Scarborough Slams De Blasio For New York's Homelessness Problem

Joe Scarborough has noticed more homeless people hanging out on the streets of New York City. He’s not happy about it, to say the least.

“The homeless are all over the city,” the MSNBC host said on “Morning Joe” Tuesday. “This is what it looked like in the ’80s and ’70s. We’re moving back to that direction.”

Indeed, NYC homelessness reached an all-time high in December, when the city counted 59,000 people sleeping in shelters. The number has since gone down to 56,000.

Scarborough laid blame for the homelessness problem squarely at the feet of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, suggesting that the mayor is allowing homeless people to loiter in public places instead of steering them into homeless shelters.

“This is misguided liberalism at its worst,” Scarborough said. “I wonder how much longer New York City is going to put up with Bill de Blasio. We can elect liberals who actually give a damn about the quality of life here and aren't busy trying to turn this city into a social experiment.”

The mayor’s office, which did not immediately respond to The Huffington Post’s request for comment, has in the past blamed former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration for the increased number of homeless people on the streets, calling it a result of prior cuts to city services.

“That’s just a lie!” Scarborough exclaimed on his show Tuesday, when a guest brought up this argument.

“This isn’t like 1933. This isn’t like 2009,” Scarborough said. “Unemployment is down. The economy is better. This isn’t driven by people being in worse shape than they were in 2009.”