Half Of 'Hardest-To-Reach' Homeless NYers Off Streets, Mayor Says

NEW YORK CITY — More than half of New York City's top 100 "hardest-to-reach" homeless people are off the streets in what Mayor Eric Adams lauded as a success for his controversial plan to involuntarily commit those who appear mentally ill.

Adams marked one year since he announced the plan with a news conference Wednesday, in which he outlined a slew of positive numbers.

Most notably, he said 54 of 100 chronically unsheltered New Yorkers with severe mental health issues are now off the streets — a 145 percent increase over the past year.

"They have a roof over their heads and are stabilizing their lives in hospitals or other supportive settings," he said.

Those 100 people are on the city's two "Top 50" of New Yorkers who have been the "hardest-to-reach," officials said. The lists at one point included Jordan Neely, the troubled Michael Jackson impersonator who died in a former Marine's chokehold on a subway train.

Adams' plan to involuntarily hospitalize those who appear mentally ill drew intense criticism from the beginning — and advocates didn't stop Wednesday.

The mayor is taking a "victory lap" over a plan that doesn't actually help homeless and mentally ill New Yorkers, said Donna Lieberman, executive director for the New York Civil Liberties Union.

She argued the plan didn't provide any meaningful expansion of housing or programs for people with mental health issues.

"What’s worse, the irony of an administration applauding themselves for forcing some people off the streets while simultaneously pushing newly-arrived migrants on to them as winter begins is lost on no one," she said in a statement.

"As with many of the Mayor’s policies involving people who are unhoused and facing mental health challenges, this program has lacked transparency, data collection, or public reporting from the jump. The Administration offered no data on its implementation, including whether people of color are being disproportionately targeted. It remains a mystery how being involuntarily hospitalized leads to ‘voluntary’ placement in supportive housing."