Michael Rodriguez has called a parking spot underneath the Brooklyn-Queens expressway home for the last two years. 

On Monday, as part of Mayor Eric Adams’ new plan to dismantle homeless encampments across the city, the NYPD, the Department of Sanitation and the city's homeless outreach workers told him to clear out his belongings. 

But on Thursday, Rodriguez was still there, playing hide and seek with officials.

What You Need To Know

  • The city says it has identified 244 homeless encampments and cleaned up 239 of them

  • In 12 days of enforcement, only five people living in encampments have checked into city shelters, according to the city

  • The mayor says the next phase of his plan includes scheduling of more site visits while also recanvassing and cleaning up the sites that are still active

“Sergeant said we can pitch the tents from midnight ’til 7 a.m. As soon as I did it, I waited until 2:30 a.m. and the cops were watching me put it up and waited and they told me to take it down,” said Rodriguez. 

The city says it has identified 244 homeless encampments and cleaned up 239 of them, including where Rodriguez stays, under the expressway on Meeker Avenue at Leonard Street.

The mayor says this is the first phase of his plan to get New Yorkers living in encampments off the street and into shelters.

“I mean, it's part of the game,” Rodriguez said. “I have no choice.” 

Five people living in encampments have checked into shelters over 12 days of enforcement, officials said. The city cannot force people into shelters. Many refuse, saying they're dangerous.

While we were with Rodriguez Thursday, workers at Breaking Ground, a homelessness outreach organization, convinced him to go with them to a single-room occupancy, an SRO for short — a private apartment basically.

Mack Hubbel lives near the encampment and while some say it's an eyesore, he thinks the mayor's approach is wrong.

“I think generally taking away people's like, in their case, like, livelihood and where they live and their belongings doesn't really seem like the right way to deal with homelessness, even if it is an epidemic, and I think it certainly needs to be addressed, but that doesn't seem like the right way to do that,” said Hubbel. 

Just minutes later, Rodriguez came back from the SRO to a sign placed by the city on his belongings reading that occupants must leave the location with their possessions by April 4 and that the Department of Homeless Services will be available for people to find shelters.

The mayor says the next phase of the plan includes scheduling more site visits while also recanvassing and cleaning up the sites that are still active and have not been fully cleaned out yet.