ReportWire

Tag: street homelessness

  • Outside group spends $4.8 million on TV ads backing San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan for governor

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    An independent expenditure committee backed by Silicon Valley executives spent $4.8 million on television ads supporting San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s gubernatorial bid that will begin airing Thursday.

    The two 30-second ads highlight the Democrat’s life story — being raised in a working-class family and working on a grounds crew and as a middle school teacher — and his accomplishments leading the state’s third-largest city.

    Mahan’s parents “taught him the difference between nice to have and need to have,” a narrator says in one of the ads. “So as mayor of San Jose, Matt focused on the basics and delivered results on the things that matter most. The safest big city in America, a sharp drop in street homelessness and thousands of homes built. As governor, Matt Mahan will focus on results Californians need to have, like affordable homes, safe neighborhoods and good schools.”

    The ads, which will air statewide on broadcast and cable TV, were paid for by an independent-expenditure committee called California Back to Basics Supporting Matt Mahan for Governor 2026.

    The group has not yet filed any fundraising reports with the secretary of state’s office, but the ads’ disclosure says the top donors are billionaire venture capitalist Michael Moritz, luxury sleepwear company founder Ashley Merrill and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Michael Seibel.

    Billionaire Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso, who considered running for governor or mayor of Los Angeles but ultimately decided against seeking either post, is involved in the effort, according to a strategist working for the committee who requested anonymity to speak about it.

    The committee legally cannot coordinate with Mahan’s campaign, which he launched four weeks ago. Although Mahan lacks the name recognition of several other candidates in the crowded field running to replace termed-out Gov. Gavin Newsom, his fundraising prowess, notably among tech industry leaders, is notable. He has raised nearly $9.2 million in large donations since entering the gubernatorial race.

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    Seema Mehta

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  • Editorial | Why involuntary hospitalization is a last, necessary resort for NYC – amNewYork

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    An FDNY ambulance on Parkside Avenue in Brooklyn.

    File photo by Ben Brachfeld

    By most accounts, Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s response to the first major winter storm of his tenure at City Hall was a good one. Aside from annoying snow pileups at bus stops, City Hall was prepared and ensured the basics were met: the roads were plowed and salted, and the temporary shift to remote learning for public schools on Monday went with few hiccups.

    But amid the cold snap that gripped the city before and after Sunday’s winter storm, 10 New Yorkers died amid the elements. That happened even as the mayor enacted the city’s “Code Blue,” sending outreach experts across the city to counsel those living on the streets and connect them to shelter.

    In an emergency like this cold spell, the city cannot allow anyone to perish on the streets from hypothermia and related exposure conditions. It shows the necessity of policies such as involuntary hospitalization to commit those who are no longer able to realize they are a danger to themselves and others — namely those struggling with mental illness.

    The deaths occurred even as the city had connected 500 homeless New Yorkers into transitional housing since Jan. 19, according to Mamdani. Of those, 70 people were brought indoors during outreach efforts immediately before and during the winter storm.

    On Tuesday, Mamdani acknowledged that the city needed to do more to prevent further unnecessary deaths from exposure and enhanced the Code Blue response. More social workers and homeless outreach experts are hitting the streets, and the city has opened up more warming shelters and warming buses at key locations — all in an effort to get everyone out of the cold and save lives.

    No New Yorker should have to live on the street, or feel compelled to do so. The biggest challenge for the Mamdani administration amid this brutal cold spell — which is expected to go on through at least early next week — is not so much the resources being provided, but rather convincing street homeless to accept the help offered to them.

    For years, many street homeless people we have spoken to in our reporting on other matters have expressed great mistrust about the city’s shelter system; they believe it is unsafe and does more harm than good. That stigma has been ingrained for years and it won’t be broken overnight.

    Mamdani has been a critic of involuntary hospitalization in the past, but during this winter crisis, he has not ruled out its use as a “last resort” to save the lives of New Yorkers. 

    That is the right approach, but Mamdani should also apply that standard to everyday life in New York, not just during extreme weather. This must be the approach also for tackling those who suffer from severe mental illness and can no longer recognize their need for treatment.

    Involuntary hospitalization should not be seen as punishment, but rather as a last-ditch effort to protect New Yorkers and give those afflicted the opportunity to heal and recover. In short, it can help save numerous lives and restore hope that no one in New York will ever be left out in the cold — both literally and figuratively.

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    amNewYork

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  • Editorial | Mayor-elect Mamdani must sweep away encampments, and apathy for homeless – amNewYork

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    Homeless individuals attempted to salvage their tent during a encampment sweep in Manhattan, Dec, 2022.

    Photo by Dean Moses

    The sight of homeless encampments on the streets of New York is truly tragic. No one should have to live out in the elements; the fact that people choose to live this way speaks volumes about the affordability and mental health crises in New York City.

    While acknowledging that tragedy, however, we must also realize that homeless encampments themselves are a blight on the neighborhoods in which they exist. Unkempt and poorly constructed, they instill a sense of apathy and disorder while sending an unspoken message to the rest of the population that can be summed up in one word: apathy. Any sense of apathy is a danger to the rest of the city, and an invitation for crime and other problems.

    Not long after taking office in 2023, Mayor Eric Adams sought to have homeless encampments disbanded. It was a controversial campaign, but a necessary one in order to reduce the sense of public apathy while also reaching out to people in desperate need of help.

    As Adams prepares to leave office, the incoming mayor, Zohran Mamdani, will soon be responsible for picking up that obligation to dissuade and dismantle homeless encampments and provide resources. Mamdani, however, has publicly stated he has no intention of continuing Adams’ encampment crackdown — and that’s a big mistake.

    On Tuesday, the incoming mayor said his administration would seek only to dismantle encampments as long as there are guaranteed indoor alternatives in shelters that are safe. Many homeless New Yorkers living on the streets have often said they do not feel safe in the city’s shelter system, and it’s going to be a challenge for Mamdani and his administration to shatter that perception.

    Even if an ideal shelter isn’t immediately available, the city cannot afford to do nothing when it comes to homeless encampments set up under bridges or in public parks. Just ignoring or looking the other way sends a horrible message, not just to the city but to those in the encampments themselves, many of whom already feel undesired and unwanted.

    Most New Yorkers recognize that many homeless people living on the streets and in our subway system suffer from mental illness. Often, those with extreme, untreated mental illness left to live on the street lash out against bystanders in a violent way. That risk grows if the city government looks the other way on street homelessness.

    Mayor-elect Mamdani has made addressing mental illness a campaign promise, and he must fulfill it from Day 1 in order to ensure that the mentally ill are cared for, not left to fend for themselves while living in tents on the streets. 

    He must also advance programs to create supportive housing and genuinely safe shelters that turn no one away and give no one an excuse to live on the streets. 

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    amNewYork

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