Study: NYC Homeless Population Has Risen Over Past Year

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was one year ago when Mayor Bill de Blasio came under fire for the homelessness crisis in New York City.

At the time, the mayor overhauled homeless services – and he even made more reforms this past April.

But do New Yorkers think the city is doing better handling the homeless? People who spoke to CBS2 on Monday said no.

"Absolutely worse," one woman said.

"People sleeping on the trains; the sidewalks," a man said.

When asked if (s)he had noticed any improvement, a third New Yorker replied, "Not really, no."

In fact, the number of homeless people in the city has gone up in the past year. The Coalition for the Homeless said there were 60,067 homeless people in the city in May of this year, compared with 58,906 in May 2015.

Mayor de Blasio said the failing economy and lack of affordable housing are to blame.

"I think the most important point is the shelter population is finally stabilized," de Blasio said. "We have a plan for 15,000 supportive apartments, you know, bigger investments in affordable housing than we've ever had."

Commissioner Steven Banks of the Human Resources Administration, which oversees homeless services, said the city's newly-revised rental assistance program has placed 35,000 people into homes instead of shelters.

"We're not going to reform 20 years' worth of failed policies overnight, but we can continue to make the progress that we've been making on a case by case basis," Banks said.

The Department of Homeless Services said in 2014, the city was projected to have 71,000 homeless people by 2016. The most recent statistics showed the city is actually serving just over 60,000 homeless people – better than expected.

Still, homeless services experts said more needs to be done.

"Everything they've done, and I applaud them again, is really not moving the needle," said former Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Mascali. "I think there has to be a study of who is in shelter and why they're in a shelter."

Mayor de Blasio expressed optimism for the future.

"We believe a day will come when we can turn that number for the long haul," he said.

A large percent of the homeless increase is composed of homeless families with children, which has increased more than 700 people in less than a year.