did exactly that while I lived there. If you were homeless in Honolulu and had a place to go on the mainland, the state would buy you a one-way ticket there. There were a LOT of homeless people in Honolulu - there was actually a “tent city” in one of the parks. I don’t know how many took them up on the ticket offer. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/18 "2006-07-13T19:31:43Z")
Don’t they all live underground in old Subway tunnells with a vast complex secret society? And don’t they hold elaborate rituals and have a very complicated caste system with kings and armies and priests? and trained alligators? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/19 "2006-07-13T20:03:58Z")
I was going to respond with some flip answer about the potential but not proven mole people, and then I stumbled over this picture of the kind of [atrocity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NYC_Subway.jpg) I was shocked to see with my own eyes the other week, and I couldn’t go on. Weep with me over Our Fair City and what it has come to. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303/20 "2006-07-13T20:05:25Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Hell, at $200,000 each, I wouldn’t have a problem with it, if my city rounded them up and dumped them in the wilderness to fend for themselves. Or bought them a one-way plane ticket to somewhere else. We certainly don’t need them around. > > That’s ludicrous- $200,000 per person? They should stop leeching like that- regardless if they’re mentally ill, down on their luck, or whatever, spending $200,000 per homeless person and getting no return on that investment is mind boggling. Are you a native Texan? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-nycs-homeless-population/364303.md?page=2)