Homelessness in the United States has been, slowly but steadily, declining over the last couple of decades, although it's up about 1% this year. It's not getting better fast enough, but the general trend has been slow movement in the right direction. In 2007, there were 647,000 homeless, and by 2016, there was down to 549,000 homeless.

That said, you live in NYC, and so for you the homeless rate has gone WAY up over the last year, to around 4000 people from just 2800 or so last year.

Many people really do not want to think about these things and the potential consequences. History has shown things can break down hard and quickly when there are a multitude of seemingly small bit widespread grievances. This is likely exacerbated now by mass dissemination of information and the sheer complexity of our social and economic system. I am not saying it is likely to happen soon, but I think it is worth being aware of. No society is immune.