Adams launches new overnight homeless outreach program pairing police, clinicians on NYC subways

Mayor Eric Adams has introduced a new effort to address homelessness in New York City’s subway system by pairing outreach workers and clinicians with transit police officers to offer shelter and services to those in need.

During a press conference at the Times Square subway station on Thursday evening, Adams said the initiative is designed to ensure rider safety and support.

“It’s imperative that New York City remains not only the safest big city in America, but the safest city in America and our subway system must lead the way,” Adams said.

Transit crime has dropped 5.1% this year to date, according to city data. However, the mayor’s announcement comes on the heels of an MTA worker being critically injured after a stabbing incident on Tuesday.

The new program, called Partnership Assistance for Transit Homelessness, or PATH, joins a constellation of homeless outreach teams across the city. But city officials said it sets itself apart by embracing the so-called “co-response” model that pairs civilians and police to do outreach or crisis response.

It’s a model the Adams administration is seeking to expand, according to Brian Stettin, Adams’ senior advisor on severe mental illness.

The PATH teams started operating in August and have so far made contact with more than 1,500 people and connected about 500 of them to some kind of services, such as access to temporary housing or medical care, officials said. Each team consists of four police officers, a nurse and two Department of Homeless Services service coordinators.

Stettin acknowledged that PATH is similar to another co-response program known as SCOUT , which Gov. Kathy Hochul launched in the subway in March. But PATH runs overnight, whereas SCOUT teams go out in the daytime — and PATH is focused on providing a broader range of services, while SCOUT focuses on identifying people in the midst of mental health crises who might need to be taken to the hospital, Stettin said. He added that, when necessary, PATH teams can take people to the hospital, too, though — with their consent or not.

The press conference became contentious at times, with one subway rider shouting at the mayor, “Fund health care, not police.”

But city officials insisted that police are necessary to keep New Yorkers and outreach workers safe.

Shawn Tish, an outreach worker with one of the PATH teams, said the presence of police sometimes makes people hesitant to engage with him.

“But we assure them that the police aren’t there for them,” Tish, who is formerly homeless, told Gothamist. “They’re there for us, for our protection.”

Tish said police typically only intervene if someone tries to attack a member of the outreach team.

The expansion of the co-response model comes as some advocates for people with mental health issues continue to push for less police involvement in crisis response. But Stettin said the discourse is “frustrating” because it presents a “false choice” between police or a mental health response.

The PATH teams are currently only operating in Manhattan, but Adams said the goal is to expand them to other parts of the city.