Homeless reaches record 60,000 in New York

NEW YORK, Feb 4 (AFP):  New York may be famous abroad for glitz, glamor and Park Avenue billionaires but America's biggest city has passed a grim milestone-a record 60,000 people are homeless.

In November, there were 60,352 homeless people in the city, including 25,000 children, up more than 10 per cent on the 53,615 who were homeless in January 2014, according to the website for charity Coalition for the Homeless.

Patrick Markee, deputy executive director for Advocacy Coalition for the Homeless, said the "historic homelessness crisis" in New York had worsened since Mayor Bill de Blasio took office in 2014.

He blamed the city's acute housing affordability crisis, policies of previous mayor Michael Bloomberg and failures in restoring permanent housing assistance for homeless families and children.