As a part of a FOIL request I recently sent to the Department of Homeless Services (DHS), I was given a map illustrating the number of buildings (466 in total) in which DHS provides shelter and services (as of January 31, 2021). The sidebar, next to the map, claims that there were 31% fewer buildings than the 647 buildings reported in DHS’s “Turning the Tide” in February 2017.

On the map, DHS claimed to be working to ensure that shelters are distributed equitably across the five boroughs, including in communities that do not currently have any shelters, and at the end of the text they note that the NYC DHS shelter census stands at less than 53,000.

(note the huge disparity in building totals, above)

What is interesting is that they decided to focus on the number of buildings and not the number of people in the buildings. This is especially interesting given that by including their DHS shelter census total, they’ve indicated that they do know the number of people.

Until DHS replies with the community district population totals (which they have refused to do in response to 4 FOIL requests I’ve made), it is impossible to assess the balance or imbalance, of these facilities, and how they burden some communities more than others.

Below is a close-up of the density of shelters in northern Manhattan and the southern Bronx:

And compare that to Staten Island which has only only 1 shelter (the size of which we don’t know).

For the full map see: