Christmas in New York

I was in New York City during the Winter Holidays, taking some time off in Manhattan. The nights and days were blistering cold, and a couple of nights it snowed. But for those of us vacationing, or those who work and live, in Gotham City, we simply bundled ourselves up in layers of warm clothing, scarves, and even hats. The cold weather was not going to stop us from visiting the museums, restaurants, and theaters around town.

Like most cities I visit, I’m always aware of the extent of a municipality’s homeless problem. My time in New York was no different. However, my expectations were shockingly wrong. I thought I would see all those homeless people wandering New York’s streets and subways—images I’ve seen in old movies.

The reality is… during my weeklong stay in New York City, I saw only two people who were obviously homeless walking on the streets. How could this be? A city with tens of thousands of people who are homeless… how could there only be a couple walking the streets?

Perhaps the city’s landmark ordinance—if you’re homeless you have the right to a homeless shelter bed—is working? It makes sense. If people are forced to live out on the frozen streets of New York, in the dead of winter, they will certainly end up dead themselves. You can’t sleep on frozen streets without becoming frozen yourself. Homelessness truly becomes a crisis.

So here in Los Angeles, clearly people sleeping on our streets are not going to freeze death—even in the dead of Southern California’s winters. But couldn’t we, also, pass such an ordinance—to give a person who is homeless the right to a shelter bed? Sure, a person who is homeless will not freeze to death. But there are plenty of other life-threatening hazards that could harm our homeless population. Why not call homelessness in sunny Southern California a life-threatening crisis?

Clearly, we would never allow our children or family members to sleep on the dangerous streets of Los Angeles. It’s just too scary.

So why not protect all people from resorting to living on our streets?

It sure makes sense to me…