It's cheaper to house the poor than to make them move on

Village Voice - In a press conference outside One Police Plaza, the group Picture the Homeless decried the NYPD’s so-called "move-along" orders, which are being used to disperse homeless individuals from city streets. Homeless individuals said that after giving these orders, the NYPD has often failed to offer any other alternatives like stable housing or access to mental health care, services that Mayor Bill de Blasio promised would be delivered when he initiated a crackdown on the city’s street population in the summer of 2015.

While shelter populations are at record highs in excess of 60,000 people, the city’s street homeless population remains above 2,500, with the majority residing in Manhattan. If homeless New Yorkers refuse to "move along," as directed by the NYPD, they’re subject to arrest, an act that costs the city an estimated $1,750 per person. For the same amount, the advocates and street homeless argued, the city could easily afford to provide them with safe and stable housing options.