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Protesters gather in front of Gainey’s home to criticize Pittsburgh's homeless encampment sweep

Several dozen people stand in front of Mayor Ed Gainey's house protesting with signs that read "Hey Scrooge: Stop the Sweeps" and "Brought to you by Mayor Ed Gainey."
Julia Maruca
/
90.5 WESA
Protestors gather in front of Mayor Ed Gainey's home in response to the clearing of a homeless camp on December 16, 2024.

Despite his attempts to spotlight city and county homeless services at an event earlier in the day, several dozen protesters gathered in front of Mayor Ed Gainey’s home Monday night, demonstrating against an increased crackdown on homeless encampments.

The protesters criticized the ongoing closure of a North Side homeless encampment, announced at the end of November. More broadly, they objected to the whole of Gainey’s response to homelessness in the city, demanding a right to freedom to camp in the city or immediate long-term housing.

Over the course of about an hour, protesters chanted “No housing, no peace!” and banged on drums and noisemakers in the street in front of the home. They bore signs that read “Sweeps Solve Nothing” while denouncing Gainey’s “war on the poor.” One sign compared the mayor to Ebeneezer Scrooge from “A Christmas Carol.” In speeches, advocates slammed Gainey, accusing him of betraying previous statements in support of housing as a human right.

At one point, demonstrators erected a tent in the driveway; police who were monitoring the demonstration removed it.

The lights were off in the house, and Gainey did not appear.

The process of closing down the North Side camp began late last month, when signs notified occupants that they had to leave, taking their belongings with them, by Dec. 15. According to Gainey, by Monday, most of the people had left the site: Those remaining will be moved off the site as the city clears the remains of the camp this week.

Gainey is running for reelection in 2025, and his administration has long been criticized for its handling of the homeless camps. But most of that pressure has come from those demanding Gainey do more to close down camps. By contrast, Monday’s protest came from the left, and echoed the latter days of Gainey’s predecessor, Mayor Bill Peduto, who faced repeated protests at his home over police misconduct.

At a press conference Monday, Gainey attempted to defend the city’s decision to close the North Side camp. He also said the city planned to close two other encampments in the coming months: one near the Allegheny County Jail and the second along the South Side river trail.

“I'm thankful that we have so many people in our city who are passionate about our unhoused community…I believe their hearts are truly in the right place,” Gainey said, arguing that he and homeless advocates have the same goal..

“We all want to end the issue of homelessness in our city. We all want to ensure that our neighbors are safe and have a place that they can call home. And it's very important.”

Dates for the additional camp closures have not yet been determined, he said, but the city’s goal is to shut them down once enough beds are available in shelters to house them.

“We've been working towards that from the beginning, and now we have some options that we can utilize,” Gainey said.

Gainey said he agreed with advocates that unhoused people living outdoors should not be moved unless they have been given credible offers of housing. He pointed to the opening of the McNaugher School shelter on the North Side as a move that would boost the region’s capacity to help homeless people indoors. And he touted the work of Allegheny County’s “500 in 500” affordable housing initiative, which he said had created more than 200 new units of affordable housing since last year.

Deputy Mayor Jake Pawlak said that everyone who had been living in the North Side encampment has received an offer of shelter, and that most camp occupants have accepted the offer.

Julia Maruca reports on Pittsburgh city government, programs and policy. She previously covered the Westmoreland County regions of Hempfield and Greensburg along with health care news for the Tribune-Review.