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According to new data released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Hess, homelessness is in decline for the third straight year throughout New York City.

The Homeless Outreach Population Estimate or HOPE survey found there are 135 street homeless individuals in Queens – the least of any borough.

The HOPE survey is conducted annually in January to produce an accurate estimate of the total number of unsheltered individuals on the streets and in the subway system.
Mayor Bloomberg praised the decline and said he is proud to have presided over the historic decrease.

“Tackling homelessness in its many forms has been a priority for our Administration – and I’m pleased to announce further progress in our efforts to help people leave the streets for a better life,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The good news, from both humanitarian and quality of life perspectives, is that a quarter fewer New Yorkers live on city streets today than when we started measuring in 2005. We will continue to bring innovation and focused management attention to this
longstanding urban challenge.”

The challenge of tackling homelessness is not an easy one. From the outset, obtaining an accurate count of these individuals can prove extremely difficult.

Bloomberg spoke to this point last week in a radio address.
“I’ve always believed that you can’t manage a problem unless you’ve measured it,” he said. “That’s why last January – for the fourth consecutive year – 1,700 volunteers took to the streets in the dead of night to conduct an estimate of the street homeless population in all five boroughs of our city. By the end of the night, the volunteers had checked hundreds of parks, inspected more than 1,000 subway cars, and covered more than 8,000 miles of streets.”

Through this work the city has tackled the initial problem-then the next hurdle is what to do about it.
To address the issue broadly, the city credits two programs for significantly reducing the numbers of homeless.

Both programs are run by the city. They include the Homeless Encampments Initiative, through which DHS and more than a dozen city and state agencies partnered to clear 70 targeted encampments and “hot spots” throughout the five boroughs, and the NYC Street to Home outreach program—a major overhaul of the City’s approach to outreach efforts citywide.

In addition, the introduction of innovative housing options like Safe Havens and a partnership with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority positively impacted this year’s results.

New York City has an estimated 3,306 unsheltered individuals according to HOPE 2008 – a ratio of one unsheltered homeless individual to 2,485.

There were an estimated 1,263 unsheltered individuals in Manhattan, 279 in the Bronx; 336 in Brooklyn, 135 in Queens and 152 in Staten Island for a total of 2,165 on the surface (meaning streets and parks). There were 1,141 unsheltered individuals in the subways. Additionally, the Single Adult Shelter Census showed a decline by 19 percent from 8,687 in 2005 to 6,998 in 2008.

HOPE volunteers –this year 1,700 strong – walked a total of 8,291 miles and surveyed more than 1,000 subway cars. The HOPE survey is nationally recognized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as the national standard for this type of homeless count.