Inside New York’s shanty town: Festering in the heart of Manhattan, the stinking tent city offers squatters electricity, water and even free needles to inject their drugs… while police turn and walk the other way
A Daily Mail report describes a sprawling encampment in Manhattan where dozens of homeless people and drug users have set up semi-permanent tents, reportedly with access to electricity, running water and clean needles supplied to reduce disease transmission, while police allegedly avoid intervening. The piece frames the site as a symbol of New York's worsening homelessness and drug addiction crisis, highlighting concerns about public health, safety and the visible breakdown of order in a major US city centre.
The article details squatters living in makeshift shelters equipped with basic utilities, some seemingly tolerated or informally supported by local services or charities providing harm-reduction supplies such as needle exchanges. It also points to a lack of police enforcement at the site, suggesting authorities have effectively allowed the encampment to persist despite its unsanitary conditions and open drug use, raising questions about the city's approach to tackling homelessness and addiction.
- Manhattan tent encampment houses squatters with power, water and needles
- Police reportedly avoid intervening at the site
- Highlights ongoing homelessness and drug addiction crisis in NYC