New York’s Mayor, Bill de Blasio, promised to “get homeless individuals back into safe shelter facilities” and to come and see for himself the issues faced by Hell’s Kitchen residents with the city’s homeless population.
Speaking to reporters at his press conference this morning he said: “Of course I’m aware of the situation. I want to make really clear that I’m concerned.”
He said that he had a “lot of city personnel out to monitor the situation and to address it” and that we he was “certainly going to go look for myself as well.”
He promised that the City was addressing the problems on a case by case basis on the ground and that “anyone who sees a problem should call 311 and it will be addressed immediately.”
He stressed that, as the health situation has continued to improve: “We’re going to start the process of figuring out where we can get homeless individuals back into safe shelter facilities and reduce the reliance on hotels. Hotels are certainly not where we want [them] to be in general and we’re going to start that process immediately.”
Meanwhile in Washington, President Trump warned the Mayor to get a grip on the city. In a tweet he said: “Law and Order. If @NYCMayor can’t do it, we will.”