To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

New Yorkers who were out between midnight and 4 a.m. early Tuesday morning were likely to have been asked if they had a place to stay that night. It was part of the city's annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE).

"This is our starting point. We're going to be following a little bit of a convoluted track here," said Joe Hallmark of the Manhattan Outreach Consortium.

The HOPE survey is an attempt to measure the number of chronically homeless individuals who call the sidewalks home. Thousands of volunteers scour city blocks, taking surveys, asking passersby whether they have a place to stay.

The volunteers gathered around 11 p.m. Monday in city gyms to be prepped by the Department of Homeless Services.

"I imagine tonight is going to be pretty emotionally trying for everybody. Just to see it because it's cold outside," said HOPE volunteer Victoria Muhl.

It was 35 degrees that night, to be exact.

"We look in every corner of the city. There is no part of the city that is left uncovered, everywhere, in every borough," said DHS Commissioner Seth Diamond.

Advocates beg to differ.

"They don't go on every subway train. They don't go on every subway station. They don't cover every part of the city. They don't go under bridges. They don't go into abandoned buildings," said Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless.

Nonetheless, according to DHS, the number of people living on the streets has been on the decline, from 4,395 in 2005, falling to 2,328 in 2009, raising slightly to 3,111 in 2010 and then declining to 2,648 in 2011.

In Murray Hill on early Tuesday, just a handful of homeless was spotted.

"Homeless outreach presence has an effect in the area and as a result there is a lot less homeless people in this specific area of Manhattan, as opposed to a year or two years ago," said Hallmark.

Nevertheless, some homeless still refused help. One woman in Murray Hill told volunteers she would rather sleep in Pennsylvania Station than in a city shelter.

However, not everyone declined help.

"A number of people accepted offers to go inside, so we were able to get services right tonight, get them off the streets. All in all, I think, a great evening," said Diamond.

The Department of Homeless Services says the survey results will be ready in about a month-and-a-half. Those results will then continue to shape the city's homeless policy until next year's count.