Treading Water in a Tide of Homelessness

Mayor Bill de Blasio gave a major speech on homelessness on Tuesday, promoting a plan he calls “Turning the Tide.” This was interesting because, as we know, not even kings can turn tides. If he had called it “Lowering Expectations” or “Treading Water,” he might have more accurately conveyed reality, though the speech would have lost some of its aspirational quality.