Empty boasts on homeless

Mayor de Blasio and his homeless-aid chief on Tuesday continued touting as historic their success in getting people off the subway and into shelter — without providing any information about individual cases to support the claims.

When the trains shut down between 1 and 5 a.m. beginning early last Wednesday, cops and outreach workers “engaged” 362 people leaving the stations. De Blasio said 211 accepted help, with 178 going to shelters and 33 to hospitals.

“Every single night, we’re seeing the same things: high level of engagement, large number of homeless individuals being engaged, the majority accepting help,” de Blasio claimed during his daily coronavirus briefing.

“If the first week is any indication, this is a game changer. I think it could fundamentally change the future of homelessness in the city for the better,” de Blasio crowed.

But it’s unclear how many of the 1,258 people who have gone from the subway into shelter over the past week are repeaters cycling in and out of the system.

“I’m suspicious of the numbers they’re putting out on a daily basis,” Joseph Loonam, housing campaign coordinator for the homelessness group Vocal-NY, told The

Post. “We have no idea how many folks are staying in these shelters and receiving services.”

De Blasio and Human Resources Administration Commissioner Steven Banks ducked questions about whether the 1,258 people who have accepted help are unique individuals or duplicate cases.

“I would tell you that when you’ve had this many people accept engagement and come in for anything, that’s a victory unto itself,” de Blasio said.

Banks pledged to provide clearer data in the near future.

“When we get a few days further, we think we’ll be able to have a broader look at the individuals who have accepted services and actually remained in shelter and the individuals that need more services in order to remain in shelter,” Banks added at the briefing.

NYPD and outreach workers have “engaged” 2,305 people leaving the subway overnight since May 6, according to the mayor. The MTA and homeless advocates estimate there are 2,000 people sleeping underground, so the mayor’s figure shows that workers are at least talking to some of the same people multiple times.

Ever since Gov. Cuomo shut the subways nightly for cleaning, and clearing out the homeless, Mayor de Blasio has crowed nonstop about “historic” gains in getting these people to shelters — as if he deserves credit, and even as he dodges the question of how many are coming right back.

Every night, “we’re seeing the same thing: a large number of individuals being engaged, and the majority accepting help,” he gushed Tuesday. The possible “game-changer” might “fundamentally change the future of homelessness in the city for the better.” That followed Monday’s brag about the “historic” and “groundbreaking” program.

Heck, on the first day he was already head-over-heels: “We have never, ever seen so much success in a single night.”

Yet it’s now the second week, and he’s still refusing to discuss how many homeless are heading right back underground the next day. Are his minions even tracking that measure of actual success?

Then, too, de Blasio was denying that the homeless had taken over the subway right up until the gov intervened. (Similarly, it took photographic evidence in The Post back in 2015 for the mayor to acknowledge even the crisis on the streets.)

Indeed, the whole thing highlights his own horrific failure in dealing with the homeless

Cuomo’s order. If forcing them off trains does work to get them vital services (shelters, medical attention, counseling) and away from the riding public, what took so long? De Blasio has been mayor for 6 ¹/2 years, and the homeless crisis has only mushroomed on his watch.

The idea that forcing the homeless off trains could make a difference is hardly rocket science. But the mayor refused to ever take that step on his own — and still isn’t doing anything in that direction when the subway isn’t closed.

If de Blasio wants points for “fundamentally” fixing the problem, he needs to embrace constant and permanent enforcement, even when 24/7 train service resumes.