By: Jordan Baker

As the NY Post reported, New York City’s homeless crisis is taking on a new, controversial twist under Mayor Zohran Mamdani: instead of clearing encampments, city workers are now essentially tidying them.

This week, sanitation crews in Woodhaven, Queens, swept through a sprawling shantytown beneath a Jamaica Avenue overpass, removing trash, broken furniture, and shopping carts — but leaving air mattresses and the squatters’ belongings neatly folded nearby. As NY Post reported, the cleanup looked less like a sanitation effort and more like turndown service.

Residents and community leaders said the lax enforcement emboldened the homeless to claim public walkways as private living spaces. “What’s next, a city-funded turndown service for people sleeping on the streets?” Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) fumed to the NY Post. “Our sidewalks are not hotel rooms, and the Sanitation Department staff aren’t maids.”

Police initially responded to complaints, prompted by Ariola, the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association, and other local leaders. But NY Post reported that officers were largely powerless under the mayor’s new guidelines. Mamdani ended the NYPD’s prior practice of clearing encampments, requiring that officers document situations, offer medical services if needed, and only remove individuals in life-threatening circumstances at a supervisor’s discretion.

The Queens encampment, located beneath a rusted Long Island Rail Road trestle decorated with a pigeon-splattered mural honoring first responders, has become a regular eyesore, residents told NY Post. Carmela Isabella, who lives nearby, said a trio of men had become increasingly brazen since Mamdani took office Jan. 1, turning sidewalks into makeshift apartments. “They know they can get away with it,” she said.

Despite multiple complaints to 311, including photos of the encampment, Isabella said the city responded as if it didn’t exist. NY Post reported that the 311 closure notice read: “The New York Police Department responded to the complaint and observed no encampment exists. If the problem persists, please contact 311 to create another complaint.”

By Friday, the site had drawn 12 separate complaints about homeless encampments and illegal dumping since the start of the year. In 2025, only one 311 complaint had been logged, highlighting the increase under Mamdani’s softer approach, NY Post reported.

Business leaders are also frustrated. Frank Castelli, chairman of the Woodhaven Business Improvement District, told NY Post the encampments deter shoppers. “If you are going to go shopping on Jamaica Avenue, who’s going to want to pass by that? This is about quality of life,” he said.

As freezing temperatures continued, cops checked on one man sleeping on the sidewalk, but he declined assistance, leaving his air mattress behind. Another eventually accepted help, yet the belongings remained neatly stacked, raising questions about how long the city will allow abandoned property to linger, NY Post reported.

Critics say the mayor’s “housing-first” approach, which shifts responsibility from police to civilian social workers and plans a $1 billion Department of Community Safety, is inadvertently encouraging encampments.