US Town Cuts Down Trees To Deter The Homeless

In the US, the lack of affordable housing has led to high rent burdens (rents which absorb a high proportion of income), overcrowding, and substandard housing. These phenomena, in turn, have not only forced many people to become homeless; they have put a large and growing number of people at risk of becoming homeless. 

According to endhomelessness.org, in January 2020, there were 580,466 people experiencing homelessness in America. Most were individuals (70 percent), and the rest were people living in families with children. And they lived in every state and territory. 

On and off, I have blogged about this issue – one post “Blast the Homeless” was published on July 19, 2019 and another post “US City to Solve Homelessness by Moving People Elsewhere” published on March 31, 2022 are a damning indictment of US society’s well-being. 

And I came across this September 01 news story on HuffPost. A New Jersey township is facing stern criticisms after cutting down the trees in its town square to prevent homeless people from congregating in the shade. 

The trees in Lakewood Township’s town square, also known as Red Square, were chopped to the ground last month, local news outlet The Lakewood Scoop reported at the time. But the story gained renewed attention after the Asbury Park Press covered the situation this week.

Lakewood Mayor Ray Coles said the township decided to get rid of the trees due to an unspecified number of complaints about homeless people “harassing” others in the square, as well as the presence of human faeces. The police department’s “Quality of Life Unit” then recommended that the township lopped off the trees, according to Coles. 

The story spread on Twitter too, with many people condemning the decision and also observing that in addition to not helping homeless people, it also made the square worse for anyone else who enjoyed shade. 

Reverend Steve Brigham (right), an advocate for unhoused people who runs Lakewood Outreach Ministry Church, blasted the decision as cruel and unhelpful. 

“These trees were over forty years old, and offered shade to the poor and homeless that would come there to find respite…”, Brigham wrote on Facebook on August 09 shortly after the trees were cut alongside a video showing the barren square. He posted additional video two days later of more trees being cleared at a public parking lot across the street from the square. 

Brigham also accused the township of repeatedly taking away resources that homeless people used, including by demolishing a community center that people previously used for showers. 

This is plainly detestable and of course, the town authorities have shown themselves to be mean-spirited and uncompassionate!