Metro

De Blasio says subway shutdowns will ‘disrupt’ homeless problem

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday said he believes the unprecedented move to shut down the subways overnight will “disrupt” the city’s street homeless problem — but advocates are not convinced.

“I think it will also disrupt another decades-old pattern of homeless folks, street homeless folks staying on the subway all night in a way that I think is unhealthy, unfair, not good for anyone involved — starting with the homeless person,” Hizzoner said at his Tuesday morning press briefing.

“We want to disrupt that, we want to get them help, we want to be able to be there with outreach services to get them to shelter, so I really think it is the right policy.”

The shutdowns, which will be in effect from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. starting Wednesday morning and lasting through the COVID-19 pandemic, will see hundreds of cops flood the system to rouse and eject transients.

Homeless people ejected from stations by cops will be offered social services and shelter above ground by city outreach workers, according to officials.

Advocates for the homeless, however, don’t expect many will be willing to go.

“We’ve increasingly spoken with homeless folks who reject safe haven beds because they fear contracting COVID in these shared spaces,” said Craig Hughes of the Urban Justice Center.

“The health concerns held by people on the street are as valid as those of someone who lives in Gracie Mansion or Park Slope that can afford to self-isolate, whether the mayor see’s it that way or not,” Hughes said.

Hughes and other advocacy groups have called on the city to provide hotel rooms to the city’s thousands of unsheltered residents — a costly prospect they claim could be reimbursed by FEMA.

“Homeless New Yorkers are sleeping on the subway because the City and State — nearly two months into this crisis – are steadfastly refusing to offer them somewhere better to go,” Coalition for the Homeless Policy Director Giselle Routhier said in a statement released after the mayor and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the shutdown plan.

“Punitively closing the subways and sending in more police will only make things worse,” Routhier said.

Disturbing images of homeless shantytowns have emerged from the subterranean transit system amid the virus outbreak, as most regular straphangers stay away.

The city acknowledged it tried but failed to convince two homeless men found dead in the subway system over the weekend into shelters before they passed away.

Pressed on how the overnight closures will change the city’s homeless outreach approach, Department of Social Services spokesman Isaac McGinn said the city is “adapting and responding to meet need at a scale and speed never before seen.”

“When subway stations close, all individuals, regardless of housing status, have to leave the subways,” McGinn said.

“Our staff and our not-for-profit outreach provider partners will be on hand to engage unsheltered individuals leaving the subways, assess their needs, and connect them to services.”