One thing I have noticed is that NYC has a lot more homeless people on the streets than just a few years ago, or at least more such people that are visible in the urban landscape. I don't know why, and my colleagues don't, either, but there seems to be an increase in the number of homeless people in general [1], which may explain it.

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/nyc-homelessness-ri...