Friday, February 18, 2022

Homeless Encampment At The Roosevelt Island Subway Station - Residents Ask What Can Be Done?

A Roosevelt Island resident reported this morning:

What is the appropriate action to take for people who are living in the Roosevelt Island Subway station? There were people camped out on both platforms. I was surprised to see an entire set up with a mattress at the platform today. They were sleeping and didn’t bother anyone. However we had a very erratic person screaming and shouting on the platform frightening all the school children this morning. There was no public safety in sight. How do we get more regular monitoring at our station?

Read some of the comments to Roosevelt Islander Instagram post for more thoughts on Roosevelt Island homeless issue. 

  • I counted no less than ten TEN!!! this morning. The subway has sadly become a mobile homeless shelter. Besides the fact that these individuals are taking up space in the cars during prime rush hours (yes they are full during certain hours) there is the public health aspect. One individual was laid out on bench soaked in urine. Unhealthy. The Mayor announced a lot of plans but we see no execution.
  • Unlike the NYC shelter system, people find this relatively clean and safe. It’s really sad when this is your best option in a city with a budget surplus of almost one billion dollars. NYC desperately needs much more supportive, low-income housing.
  • this is not a MTA or NYPD issue. This is a Humanitarian issue not being addressed. These are human beings displaced by the rising cost of living in NYC. We need real solutions that don’t stigmatize the homeless.  

The issue of homeless people in and around the Roosevelt Island subway station was discussed during the February 15 Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Public Safety Committee meeting with Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) Public Safety Department Chief Kevin Brown. According to Chief Brown:

 ... there were a few homeless in the subway system. We got a few complaints of some of the homeless harassing residents in the subway system which we are working with NYPD and they have promised they're going to step up their patrols in in the subway.  We have received a number of complaints and we are actively addressing it. We have our patrols. We don't patrol inside the station. That's the MTA and NYPD, but outside the station we do patrol outside of the station ... 

RIOC PSD Deputy Chief Anthony Amoroso said:

... I was speaking to a couple of the transit officers down in the subway within the last week about the homeless sleeping down there. They are one thousand percent about allowing them to keep warm type of shelter and as long as they're not harassing anybody down there they're all for really trying to accommodate them to the best of their ability and not throw them into the cold.

Most of them do not want homeless services. They don't want to go to the hospital. You want to be very compassionate.  If they're not committing any crimes,  allowing them to keep warm and allowing them to to have bathroom facilities. It's something that they're all for.  I did have a conversation with a couple of the transit officers down there and if they're not committing any crimes they really do not want to push them away and put them in a worse condition...

 Here's the RIRA Public Safety Committee meeting discussion of the Roosevelt Island homeless issue.

  

A Roosevelt Island parent shares these concerns:

It has been relayed to me that the Roosevelt Island Subway Station does not have enough cameras for PSD/NYPD to monitor what is going on. Beyond the homeless situation this is extremely concerning given the number of threats that MTA gets. I think we as a community need to demand this is fixed asap because if anything does happen on the platform we need to know there will be a record of it.

People living in the Roosevelt Island Station: As you reported on your Instagram we have people who have taken up living in the station. Although I personally have not seen them do anything harmful I think it causes 2 issues:

a. It encourages more people to come to this station which could lead to a larger issue. As another parent reported her children have been subjected to seeing them urinate on the tracks in the morning on the way to school. 

b. There are so many random bags and belongings lying around that it is hard to tell if something is a random item that has been left at the station that we should report or not. As someone who is accutely aware of subway threats this stuff lying around is triggering. 

The person who was acting extremely erratic this morning at 7am was apparently taken away by PSD around 7:30am but by the time i got back to the island around 8am they were back at the station shouting at people. This is a larger issue with the law and there being no consequence for disorderly behavior. I'm not sure what we do here but I have tried doing what I can as a private citizen to report and I hope you article provides encouragement for more people to report this in real time. Also if your article could clarify the steps people should take (call PSD, call 311, etc) that might be helpful since figuring out the steps to take is not easy or clear. 

According to the NYC Mayor's Office today:

New York City Mayor Eric Adams today released the Subway Safety Plan, which lays out how his administration will begin addressing public safety concerns and supporting people experiencing homelessness and serious mental illness on New York City’s subways. The plan includes comprehensive investments in short- and medium-term solutions, including expanded outreach teams with New York Police Department (NYPD) officers and clinicians, additional housing and mental health resources, and outlines long-term systems improvements through changes to state and federal laws to connect more New Yorkers to the care they need. A key component of the plan will also direct NYPD personnel to assist in enforcing certain subway rules, such as sleeping across multiple seats, exhibiting aggressive behavior to passengers, or creating an unsanitary environment....

 

The NYC Department of Homeless Services adds:

... What should I do if I see an individual or a group of individuals that appear to be street homeless?
For the most immediate response, New Yorkers who see individuals they believe to be homeless and in need should contact 3-1-1 via phone or mobile app and request outreach assistance. You should call 911 if the individual appears to pose an immediate risk to themselves or others or there is criminal activity.

What happens when I call 311 to report a homeless New Yorker in need of assistance?

  • Individual calls 311 and a Service Request (SR) is created
  • SR is evaluated and assigned to a service provider or a partner Agency, like NYPD, as needed
  • If assigned to a service provider, outreach team is dispatched within an hour of receiving the request
  • Service provider outreach teams attempt to locate that individual and if found directly engage the individual, assess for safety and encourage them to accept services and transition off the streets.
How do outreach teams engage a homeless New Yorker in need of assistance?
Experienced outreach teams from not-for-profit service providers canvass the five boroughs 24/7/365 as part of our citywide effort to identify and engage individuals who may be homeless, encourage them to accept services, and ultimately help them transition off the streets. Additionally, DHS performs joint outreach operations with community stakeholders and Agency partners, including the NYPD, the Parks Department, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Transportation to utilize each Agency's expertise, engage more New Yorkers, and offer more supports. Outreach teams have helped approximately 2,000 homeless New Yorkers off the streets citywide, thanks to new investments and a doubling of the size of those teams.

More info here. 

UPDATE 10 PM - This Roosevelt Islander Instagram comment expresses what many fear: 

There's too many of them. Im sorry if this sounds insensitive but I don't want to worry about being pushed into the tracks or harassed. I don't want to worry if the guy mumbling is going to do something crazy. The island continues to have garbage everywhere. I don't know what the solution is but its not the subway. Mental health is a serious problem for a lot of them . The new guy that sits in the station is always drinking and was passed out on the stairs the other day. I wasn't sure if he was alive.
UPDATE 1/19:

By ROOSEVELT ISLANDER at 4:53:00 PM

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