Will America’s first ‘right to sleep outside’ actually help unhoused people?

Like in the rest of the country, existing while unsheltered is essentially criminalized in New York. Photograph: Seth Wenig/AP

New York City could soon pass a “homeless bill of rights” with a “right to sleep outside” – something that no other major US city has done.

If signed by Mayor Eric Adams, the proposal, which cleared New York’s city council unanimously last month, would add another plank to the city’s unique protections for unhoused residents. Since 1979, New York City has been one of the only places in the country with a “right to shelter”, which requires the government to provide a bed under a roof to anyone who needs it.