NYC Spent Over $368 Million To Combat Homelessness This Past Fiscal Year. Now the State Can't Track the Money.
The Big Apple is spending more than ever on services for the unsheltered, but state auditors don’t know if it’s working.
As New York City continues to spend more money to fight homelessness, state officials are struggling to track how funds are being spent.
That's according to a recent New York State Comptroller report, which found that the city spent $368 million on its unsheltered homeless population in FY 2025, more than triple the amount spent in FY 2019. The unsheltered homeless population—individuals who are not using the Department of Homeless Services' shelter system—makes up only a small fraction (3 percent) of the city's total homeless population, according to data from 2024. In FY 2019, there were 3,588 unsheltered people; in FY 2025, there were 4,504, "a 26 percent increase from pre-pandemic levels."
As the New York Post reported on Monday, the city spent an average of $81,228 on services for each unsheltered person in FY 2025, which was "roughly equivalent to the city's median household income as of the 2024 US Census." Importantly, this figure does not account for additional spending on unsheltered populations that does not come from the Department of Homeless Services, including "co-response teams and other mental health and behavioral health services aimed at addressing some of the challenges faced by this population."
The most alarming part of the comptroller's report is that the state cannot assess whether tax dollars are being spent effectively. The report warns that the Department of Homeless Services "currently does not publicly report details on expenses in a way that would allow for clear analysis of unit costs, cost effectiveness or the impact of programs. As such, it is difficult to assess the use of funds."
This is not the first time that the city's spending on homelessness has been questioned. A 2024 NYC Department of Investigation report on the nonprofit homeless shelters funded by the city uncovered "hundreds of governance and compliance concerns at these providers." As The New York Times reported in 2024, "Self-dealing, nepotism and conflicts of interest are widespread at dozens of the nonprofit groups that run New York City's $4 billion network of homeless shelters." Even after the investigation, it appears the city still struggles to track its outlays. This lack of oversight is especially concerning in light of the Mamdani administration's increased spending to combat homelessness.
To fix this problem, the comptroller's office recommends that the Mayor's Management Report include basic metrics that assess the performance of contracted organizations and vendors. Such metrics would include, but would not be limited to, the "amount paid to contracted organizations each fiscal year; percent/dollar amounts of such payments returned due to improper use or noncompliance with the contract terms," and the "number of contracts terminated due to non-compliance."
During his mayoral campaign, which centered on affordability, Zohran Mamdani pledged to investigate the Department of Education's $41 billion budget. He vowed to uncover waste, inefficiencies, and unnecessary contracts draining resources from the largest city department, telling reporters: "For too long, we have allowed individuals like Elon Musk to pretend as if concerns of efficiency and waste are that of the right wing, when in fact, they should be the bedrock of any progressive politics."
Mamdani is no small-government mayor, but he is right to go after the city's education department. And, if he is serious about improving government efficiency, it's clear he should also scrutinize spending at the Department of Homeless Services.