The new head of the New York City Department of Social Services, hired by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, will lean on her prior experience with addressing homeless encampments in the Pittsburgh area.
Erin Dalton previously led the social services department in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where she helped reduce homeless encampments by working with outreach partners without threatening jail time for the unsheltered. In her role, she will likely use the same tactic that helped Pittsburgh succeed in this matter.
With the new appointment announced on Wednesday, Mamdani appears to be relying on a fresh vision to tackle New York City’s homelessness crisis.
The mayor ordered the city last week to restart sweeps of homeless encampments, a practice he once criticized as ineffective in leading to long-term housing for the homeless. He also placed the city’s Department of Homeless Services in charge of the sweeps instead of the police department.
Mamdani initially ended the homeless encampment sweeps, five days into taking office in January, but he later backtracked. He is now facing backlash from homelessness advocates over the new policy.
Dalton’s appointment may allay those concerns given her proven track record on dismantling encampments in an ethical and humane manner.
In a September 2025 op-ed for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dalton said Allegheny County and Pittsburgh helped more than 80% of 250 homeless people move into shelter or housing through constant outreach.
“The rest either relocated on their own or already had found a place. And no one was taken to jail as a condition of leaving the camp,” she wrote.
Dalton also blamed the Trump administration for promoting “misleading” and “dangerous” rhetoric about “equating homelessness with crime, suggesting we can arrest our way out of the problem.” In place of such rhetoric, she prefers to handle homelessness with “respect and dignity.”
Earlier this month, New York City’s previous social services commissioner, Molly Wasow Park, resigned as the city recorded at least 19 deaths amid a significant winter storm. The city’s chief medical examiner recently determined that 15 people died from “hypothermia due to environmental exposure to cold” between Jan. 24 and Feb. 7. Many of them were found outside, suggesting they were homeless.
NEW YORK CITY SOCIAL SERVICES HEAD RESIGNS AS 18 PEOPLE DIED FROM COLD WEATHER
Park, a holdover from the Eric Adams administration, said she wanted to stay in the role but felt that her resignation would be the “right thing for everybody.” Her departure was reportedly unrelated to the winter-related deaths, as Mamdani was already considering her replacement.
A press release from the mayor’s office did not specify a date for when Dalton will assume the new role. The appointed commissioner said she “can’t wait to get started.”