During a pandemic that has crippled the city, a lot of attention has been put this year on the homelessness crisis, including the city's use of hotels to get people out of overcrowded shelters. With spikes in unemployment and other economic hardships, more New Yorkers risk losing a permanent home.

But city officials say they have made progress in fighting the crisis - while also taking steps to protect homeless people from contracting COVID-19.

The man in charge of the city’s homelessness policy joined Errol Louis on Inside City Hall to discuss the issue. Steven Banks is the Commissioner of the Human Resources Administration and the Department of Social Services, where he also administers the city's public benefits programs.

Commissioner Banks commented on the drop in the number of people in homeless shelters to below 54,000, a reduction of almost 12 percent from the peak in 2011.

“What this really shows is that the strategies for families with children in particular of prevention and providing additional housing to move people out of shelters through our various housing programs is beginning to work,” he said.

Banks explained, however, that in terms of homeless adults the city’s at record highs, in part because of additional factors, such as the need for more mental health services and the state’s policy of decarceration, that has resulted in more people resorting to homeless shelters out of correctional facilities in recent years.

Talking about the Department of Social Services response to the pandemic, Banks said that New Yorkers can now apply to food and cash assistance programs online or by phone, in order to prevent them from having to come into an office.