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News / Nation & World

New York City has a right to shelter, but will it establish a right to sleep outside?

By Associated Press
Published: May 21, 2023, 4:22pm
FILE - Sotero Cirilo stands near the tent where he sleeps next to other homeless people in the Queens borough of New York on April 14, 2021. The City Council unanimously approved a "Homeless Bill of Rights" in April 2023 that would make New York the first big U.S. city to establish an explicit right to sleep in at least some public places. If Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, allows the measure to become law, it could be a notable departure for the city -- which has for years sent police and sanitation crews to clear homeless encampments as they arise.
FILE - Sotero Cirilo stands near the tent where he sleeps next to other homeless people in the Queens borough of New York on April 14, 2021. The City Council unanimously approved a "Homeless Bill of Rights" in April 2023 that would make New York the first big U.S. city to establish an explicit right to sleep in at least some public places. If Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, allows the measure to become law, it could be a notable departure for the city -- which has for years sent police and sanitation crews to clear homeless encampments as they arise. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

NEW YORK — New York Mayor Eric Adams has hailed his city’s right to shelter as a hallmark of compassion for its most destitute. Now he must decide if he will extend that compassion by bestowing homeless people with the right to sleep outside.

The City Council unanimously approved a “Homeless Bill of Rights” last month that would make New York the first big U.S.

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