Unsheltered Homeless Data

Map of unsheltered homeless people in NYC

The latest statistics by the Coalition for the Homeless states there are 75,000 homeless families that live in shelters.  These statistics do not include a vast amount of people, who are technically homeless, living on someone couch.  According to the Daily Mail newspaper there are four thousand homeless New Yorkers living on the streets of Manhattan; in the subway, and in other public spaces. The large majority of  homeless New Yorkers that live in the street are living with mental illness or other severe health problems, and four out of five that live on the streets are men.  But there are thousands who are not mentally unstable that are unaccounted.

There is no accurate measurement of New York City’s unsheltered homeless population, and recent City surveys significantly underestimate the number of unsheltered homeless New Yorkers.

This app is called NYC Map The Homeless

The description on this app states while the designers realize that homelessness is a crisis, and commend city officials efforts in helping the growing homeless population, they have built this app for “you” to avoid the homeless because they may become violent and lash out.

There is no official tracking system for the unsheltered homeless population, its impossible to record.  This app depends on the public to take pictures and record sightings, this app maybe the only way to collect data on the unsheltered homelessness.