ITHACA, N.Y. — Crews of city workers began cleaning out an area of the city’s homeless encampments last week.
Workers used heavy machinery to pile whatever refuse or belongings were left in the abandoned encampment. Bicycles, propane tanks, shopping carts, and plywood are some of the most visible types of debris put into mounds in preparation for their removal.
The scene was triggered by a notice of violation Tompkins County Environmental Health served the City of Ithaca in April. The encampment, which is on city-owned land, was deemed a public health hazard, giving Ithaca officials 30 days to submit a cleanup plan by May 10.
The area being cleared is a small piece of triangular land off of Cecil Malone Drive in the City of Ithaca. The former encampment was bordered by a rail line and two tributaries that feed into the Cayuga Inlet. It is a part of the informal patchwork of homeless encampments spread throughout Ithaca’s West End on mostly city-owned land, and commonly known as “the Jungle.”
City Manager Deborah Mohlenhoff said the city crews began clearing the area on April 30, and residents had already vacated the area by then.
With the encampment now being cleared, local officials are tasked with keeping the area from becoming a public health hazard again as a part of the notice of violation it received from Tompkins County Environmental Health.
The area also sits outside of Ithaca’s sanctioned encampment zone, a one-year pilot policy that was adopted to restrict the area people living outside were allowed to camp.
Deb Wilke, the Homeless Crisis Alleviation Coordinator for Second Wind Cottages, a nonprofit that provides outreach services as well as housing for men transitioning out of homelessness, said there were about 10 people living in the area before the county’s notice of violation was issued, and the city began to plan its cleanup of the area. Last summer, Wilke said about 20 people lived in that specific encampment.
Wilke agreed that the area the city is cleaning has become unsafe and unhealthy, but she’s concerned that relocating people without a clearer plan in place is simply moving people with needs somewhere out of sight.
“There definitely were health and safety concerns. The county wouldn’t be addressing it if it weren’t problematic. But if you have the same issues in a different location that’s less visible, why is that less problematic?”
Numerous homeless encampments behind Walmart and Lowe’s on Route 13 have had a small influx of new residents, according to Wilke and residents interviewed there.
City officials committed to establishing services, like running water and trash disposal, when the sanctioned encampment zone policy was adopted. However, there hasn’t been visible progress on that initiative since the policy was adopted in December 2023, even as homeless individuals outside the sanctioned encampment zone have been asked to move.
A long-discussed collaboration between county and city has not yet materialized either. Mayor Robert Cantelmo announced in April that county and city officials would have a public meeting to discuss homelessness in the county and city. He said he is aiming for that meeting to happen at some point in May.