Date with the data

Mayor Adams may well be a man of faith, but accountability to the public requires a little more than simple belief, and the mayor continues to resist to provide clear and up-to-date breakdowns of the results of his flagship initiatives. Last week, as he rode the subway late at night with WABC-TV’s N.J. Burkett, the mayor declared that “close to 1,300 [people] are still in care,” after accepting shelter services as a result of his one-yearold subway safety plan.

The number is news to all those who’ve been trying to keep an eye on the program’s results, and who have been kept largely in the dark about the outcomes of this and other mayoral efforts, including homeless encampment sweeps and the involuntary hospitalization of those deemed to be in mental health crises. The subway numbers are commendable, improving the lives of a great many people, as is the mayor’s claim that more than 4,000 people have accepted at least some shelter placement.

Yet all we get are these dribs and drabs of information, which are missing some crucial context. How many of those who accepted shelter placement are doing so again after having cycled out of shelter earlier? How long have those who remain in care been in the shelter system on average? It makes a substantial difference if the average stay is four months versus ten, or if 1,000 of those 4,000 had been encountered before. Without the data, there’s no way for New Yorkers to assess this use of scarce public resources.

What data does come is furnished inconsistently and seemingly at the inclination of the mayor. Let’s not forget that it is the taxpayer funding these programs, the taxpayer that they’re supposed to benefit, and that the public which provides the mandate that Adams so often likes to invoke. As the mayor is proud of these initiatives, then there should be no problem giving a granular insight into their results. There’s a good reason we all learned about showing your work in grade school.