The homeless have a new perk thanks to Mayor Zohran Mamdani: turndown service.
City sanitation workers did everything this week but put mints on the greasy pillows atop makeshift beds in a booming shantytown below a Queens overpass.
Community leaders and residents complained that hobos were taking advantage of the socialist pol’s softer new guidelines for dealing with the homeless crisisand brazenly turning the public walkway into their own sprawling flophouse.
On Tuesday, New York’s Strongest carefully tidied up the disgusting digs along the Jamaica Avenue business district near 98th Street in Woodhaven – removing rickety chairs covered in filthy laundry, shopping carts and overstuffed bins and plenty of trash.
But they left behind two air mattresses, and the squatters’ clothing, blankets and other belongings neatly folded and placed nearby.
“What’s next, a city-funded turndown service for people sleeping on the streets?” raged Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens).
“Our sidewalks are not hotel rooms, and the Sanitation Department staff aren’t maids.”
Cops initially responded to the scene before sanitation workers arrived at the request of Ariola, the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association and other community leaders.
But the police officers found themselves powerless to do much thanks to Mamdani ending the NYPD’s previous practice of dealing with the homeless crisis by clearing out encampments, sources said.
Under the new guidelines, officers responding to 311 and 911 calls about homeless conditions are required to document each case with body-worn cameras and offer medical services if needed. But they can’t compel anyone to leave — even if it’s bitterly cold or other harsh weather conditions exist — unless directed by a supervisor in life-threatening situations, the sources added.
It’s part of Mamdani’s larger “more humane” plan for dealing with the Big Apple’s homeless crisis by shifting to a “housing-first approach” through his planned $1 billion Department of Community Safety, which will rely on outreach teams of civilian social workers rather than cops to connect the homeless with supportive or rental housing.
“The homeless turned it into their own apartment, and the police can’t do anything because Mamdani is okay with homeless encampments,” said Carmela Isabella, who grew up in Woodhaven and lives a few blocks away.
“A lot of kids have to walk by there every day on their way home from school. It is terrible.”
Isabella, 52, said a trio of men living below the overpass for months became more brazen since Mamdani was sworn in as mayor Jan. 1 — turning the sidewalk into their own junkyard. They “know they can get away with it,” she added.
The encampment is situated below a rusted steel trestle once used by the Long Island Rail Road and features a mural splattered with pigeon poop honoring NYC firefighters, cops and other first responders.
Isabella said she submitted a 311 complaint last week to the city about the Woodhaven shantytown that included photos of it and the site’s location, but she received a bogus response Monday claiming it was a figment of her imagination.
“The New York Police Department responded to the complaint and observed no encampment exists,” said 311’s service-request response closing the case, which she shared with a reporter.
“If the problem persists, please contact 311 to create another complaint.”
The site as of Friday had drawn 12 complaints since the start of the year — each about homeless encampment and “illegal dumping, according to the city’s 311 hotline. In 2025, it only drew only one 311 complaint, submitted Dec. 29 seeking assistance for a homeless person.
“This has become an eyesore,” said Frank Castelli, chairman of Woodhaven Business Improvement District. “If you are going to go shopping on Jamaica Avenue, who’s going to want to pass by that? This is about quality of life.”
Cops on Wednesday were spotted by The Post briefly checking in on one of the men snoozing al fresco on the freezing Jamaica Avenue pavement, but they left after he rejected assistance.
As temps remained frigid Thursday, one of the men finally took an offer to relocate — but his air mattresses and other belongings were neatly left behind.
It’s unclear how long the neighborhood needs to wait for the hovel to be abandoned before it’s finally removed.
“Agencies are paralyzed right now because there is no clear directive coming from the administration,” Ariola said. “If the individual has moved on and has accepted services, then this stuff is abandoned, plain and simple. Are the streets now supposed to be long-term storage sites, too?”
Mamdani’s soft solutions for dealing with homelessness are having repercussions in other parts of the Big Apple with residents reporting expanding encampments — and new one’s popping up.
“I think it’s pretty cool” that Mamdani stopped homeless encampment sweeps “because I’ve lost a lot, a lot of stuff,” cheered a homeless man among the eight now living below a West 18th Street sidewalk shed in posh Chelsea.
“All of us have, and it’s good that he’s not, doesn’t want to do that anymore.”
However, Alejandro Rojas, a 51-year-old data scientist who lives nearby, said Mamdani must be “more aggressive” dealing with encampments or they’ll just “keep growing.”
“The policy cannot be, just, like to let them stay,” said Rojas. “That’s not a policy; that’s doing nothing.”
The Mayor’s Office, Sanitation Department and DHS did not immediately return requests for comment.
Additional reporting by Khristina Narizhnaya
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