Just from a sanitation point of the view, the camps do need to be periodically cleared. Otherwise, they fill up with garbage and human waste, which is a health and safety hazard.

I think the argument could also be made that having many smaller encampments is preferable to one large one, both from a crime and sanitation perspective. Having that many unhoused people together just exacerbates any potential safety concerns.

I do agree that permanent camp clearance doesn't solve the root of the problem though. Unfortunately, this isn't a problem that you can just throw money at to have it go away. There's really no good way to handle the mentally ill and drug users, who make up a disproportionate amount of a camp's longterm population. Even if you provided them an apartment, just keeping them in it would be a challenge without treating the underlying condition. NYC is looking to try to involuntarily hospitalize these people but what happens when they inevitably get out? You can't force people to take their meds or continue rehab. There's also not enough social workers to ever hope to keep up with a population of that size.

I honestly don't know what the answer is here. Even with sufficient resources, I don't think it's realistic that they'll be able to house all of them due to the above. Ceding parks to them doesn't seem a like a solution either.