MANHATTAN -- With temperatures plummeting, the city is turning its attention to the homeless population.
On Monday night, hundreds of volunteers will try to get a sense of how many people are on the streets and what their needs are through the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate or HOPE count.
Some building owners just leave it up for years instead of doing costly facade repairs.
“The scaffolding is there to keep us safe from the building, but who’s going to keep us safe from the scaffolding,” City Councilmember Ben Kallos said.
Kallos has been trying to bring down lingering metal piping that cover sidewalks for years on end— calling it a quality of life and safety issue. He is currently proposing legislation in this latest legislative session that would mandate owners “get the work done within six months or the city will step in and do the work and make bad landlords pay.”
