New York City Posting Ads Discouraging Public From Helping Homeless

March 6, 2008 8:37 a.m. EST

New York, N.Y. (AHN) - New York City is launching an advertising campaign that will discourage New Yorkers from giving money, food and clothes to the city's homeless and calling the city government's hotline so it can bring them to shelters.

City Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the ad campaign of the Department of Homeless Services and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The mayor told the New York Sun Tuesday that giving money to a panhandler may seem compassionate but is not really helpful to the person in the long-term.

Bloomberg added that charity or even letting people sleep on the steps of churches will prolong the homeless' unhealthy lifestyle or won't give them a better life.

The ads, which feature black-and-white pictures of homeless people, will be posted in subway cars and stations, where a growing number of homeless people stay. The ads will have the slogan "Call 311."

Calls to 311 will be routed to the DHS's 24-hour call center and the report of homeless people will be relayed to teams tasked to find homeless persons and help them get a permanent lodging. Callers have the option to receive a callback telling them what has been done to a homeless person they reported.