US cities remain clueless as thousands go homeless

NYC, LA faced with fund crunch to tackle problem caused by migrant influx, layoffs

Editor's note: As the United States is beset by soaring homelessness, this page takes a closer look at this crippling issue in New York and Los Angeles, two of its largest cities.

In a tale of two cities, New York and Los Angeles, the largest and second-largest cities in the United States, where the rich live alongside the less fortunate, homelessness has become a crippling issue that local governments are struggling to deal with.

The number of homeless people in New York has reached levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s, said the Coalition for the Homeless based in New York, the country's oldest advocacy and direct service organization that helps the homeless.