New York City Homelessness:
The Basic Facts
In recent years, homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
In September 2017, there were 62,351 homeless people, including 15,553 homeless families with 23,445 homeless children, sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system. Families comprise just over three-quarters of the homeless shelter population.
Over the course of City fiscal year 2017, more than 129,803 different homeless men, women, and children slept in the New York City municipal shelter system. This includes over 45,000 different homeless New York City children.
In 2015, families entering shelter came from a few clustered zip codes in the poorest neighborhoods in New York City.
Research shows that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing. Surveys of homeless families have identified the following major immediate, triggering causes of homelessness: eviction; doubled-up or severely overcrowded housing; domestic violence; job loss; and hazardous housing conditions.
Creative Homeless 