Homeless encampment in Riverdale handled by BronxWorks and city services

Everyone got the support they needed.”

Eric Dinowitz, city councilman

Conversations over the last several years have centered around the homeless population and their ever-present and growing existence in the greater Riverdale neighborhood. Just last week, a homeless encampment set up in a corner of Vinmont Park was found and quickly reported to both 311 and the office of Councilman Eric Dinowitz. 

The nonprofit homeless advocacy organization Coalition for the Homeless has data suggesting more than 350,000 people were living without homes in the city during the month of July. The number on how many people sleep on the streets is unreliable but, with more than 130,076 in shelter beds, the organization safely estimates thousands more are on the streets. 

According to Dinowitz, when the Vinmont site was reported to his office, he was the one to reach out to BronxWorks, a nonprofit conducting homeless outreach in New York City. 

Dinowitz said he has worked with BronxWorks for many years and sees the work it does for the community, so he trusted the organization to handle the situation in a way that benefited both the homeless individuals and the safety of the public. 

After contacting BronxWorks, Dinowitz said representatives from the group went to the site to speak with the person and, the next day, he was picked up and brought to a shelter, where he was given a bed to sleep in. 

When a homeless camp is reported to 311, residents are assured police will respond within hours of the report to inspect the site so it can be reported to the city’s department of homeless services. Once the city agency is looped in, it works with the homeless individual to offer support and services and ensure all valuable belongings are protected. The remaining belongings left in the park were cleaned up with the help of the parks department and the police department. 

The city offers services to homeless individuals including drop-in centers fot immediate assistance with showers and meals and safe havens that operate as transitional housing with overnight beds. Stabilization beds are also offered for high-functioning homeless individuals who can care for themselves without much assistance, and welcome centers serve as sites for unsheltered people to be temporarily placed, so their physical and behavioral health can be assessed and the type of care they need can be determined. 

BronxWorks did not respond to requests for comment at press time. 

“This is an example of government doing what it’s supposed to do,” Dinowitz said. 

The city’s current attempt to deal with homeless encampments began in March 2022, when Mayor Eric Adams created a task force in charge of dismantling and removing the city’s homeless camps with the goal of offering individuals access to necessary resources that could provide immediate and long-term relief. 

Large-scale sweeps performed by the city’s department of homeless services did not fare as well as the cleanup in Vinmont Park, as the agency found convincing homeless individuals to leave their living sites difficult and often would have to return to a site to warn the people a clean up was going to be conducted and they were urged to seek shelter or accept other services. 

During the initial phases of the task force and clean up, homeless services spoke with 2,308 people and only 119 accepted the offer to move into temporary housing. 

BronxWorks’ mission states it is dedicated to following a housing-first model, which seeks to provide homeless individuals with access to stable housing in an attempt to address the issues they are facing. 

On the other hand, community members were happy to see a quick response from Dinowitz. Conversations surrounding the homeless population in Riverdale often come down to a question of safety.

There is an often perpetuated misconception homeless people are violent and dangerous, but data shows this isn’t the case. A report from the state of Washington shares that homeless people are far more likely to be the victim of a violent crime than they are to commit a criminal act and they are no more dangerous than a housed person. 

But the instance in Vinmont Park, Dinowitz said, showed the city’s contingencies can work.

“Everyone got the support they needed,” he said.