New York City’s Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, promised on Thursday to end homeless encampment sweeps when he takes over next month.

Mamdani said he would discontinue a priority enacted by current Mayor Eric Adams, who attempted to clear out “makeshift, unsafe houses” that have popped up throughout the city, The New York Post reported. The mayor-elect will stop the sweeps despite city officials receiving more than 45,000 complaints about the homeless encampments so far this year.

Mamdani argued that the Adams administration’s policy has failed because it did not connect “homeless New Yorkers to the housing that they so desperately need.”

“We are going to take an approach that understands its mission is connecting those New Yorkers to housing,” Mamdani added. “Whether it’s supportive housing, whether it’s rental housing, whatever kind of housing it is, because what we have seen is the treatment of homelessness as if it is a natural part of living in this city, when in fact, it’s more often a reflection of a political choice being made.”

New York City currently urges residents to “report homeless people who have established encampments on public property,” adding, “In New York City, obstructions and encampments are not allowed.”

Mamdani cruised to a landslide mayoral election victory over former New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa last month in part because of his focus on affordability and housing. Mamdani vowed to build more affordable housing in the city and said he would push to freeze rents in some apartment buildings.

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He did not specify how he would address complaints about homeless encampments or if he would remove the city’s online complaint portal. New York City’s homeless population has skyrocketed in recent years, largely due to the massive influx of illegal immigrants, according to the New York state government. In January 2022, an estimated 45,343 people were in the city’s homeless shelters. Just two years later, there were nearly 90,000.

Mamdani’s opposition to the sweeps is partly based on a 2023 audit released by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, which found that during Mayor Adams’ homeless encampment raids, only a small percentage of homeless people removed from their makeshift housing accepted temporary shelter with the city, Fox News reported.

“The evidence is clear: by every measure, the homeless sweeps failed,” Lander argued.

The Adams administration has pushed back on the audit, saying that Lander’s findings took the data “out of context.”

“Cherry-picking numbers and sharing them out of context paint a disingenuous picture as these cleanups have actually connected more than 500 New Yorkers to safe, stable housing,” City Hall said on Thursday.

“New York City continues to have the lowest rate of unsheltered homelessness of any major city in the nation,” City Hall added.

A Christian evangelist’s battle with a Mississippi city over street preaching took center stage at the Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices heard arguments that could have far-reaching consequences for Americans who want to defend their constitutional rights in federal court. 

The case revolves around whether 33-year-old Gabriel Olivier can challenge an ordinance from Brandon, Mississippi, that restricted street preaching in a public park outside of a local amphitheater. Olivier, who was convicted in 2021 of street preaching outside of the designated area, is now attempting to overturn the ordinance on First Amendment grounds. 

“This is a really important case, 
for Christians specifically, because I noticed that all around the country, there’s always an exercise of free speech [that] does not seem to be cracked down on the way that Christians’ free speech is nowadays,” Olivier told The Daily Wire in an interview. 

The city of Brandon argues that Olivier cannot challenge the ordinance in federal court because he has previously been convicted of violating it. Olivier says that he doesn’t want to revisit the 2021 conviction, for which he paid a fine, but wants to protect his right to share his faith in the future. 

During oral arguments on Wednesday, the justices seemed sympathetic to Olivier’s arguments that he should be able to seek relief in federal court despite his previous conviction. Nate Kellum, a lawyer with First Liberty Institute representing Olivier, told The Daily Wire that he was encouraged by the questions he heard from the justices. 

Kellum said that all he wants is for Olivier to have his day in court to argue against the ordinance and make an appeal for his First Amendment rights. 

“Everybody, regardless of their ideology and their belief, deserves their day in court,” Olivier said. “We’re just asking that people would continue to pray for us.”

The Trump administration is supporting Olivier’s petition, as are a number of other conservative organizations. 

The ordinance implemented by Brandon, a suburb east of Jackson, restricts protest activity in the park surrounding the city’s amphitheater to a designated area when events are being held. 

“What the ordinance does is it puts him in a place where no one can hear him,” Kellum told The Daily Wire. “You can’t have a conversation. 
You can’t hand out literature. If he preaches, he cannot be heard, and if he held up a sign, no one could read it. And so that seemed to be the whole idea, is that the city wanted to pass a law that separated him from his would-be audience.”

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The city and some legacy outlets have attempted to suggest that Olivier shouted rude or inappropriate things during his previous outings at the park. 

“It’s patently false. And it seems to be an attempt to try to malign Gabe, malign his character,” Kellum said. “But if Gabe or really anyone else would say anything that would amount to fighting words or could be something that could lead to an altercation, there’s disorderly conduct ordinances.”

Olivier first went to the park in 2019, where he had productive conversations about his faith with others. But when he returned in 2021, the city had passed an ordinance against such evangelism. His passion for street evangelism comes from his own conversion ten years ago when he encountered a street preacher. 

“I see it very clearly as a command in scripture,” he said. “And so I choose to do that and exercise the rights that we have enjoyed here in America. And we would like for an opportunity to continue to fight for those rights to be upheld.”

Todd Butler, the attorney representing Brandon, said in a statement to The Daily Wire: “The City of Brandon was excited to present its position to the Court. The case before the Supreme Court is not about the constitutionality of the ordinance or religious expression. It is about whether a person who has been found guilty in criminal court may undermine his conviction through a civil tort lawsuit. The importance of this case cannot be overstated as it will impact cities across the country.”