New York City’s incoming mayor, far-left socialist Zohran Mamdani, is already facing sharp backlash over his radical proposal to end the city’s homeless encampment sweeps, a move critics warn could lead to a surge in shanty towns and deteriorating street conditions.
Former NYPD Chief of Department John Chell, who recently retired and now serves as a TV pundit, tore into Mamdani’s plan on social media Friday, calling it a “gamble” that ignores reality.
“Under current law, you generally cannot force individuals into shelter—and the majority refuse services,” Chell wrote in a post on X. “Outreach does not automatically mean acceptance. Ending street intervention programs before building sufficient housing, shelter, and treatment capacity is not a plan—it’s a gamble.”
Chell emphasized that without first establishing the necessary resources, the city would see “a sharp rise in encampments, declining street conditions, and serious quality-of-life impacts across our neighborhoods.”
“Those resources must be created first and clearly codified,” he wrote. “Otherwise, the predictable result will be a sharp rise in encampments, declining street conditions, and serious quality-of-life impacts across our neighborhoods.”
He dismissed Mamdani’s ideas as mere “rhetoric” that won’t translate into effective policy, adding bluntly, “We don’t have time for experiments.”
The Homeless Street Task Force, launched in 2022, is a multi-agency partnership involving the NYPD, DHS, mental health clinicians, and DSNY. It has addressed over 18,000 encampments citywide through coordinated outreach and enforcement. While not perfect, this effort has made a… https://t.co/UbV15vU0Kd
— John M Chell (@JohnMChell) December 5, 2025
Chell wrote in full:
The Homeless Street Task Force, launched in 2022, is a multi-agency partnership involving the NYPD, DHS, mental health clinicians, and DSNY. It has addressed over 18,000 encampments citywide through coordinated outreach and enforcement. While not perfect, this effort has made a meaningful difference. This does not include 84,000+ 311-related calls or the PATH program in the subway system, which reflect the full scale of the work.
Under current law, you generally cannot force individuals into shelter—and the majority refuse services. Outreach does not automatically mean acceptance.
Ending street intervention programs before building sufficient housing, shelter, and treatment capacity is not a plan—it’s a gamble. Those resources must be created first and clearly codified. Otherwise, the predictable result will be a sharp rise in encampments, declining street conditions, and serious quality-of-life impacts across our neighborhoods.
Rhetoric vs. Reality: We don’t have time for experiments.
The controversy erupted after Mamdani announced Thursday that he intends to halt the sweeps implemented under current Mayor Eric Adams.
These operations, which dismantle makeshift camps on streets, highways, parks, and other public spaces, were revived by Adams early in his term.
“We cannot tolerate these makeshift, unsafe houses on the side of highways, in trees, in front of schools, in parks,” Adams told the media when he rolled out the effort in 2022.
Mamdani defended his stance by arguing that the sweeps have failed to connect enough homeless individuals to permanent housing.
“If you are not connecting homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need, then you cannot deem anything you’re doing to be a success,” Mamdani said while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
The mayor-elect provided no concrete details on how he plans to address the issue, which has included over 45,000 encampment complaints reported this year alone.
The post Far-Left NYC Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani Blasted by Ex-NYPD Chief Over Plan to Scrap Homeless Encampment Sweeps appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.