Explaining NYC’s Record Homelessness In One Disastrous Chart

By any measure, New York City’s homelessness crisis broke every record during the final year of the Bloomberg administration. The already record-high homeless shelter population soared even higher, to more than 50,000 people per night. There are, of course, numerous reasons for this disastrous situation but we suspect the following chart, from the coalition of the homeless, may just be enough to wake up the average American to the reality of this ‘recovery’.

Over the past year, the average monthly number of homeless people sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system increased by 7 percent, from 50,135 people in January 2013 to 53,615 people in January 2014 – the highest level ever recorded.

The following are the tragic benchmarks of the past year in New York City:

The average number of homeless children living in municipal shelters increased by 8 percent over the prior year, reaching an all-time-high 22,712 children in January 2014.
The average number of homeless families in shelters increased by 6 percent over the past year, reaching a record-high 12,724 families in January 2014.
The average number of homeless single adults sleeping each night in the New York City shelter system rose five percent to 11,342 women and men in January 2014, a new record.
Average shelter stays for homeless families with children rose by two months (60 days), or 16 percent, during the past year. The average shelter stay for homeless families with kids reached a record-high 14.5 months (435 days) in January 2014.
The average shelter stay for homeless families without children rose to more than 17 months (518 days), the longest ever recorded. Average shelter stays for childless families in emergency shelter rose by more than a month (34 days), or 7 percent, during the past year.
The number of newly homeless families entering the shelter system, 13,465 families in FY 2013, was 12 percent higher than the previous City fiscal year.
More New Yorkers sought emergency shelter: A remarkable 111,210 different men, women and children slept in the shelter system during FY 2013, a five percent increase over the previous City fiscal year.
More children slept in NYC’s municipal shelter system: During FY 2013, City data show 40,189 different girls and boys lived in homeless shelters, a 7 percent increase from the previous City fiscal year.

And this is among the most critical reason why…