UWS Panhandling and Homelessness Complaints Reach 5-Year High, Data Show
(DNAINFO) Emily Frost — Calls from locals about the presence of homeless people, panhandlers and homeless encampments in the neighborhood have risen dramatically over the past five years — with this summer marking the high point for complaints, data show.
DNAinfo looked at public records of 311 calls concerning homeless people in the 10023, 10024 and 10025 zip codes — between West 59th and 114th streets on the West Side — from January 2010 through September 2015.
Except for a slight dip of 26 fewer complaints in 2011, the number of calls to register an issue regarding a homeless person or to make the city aware of the issue grew every year, according to the data.
The complaints reached a peak this August, with 115 calls made, marking the most in a given month across all five years. That figure amounted to more than the total calls received during all of 2010, 2011 or 2012, the data show.