Advocates say the pattern of attacks on unsheltered New Yorkers continues — and reflects deeper failures in the system
A Continuing Crisis
Years after a series of brutal and deadly attacks on homeless people sleeping in Manhattan’s Chinatown neighborhood shocked the city, violence against unsheltered New Yorkers has not abated. A report from WNYC in early March 2026 underscored that the pattern of attacks documented in those cases — where multiple men were killed while sleeping on the street — reflects systemic conditions that remain largely unaddressed.
The Chinatown Attacks and Their Legacy
In 2022, a man named Randy Rodriguez Santos was charged with killing several homeless men in the Chinatown area of Manhattan in a series of attacks with a metal rod. The case drew national attention to the vulnerability of people sleeping on New York’s streets and sparked a broad public conversation about the city’s approach to unsheltered homelessness. That conversation, advocates say, has not produced the systemic changes that would meaningfully reduce violence against people without stable housing.
Why the Vulnerability Persists
People experiencing homelessness face elevated risks of victimization from violence across every category, including assault, robbery and sexual assault. The National Coalition for the Homeless publishes an annual report on hate crimes and violence against people experiencing homelessness, consistently documenting that they are attacked at rates far exceeding the general population. The lack of safe sleeping options, the isolation of sidewalk encampments and the social marginalization of homeless individuals all contribute to their vulnerability.
New York’s Shelter System and Its Limits
New York City operates one of the largest emergency shelter systems in the country, with a legal right to shelter established by a 1981 court ruling in Callahan v. Carey. But advocates have long argued that the quality and safety of the shelter system are inadequate, driving some people to prefer street sleeping over what they describe as dangerous and degrading shelter conditions. Coalition for the Homeless has documented that violence within the shelter system itself is a factor that keeps some individuals unsheltered. The Mamdani administration has not yet released a comprehensive homelessness strategy, though it has maintained the prior administration’s approach of deploying outreach teams and police to subway stations. Whether it will take a fundamentally different approach to chronic street homelessness remains to be seen.
