New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned in 2025 on a platform that included expanding public services and reducing the cost of living for residents.
As his administration has begun implementing those policies, critics argue that delivering on many of those campaign promises has proven more difficult than expected.
One of the most visible challenges has been a large homeless encampment stretching across several blocks on Manhattan’s West Side.
A recurring homeless encampment beneath Manhattan’s FDR Drive has frustrated East Side residents and workers despite repeated city cleanup efforts.
The latest camp formed near East 23rd Street, where chairs, coolers, luggage, and garbage accumulated beneath the elevated highway.
City sanitation crews cleared the site Monday, but nearby workers said they expected the encampment to return quickly.
Dina Elkan, senior director of events at nonprofit Solar One, said repeated removals have not produced lasting results.
“[The encampment] could start again as soon as, like, the end of the day,” Elkan told the New York Post.
“It’s not just about over here. They have to check all the way down,” she added.
Matthew Condah, who works at a nearby BP gas station, described the camp as resembling an improvised living room.
“It looks like their living room and everything is over there,” Condah told the Post.
“That’s where they sleep. And they come over here for water and stuff,” he said.
“They walk around all the time causing a whole lot of headaches over here,” Condah added.
Workers said the problem frequently shifts rather than disappears when one block receives sanitation attention.
Solar One employee Liz Parades described a recurring cycle stretching from East 23rd Street toward East 18th Street.
“By the time that cleaning is done, they would have already set up shop on 18th,” Parades said.
“So, it happens instantly,” she added while describing the repeated relocations.
New York City prohibits encampments and obstructions on public property, including streets, sidewalks, parks, bridges, and highways.
City residents can report encampments through 311, triggering inspection and referral to the Department of Homeless Services.
The city says outreach teams engage people at reported sites and offer shelter, services, and support before cleanups occur.
City policy emphasizes outreach before enforcement, fueling debate over how quickly officials should dismantle new camps.
The Post reported Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration generally provides a seven-day outreach period before sanitation and police clear locations.
During that period, outreach workers attempt to persuade people experiencing homelessness to accept shelter or other available services.
Critics say the delay permits relocation before enforcement teams arrive, producing what frustrated residents describe as repeated whack-a-mole.
Elkan said the response should treat the broader East Side stretch as one zone instead of isolated locations.
“The cadence is this,” Elkan said before describing reporting, outreach, waiting periods and eventual cleanup operations.
“Then there’s a seven-day warning period during which you can figure out where you’re gonna shift to,” she said.
Mounds of trash cover a homeless encampment under the FDR in Manhattan https://t.co/ygyADnAmsI pic.twitter.com/4t6xN5hLkX
— New York Post (@nypost) September 15, 2026
The East Side encampment is not the only recent Manhattan site generating complaints from businesses and residents.
Another encampment near the Intrepid Museum on Manhattan’s West Side has repeatedly returned after city cleanup operations.
A West 45th Street business owner recently reported attempted vehicle arson and other alarming encounters near that encampment.
City Hall said the West Side remained a priority for outreach teams focused on shelter placement and stable housing.
Homeless encampments have also generated complaints in Greenwich Village and other neighborhoods during recent months.
The broader debate combines public cleanliness, safety, homelessness, mental health, addiction and availability of appropriate shelter placements.
Past New York administrations also struggled with encampment sweeps, which sometimes produced displacement rather than permanent housing.
Mamdani has taken a more outreach-centered approach, emphasizing services and shelter before forced removal from public spaces.
The policy difference has become a visible test as encampments repeatedly emerge in high-traffic neighborhoods.
The city maintains that outreach can connect homeless New Yorkers with shelter while protecting belongings collected during cleanup operations.
For East Side workers, the immediate concern is whether Monday’s cleanup produces anything more than temporary relief.
Residents and employees say moving encampments several blocks does little to address sanitation problems or long-term homelessness.
City officials face competing pressures to keep sidewalks usable while avoiding strategies that merely displace vulnerable people.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
