The NYC sidewalks are a tiny emporium of horrific developments.
The homelessness epidemic festers in full daylight near Manhattan’s tourist-packed core.
One man slept on a rainy sidewalk on West 43rd Street Sunday, two blocks from Times Square, where the New Year’s Eve ball descends.
The man plugged his toaster oven onto a light post to cook his food on the pavement. NYC utility poles have a box with electrical plugs at the bottom.
The man slept outside the Westside Theatre, since 2019.
Actor, musician, and homeless advocate Sal “Sinatra” Salomon told Fox News Digital, “It’s getting worse.”
“This is the greatest city in the world, and this is unacceptable,” said Salomon.
The city’s Dem leaders spend billions of government funds on ineffective initiatives and private shelters, fueling the absurdity.
Salomon spent years on the streets and in jail. In his opinion, city shelters are worse than prison, which is why so many individuals prefer the streets.
“New York City sidewalks are showcasing a little shop of horrors.
The humanitarian crisis of homelessness festers in broad daylight today just steps from the tourist-packed heart of Manhattan. “https://t.co/nYXXLwUu0x— ShanghaiPanda (@thinking_panda) September 14, 2022
“Prison workers have supervisors and are trained to respect the privacy of the men in prison,” he said. “Some loudmouth from the neighborhood employs friends with public money to run shelters.”
Democrat Brad Hoylman of Midtown Manhattan said shelter conditions are deplorable. “They’re unsafe,” he said.
“When you sleep on the sidewalk, you’ve given up. You’re not getting enough help,” Salomon
Next to the man with the toaster oven was a shopping cart filled with empty bottles and cans.
Displacement in the neighborhood “is a continuous problem,” said Westside Theatre general manager Terry Byrne.
The Bowery Mission, a 150-year-old nonprofit aiding the hungry and homeless, cites federal data to say NYC’s homeless population has risen to 80,000.
Coalition for the Homeless: “New York City’s homelessness is at its greatest level since the Great Depression.”
55,338 people, including 18,000 children, stayed in municipal shelters on Sept. 11, 2022, the same day the guy with the toaster slept outside Westside Theatre.
State Sen. Hoylman used the exact parallel in a Fox News Digital interview.
“Many people are profiting from this tragedy but not providing help,” he said.
Despite billions spent on unsuccessful schemes, the situation continues.
The NYC Department of Social Services and Homeless Services has a $2.1 billion annual budget, and the city expended $3.5 billion on homelessness in 2020, according to former comptroller Scott Stringer.
That’s $43,750 per homeless person every year, more so than the city invests per child on education.
One Vanderbilt, New York City’s latest premium skyscraper that stands 1,401 feet over Midtown Manhattan, cost $3.1 billion to build, industry insiders say.
That’s less than the city’s annual homelessness spending.
Visitors to New York City this year have been shocked by photographs of homeless people living in appalling conditions on the streets, notably around Times Square.
Times Square Alliance reports that more than 350,000 pedestrians visit “The Crossroads of the World” daily. That matches 2019’s pre-pandemic numbers.
Monday, a person slept in socks and sweatpants outside a vacant storefront on 8th Avenue and 45th Street.
“City officials caused this. It’s manmade,” Republican activist and lifetime Manhattan native Jackie Toboroff told Fox News Digital.
She listed many factors for the city’s homeless boom.
“They emptied the jails, shut down Broadway and business for two years, destroyed children’s education, made drug usage aspirational, their mandates led people to lose their jobs, and inundated the city with illegal immigration,” claimed Toboroff.
Fox News Digital contacted NYC’s Social Services and Homeless Services for comment.
Salomon: “The city needs tough love, not whimpering and wailing.” “Everybody needs to grow up and fix the problem.“