If we don’t fix homelessness, more New Yorkers will abandon the cityBy Brian Robinson
July 9, 2022
Last July, a homeless person followed my wife and 4-year-old daughter inside my building in lower Tribeca and up to our apartment door. Though I turned up just moments later and scared him away, the episode left us shaken.
A few weeks later, I saw the same man leaving a nearby homeless shelter. I’ve lived here for 15 years and always felt safe, but suddenly, like many others, I felt disconcerted and weirdly abandoned by this city which has enabled crime and fear to proliferate, partly driven by an out-of-control homeless population housed by shelters in our neighborhoods.
My feelings gave way to a sense of purpose. I decided it was time to sell my business, Churchill Credit Solutions in the Financial District, and run for office as a Democrat serving New York’s 10th Congressional District. No longer do I wish to remain a passive observer to our city’s dysfunction.
Every day, urban disorder is unfolding before our eyes. Between the decarceration movement and bail reform, we are seeing far more violent incidents on our streets. From the death of Michelle Go in front of a Times Square subway train in January to the brutal stabbing of Christina Yuna Lee inside her own Chinatown apartment in February, assaults committed by mentally-ill homeless people are now a common occurrence.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/07/09/if-we-dont-fix-nyc-homelessness-more-nyers-will-abandon-the-city/
