16 die on the streets of NYC as Mamdani refuses to clear homeless encampments during cold snap

Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has ended homeless sweeps in New York City, even as the death toll of those who have died in the streets amid a severe stretch of cold weather has risen to 16. The mayor has said that he will only force those who are homeless off the streets as a "last resort."

Mamdani confirmed on Monday that 16 people have died on the streets of New York City, stating further that 13 of them died from hypothermia, and three died from overdoses. This comes as there has been a cold front sweeping across New York as well as other parts of the East Coast. “Each of these lives lost is a tragedy,” Mamdani said.

“My heart was with the families of those mourning their loved ones. We are continuing to do everything in our power to get every New Yorker into a shelter where they will be warm. The cold is showing no signs of stopping, so neither will the city’s efforts," he added.

At least 10 of the 16 people who were found dead in the streets of New York had at one point been in the New York City homeless shelter system, city officials said. None of those who passed away were publicly identified.

10 people were found dead between January 24 and 27, and their ages ranged from 40s to 90s, according to the New York Post. Little information is available regarding the 11th fatality, and five other bodies were discovered in Manhattan and Brooklyn between January 29 and Feb 1. Their ages were not immediately known.

At the same time, Mamdani has refused to force the homeless population off the street, and a nonprofit has been distributing blankets with the phrase “courtesy of Mayor Mamdani” on them, per former NYC Councilman Robert Holden.

“Instead of using the tools available to get people who are clearly mentally incapable of surviving on the streets into care during freezing weather, a nonprofit is handing out blankets with Mamdani’s name on them, as a form of protest. No gloves. No hats. No real intervention. Just a blanket and Mamdani parading around in cute embroidered jackets with his name stitched on during propaganda pressers. Think about that. He’s effectively telling people: you can stay on the street and die. That’s not compassion,” Holden said of the stunt with the blankets.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who also endorsed Mamdani for mayor ahead of his inauguration, slammed the leader for not forcing the homeless to go indoors during the winter storm.

“You can’t let the people stay out there. These are people in crisis,” he said over the weekend. Mamdani called the prior policy of clearing encampments a “failure.”

“It does not appear there’s any relationship between encampments and what we’ve seen with these 16 New Yorkers,” Mamdani said. “We’ve said that it’s a failure because it having only connected three New Yorkers with permanent housing over the course of 365 days.”

Since January, complaints for homeless encampments have jumped by almost 60 percent in the Big Apple, per the Post.