JFK AirTrain terminal overrun with homeless aggressively begging for cash as police ‘do nothing’

by
A person sleeping on the floor near the entrance to the Jamaica AirTrain station.
A person sleeps on the floor at the entrance to the Jamaica Airtrain, which links JFK to NYC public transit.Michael Nagle

But one homeless man, who identified himself as Griffin, 67, said the city shelter system is the culprit.

“The shelter is no good,” he said as he stood by two carts near the Sutphin Boulevard entrance Monday. “They pick you clean. You can’t even let your shoes dry without somebody taking them. Then you walk around in socks. Now you’re in trouble.

“This is all right,” he said of the terminal. “Don’t act the fool and it works out. They don’t bother anybody here. Getting too crowded now, though. Crazies up there. All night with the arguing and screaming, fighting in the bathroom.”

EMS personnel wheeling a man with an oxygen mask out of Jamaica Station.
EMS personell are seen wheeling a man out of the Jamaica Station, early Monday.Robert Mecea

The chaotic scene underscores the magnitude of New York City’s homelessness crisis.

The Empire State had over 158,000 people without a permanent roof over their heads in 2024 — a 53% jump from the prior year — out of more than 771,000 homeless nationwide, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development said. That translates to about 20% of the nation’s unhoused.

HUD’s report cited pandemic-era eviction backlogs, a lack of affordable housing, rising rent prices, and the migrant crisis as factors driving New York’s homelessness rate to 81 people per 10,000 residents. Continue reading…

Leave a Comment