NEW YORK (PIX11) -- New York City will soon get a better idea if the migrant crisis is increasing the number of homeless individuals on city streets and subways.
Overnight the city will conduct the one-night homeless count, known as the HOPE count. The count comes as more migrants are visibly living on the streets, especially in the area around Tompkins Square Park.
The park has become popular for migrants who feel forced to sleep on the streets each night. It is in proximity to an old school where those who have already been kicked out of city shelter can apply again for more help.
"People are making the decision [to sleep on the street]," said Mayor Eric Adams Tuesday about certain migrants. "This is what they want to do. We have created rooms for people to wait in."
The mayor and his team insist this is not the fate of most migrants -- who have found stable places to stay.
However, Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom, who has led the city's migrant response, concedes she wants to know if the federally-mandated annual one-night count of homeless individuals will identify a significant rise over the 4,000 seen sleeping on streets and subways last year.
"I am interested to see if we see something different tonight," Williams-Isom said. "We have over 1,500 New Yorkers volunteering."
However, Williams-Isom and the rest of the Adams administration hold little hope that documenting a spike in street homelessness will lead to more desperately needed federal funding.
"The question should not be is it 3,500 or 4,000 people we count tonight," Williams-Isom said. "Cities should not be bearing this humanitarian crisis and we need federal support now to do something with this crisis."
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