The homeless encampment rapidly spreading across 12 blocks along the West Side of Manhattan from the Intrepid Museum to the Javits Center is a red flag to New Yorkers in every part of the city that if you own anything, the city will not protect you, your business, or your property.

Owners of the stores and restaurants along that stretch can expect tourists and other customers to stop coming because they have to step over human waste, navigate around drug-addled, half-conscious bodies, avoid sex workers, and hold their breath against the stench.

"If a mom (moms usually plan the trips) sees the stories and photos near the Intrepid, they will go elsewhere," warns Cristyne Lategano, former head of NYC & Company.

Yet when Mayor Zohran Mamdani was asked on Monday what he will do about the growing eyesore, he gave his usual blather about connecting homeless New Yorkers to permanent housing instead of just moving them "from one place to another place."

Not a word about the impact on working people, families, and property owners. Previous mayors cared about their concerns. Not Mamdani.

The concerns are real. Homelessness turns a city street into a petri dish, bringing hepatitis A, tuberculosis, and other communicable diseases California Gov. Gavin Newsom labels "medieval," such as the bacterial infection typhus, which is spread by lice and fleas. Los Angeles, the homelessness capital of the nation, has been struggling with these diseases.

Bartonella quintana, another bacterial........

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