The Big Apple is about to become Tent City, and never mind the icy temps that apparently left 10 people dead outdoors.<\/p>\n
Or perhaps we\u2019ll start calling it Lepto Town \u2014 once leptospirosis, the bacterial disease rampant in homeless encampments<\/a>, takes hold.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because New York\u2019s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, has barred the NYPD from closing down the ramshackle camps that have been springing up in neighborhoods across the five boroughs ever since he previewed his policy in December.<\/p>\n The consequences are dire \u2014 for the vagrants themselves, and for the city\u2019s viability.<\/p>\n Over the last few days, 10 New Yorkers were found dead outside in the cold, city officials said Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Most were discovered in a park or an alley, and likely were sleeping rough \u2014 indeed, several were known to the city\u2019s shelter system, the mayor conceded.<\/p>\n No matter how many neighborhood residents call 311 to report a new encampment, the NYPD is now powerless to deal with them \u2014 and\u00a0even New York\u2019s Strongest are barred from cleaning them up.<\/p>\n The Sanitation Department has orders to remove garbage and human waste, but must leave mattresses, clothing, makeshift cardboard huts and other items intact.<\/p>\n In other words, Sanitation workers must serve as maids, while doing nothing about the dangerous mess.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s next, a city-funded turndown service for people sleeping on the streets?\u201d asked outraged City Councilwoman<\/a> Joann Ariola (R-Queens), who watched this new farce play out along Jamaica Avenue last week.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Everyone should be outraged.<\/p>\n Mamdani is showing a misguided brand of compassion for the homeless, and no compassion whatsoever\u00a0for residents and business owners.<\/p>\n Encampments bring crime, filth and a distressing decline in street civility<\/a>.<\/p>\n They also bring diseases like leptospirosis, a bacterial infection that can lead to kidney damage, meningitis and even death.<\/p>\n Officials in Berkeley, Calif., are now battling a leptospirosis outbreak in local tent cities.\u00a0<\/p>\n The germ is found in rat urine, but spreads\u00a0via contaminated surfaces or liquids.<\/p>\n This month\u2019s frigid temperatures lower Gotham\u2019s risk, but when the weather warms, New York parents will have to tell their kids not to jump in puddles or touch items on the street to avoid this new health hazard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even local Democrats are infuriated by Mamdani\u2019s unwillingness to clear encampments.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are upset,\u201d says City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot have defecating, you cannot have food on the street, you cannot have all these boxes.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n So far, Mamdani insists you can.<\/p>\n His predecessor, Eric Adams, took a hard line against encampments<\/a>.<\/p>\n But Mamdani\u2019s policy aims to use the homeless as political tools, as he pushes a vision of government-controlled housing.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to take an approach that understands its mission<\/a> is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,\u201d\u00a0he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sorry, Mr. Mayor, that\u2019s only one sliver of your mission.<\/p>\n You are also responsible for ensuring the safety and comfort of the rest of the city\u2019s population, and tourists and business visitors, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n Your heedlessness is giving all of them the middle finger.<\/p>\n No town or city should have to tolerate encampments.<\/p>\n In 2024, the US Supreme Court weighed in on the \u201crights\u201d of the homeless versus the needs of communities \u2014 and community safety won out<\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Otherwise, Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote,\u00a0\u201cwith encampments dotting neighborhood sidewalks, \u00a0adults and children are sometimes forced to navigate around used needles, human waste, and other hazards.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s what New\u00a0Yorkers are facing now.<\/p>\n Since that 2024 ruling,\u00a0Democratic politicians including California Gov. Gavin Newsom have aggressively removed encampments.<\/p>\n