Mayor de Blasio blasts critics who blame him for city's growing homeless problem

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio blasted back at his critics on Monday just before marching down Eastern Parkway. Over the weekend in the New York Post, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani blamed de Blasio for the city's growing homeless problem, writing, "A city that lets people sleep in the streets is a city that doesn't care."

"I think he's delusional. If you think about what Rudy Giuliani did as mayor, homelessness went up by about 40% on his watch," Mayor de Blasio said.

In the last few weeks, the city has taken a two-pronged approach, getting homeless people more help, more housing, making shelters safer. At the same time, police and sanitation have tackled up to 80 homeless encampments.

"All those encampments will be gone this month, and at the same time ensuring that people who are homeless are steered toward the kind of services that will help them no longer be homeless," Mayor de Blasio said.

On 125th Street near the Metro North station, police constantly patrol a homeless problem. It has become a popular hangout.

Giuliani wrote that's "because of de Blasio's liberal, retrogressive, old-fashioned application of left wing guilt."

Mayor de Blasio admits that fixing the city's homeless problem has not been easy. He also said that 21 homeless encampments in the city had been cleaned up - he said that the crackdown will continue, but says at the same time City Hall will be offering a more compassionate response to the city's homeless crisis.