NYPD Tweet About Homeless “Clean Up” Outside Silver Sparks Outrage

The tweet about the “great job” on Washington Place is now deleted.

The New York City Police Department’s 6th Precinct is in hot water after it tweeted photos celebrating their “clean up” of a homeless encampment outside the Silver Center for Arts and Science on Tuesday.

At 10:11 p.m. Wednesday night, the precinct sent out follow-up tweets apologizing and stating the “clean up was done on the sidewalk not on the individuals” and deleted the initial tweet.

However, the first tweet had already gained traction with users calling the tweet “disgusting” and asking “How can y’all feel okay about this post?”

Aree Worawongwasu, president of the Asian American Political Activism Coalition, said she immediately wrote a response along with other NYU organizers to the precinct account and asked how we can get into contact with the people in the photo to offer support.

“I then went to check in at the spot in the photo,” Worawongwasu said in an email to NYU Local. “I talked to Denzil, who was sleeping on the spot, and made sure he got money for dinner — he told me that the guys from the photo were likely arrested, and that we will have to wait until today morning to find out / be able to contact them. He also told me that the NYPD tazed one of the people sleeping at the spot two weeks ago.”

Worawongwasu said she has been coordinating food and supply runs and has asked organizers who are U.S. citizens to contact and visit the precinct to ask for accountability.

“The main issue that should be highlighted is not the tweet itself but the class violence and displacement that has occurred,” Worawongasu wrote. “It is criminalization of poverty. The ‘apology’ that the 6th Precinct posted feels disingenuous to me, as they would not have posted the photos of the individuals sleeping (seemingly without their consent) with their faces unblurred as part of the ‘before’ photo if they were only placing emphasis on the people’s possessions on the sidewalk as what needed to be ‘cleaned up.’”

Victor Manuel Markhoff, Senator at Large for Trans, LGBTQ+ Latine, Low-Income, and Homeless Students, said he was also “disappointed” by the incident and concerned by the possibility of NYU’s involvement.

“Callously viewing the homeless as something to ‘clean up,’ like a messy teenager’s room, forgets the most important thing: above all, they are human,” Markhoff said. “They deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, just like anyone else. Whether or not you ‘clean up’ the homeless, homelessness is a reality, around NYU, at NYU, visible or not.”

New York City historically does not have a positive track record for supporting those suffering from homelessness, with shelters being described as inadequate and scary. During the deep freeze that swept through the city last month, Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to crackdown on homeless people seeking shelter in the subway.

The precinct refused to make additional comments. It is unclear whether the university had anything to do with the “clean up.” NYU has not responded to request for comment at the time of publishing.

Update: This article has been updated to include comments from NYU activists.