By now it is clear to most observers that the visibility of masses of homeless people obstructs belief in positive images of New York, constituting a crisis in the city's official representation. Dominant responses to the crisis assume two principal, often complementary, forms. They treat homelessness as an individual social problem isolated from the realm of urban politics or, as Peter Marcuse contends, "attempt to neutralize the outrage homelessness produces in those who see it."1 * I am grateful to Robert Ubell for countless conversations during which many of the ideas in this article were developed.