A majority of New Yorkers say they've seen a notable increase in homeless people around the city and view it as a "very serious" problem, a new poll shows.
The Quinnipiac University survey also shows 55 percent of New Yorkers disapprove of the way Mayor Bill de Blasio is handling poverty and homelessness.
A total of 93 percent of city voters believe homelessness is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem, while 58 percent responded that compared with a few years ago, they'd seen more homeless people on the streets, parks and subways, the poll finds.
The survey also shows 47 percent of New York are sympathetic to the homeless, with 92 percent saying they're very sympathetic to homeless children and 84 percent saying the same about homeless veterans.
"Note to Sen. Ted Cruz: New York values, as measured by this poll, include a lot of sympathy for homeless adults, kids and veterans, and a strong desire to do more," Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll said in a statement.
Cruz came under fire by New York politicians for criticizing front-running GOP presidential candidate
Donald Trump's "New York values."
He countered that he
needed only to apologize to "the millions of New Yorkers let down by the liberal politicians in that state."
In other findings, the poll finds:
- 46 percent say the qualify of life has gotten worse in the last few years.
- 52 percent say they're encountering more panhandlers.
- 73 percent support requiring homeless people to go to a shelter when temperatures drop below freezing.
"New Yorkers are seeing more homeless people on the street and they don't like it," Carroll said. "They say the quality of life is not so good and that it's getting worse. They say homelessness is a big problem and they don't think Mayor Bill de Blasio is on top of it."
De Blasio has been locked in a nasty
feud with Gov. Mario Cuomo that has extended into the issue of homelessness.
The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
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