Thousands of vacant buildings across city could house homeless, new report based on volunteer count claims

Picture the Homeless says 2,400 vacant lots could be gardens

There are more than 3,500 vacant buildings in neighborhoods across the five boroughs with enough space to house the city's entire homeless population - and then some, a new report claims.

 Picture the Homeless and the Center for Community Planning & Development at Hunter College will release findings Thursday from a count conducted last year by 295 volunteers in 20 community districts hit hard by homelessness and gentrification.

The buildings could accommodate hundreds of thousands of residents, while more than 2,400 vacant lots could become community gardens, the report argues.

 There are about 40,000 people in the homeless shelter system.

 "We can shut down the Department of Homeless Services," said Kendall Jackman of Picture the Homeless, a Bronx advocacy group. "We don't need people to be in the shelter system. We don't need people to double up."

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called the results proof “there are thousands of vacant buildings...that could and should be transformed into affordable housing.”